Perfectly-cooked Shrimp Cocktail: Temps and Tips

Martin

Shrimp Cocktail, with science help from Daniel Gritzer at SeriousEats.com

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American, European

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

2 lb raw shrimp peeled, deveined, thawed if frozen
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 qt water
2 cups dry white wine
several lemons
2 stalks celery chopped small
2 shallots sliced
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 small bunch fresh parsley divided
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning or seasoning of your choice
1 more Tbsp kosher salt
Cocktail sauce of your choice

Instructions

Toss the shrimp with the 2 tsp salt and the baking soda. Put the bowl in the fridge to dry brine for 15–30 minutes.
Put the water, shrimp shells, if using, chopped celery, shallots, peppercorns, bay leaves, wine, salt for stock, Old Bay, all but 1 large sprig of parsley, and one lemon, squeezed, in a pot. Bring to a boil, simmer briefly, and strain.
Set 1 qt of the stock aside for the ice bath.
Chill the main portion of stock until it is below 100°F (38°C). (The stock making can be done a day ahead and the stock chilled overnight.)
Put the stock back in the pot. Add the shrimp, now brined, to the stock and turn on the heat.
As the stock heats, stir the shrimp so make sure they don't cook on the bottom of the pot.
Make the ice bath with the reserved quart of stock and plenty of ice.
Check the hot stock temp with your Thermapen ONE from time to time. When the stock passes 140°F (60°C), start to check the shrimp temperature.
When the shrimp reach 140°F (60°C), remove them from the hot stock directly to the iced stock bath.
Once the shrimp have cooled, drain them, toss them with the rest of the parsley, minced, and fresh-ground black pepper.
Plate the shrimp and serve with cocktail sauce!

Notes

We got some absolutely colossal black tiger shrimp from LobsterAnywhere. They were 12–18 size, meaning that there were between 12 and 18 shrimp per pound, each weighing between 1.33 and 2 ounces each. Two of these was enough shrimp for many of our eaters! But the thermal principles remain the same, even with smaller shrimp.

If you want to make your own cocktail sauce, combine 3/4 C ketchup with the juice of half a lemon, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and prepared horseradish to taste. I use a good 1–2 Tbsp of horseradish, so it has a good kick.