Why It Works
- Using a blend of ketchup and tomato puréepreserves the dish's classic flavor, while cutting some of the sweetness for a more balanced result.
- Starting the shrimp in cold water and then heating it to not more than 170°F (77°C) produces the plumpest, juiciest shrimp.
- A quick dry brine of salt and baking soda makes the shrimp even plumper and more tender.
The distinction between what's called "shrimp co*cktail" and what's called "ceviche" in Latin America is a blurry one. There's no easy way to map it, but to take averycursory look: Starting with the most classic Peruvian ceviche, we find raw and cooked seafood in a flavorful lime-based marinade; moving up to Ecuador, we encounter all kinds of ceviche, some similar to the Peruvian ones, others diverging a bit by, say, mixing ketchup into the base—often when shrimp are involved; on to Colombia, and we confusingly find ceviche served in a ketchup-based co*cktail sauce, whilecoctelcomes in a thicker sauce that also contains mayo (check outKenji's description and recipe for the version from Cartagena); head farther north, to Mexico, and coctelde camarones(shrimp co*cktail) is a popular appetizer, also served in a lime- and ketchup-based sauce, but minus the mayo.
If you want a Mexican dish that's more like Peruvian ceviche, make sure tocheck outaguachiles, which star raw shrimp and other seafood in a chile-lime sauce.
Those Colombian and Mexican cocteles, while sharing ground with citrusy ceviche, also have a lot in common with shrimp co*cktail itself—you know, either the kind servedwith a horseradish-flavored ketchup dipping sauce, or the British version, in which the shrimp are tossed in Marie Rose sauce (basically a mayo-ketchup blend). Which is all to say, it's a fascinating tapestry stretching far across the globe.
Today, though, I'm focusing on the Mexican kind. I love almost everything about it: the plump poached shrimp, the tart tomato-lime sauce, the fresh cilantro, and the crunch of sweet diced white onion. But in practice, many versions I've eaten, both in the States and in Mexico, have been too sweet for me.
In extreme cases, this sweetness is due to the addition of straight-up sugar or even citrusy soda (think Sprite and its ilk). Even without those, though, basic Mexican shrimp co*cktail can be very sweet, so my goal here was to make a version that's true to the original, but strikes a balance of sweet and tart.
The problem—if you, like me, find it to be a problem—is the ketchup itself. When I started testing this recipe, I tried using ketchup as the only source of tomato, which is how a lot of recipes do it. But what I found was that no matter how much lime juice I added in an attempt to balance it out, I could never quite overcome the ketchup's sweetness.
The solution is pretty straightforward: Use less ketchup, and supplement it with some tomato purée. I didn't want to cut the ketchup entirely, because it's an important part of the dish; I just wanted less of it.
Beyond that, everything else here is very simple.
I start with shelled shrimp, which I also devein if the veins are dark. You can slice the shrimp along their backs and remove the veins, but I've also found that you can often just pluck the veins out with tweezers from the head end of the shrimp.
I use the same poaching method thatKenji uses in his Colombian version, dry-brining the shrimp with salt and baking soda for a short time to increase their plumpness, then placing them in cool water with lime juice and bringing the temperature up to 170°F (77°C) until the shrimp are just cooked through. By starting them cold and keeping the temperature from climbing too high, you end up with shrimp whose texture is more perfectly tender from edge to edge.
After poaching, I drain them well, chill them under cold running water, and cut them into smaller pieces, which I find makes them easier to eat on saltines (the way they're usually served).
In a bowl, I toss the poached shrimp with a little ketchup, along with some tomato purée, lime juice, orange juice, diced white onion, jalapeño or serrano pepper, and cilantro.
Then I serve them with some avocado on top, saltines on the side, and a bottle of Mexican-style hot sauce, so folks can spike them with as much heat as they want. Whether you think of it more as a ceviche or more as a shrimp co*cktail—or just something that exists happily in the middle—it's totally delicious.
August 2015
Recipe Details
Coctel de Camarones (Mexican Shrimp co*cktail) Recipe
Prep5 mins
Cook10 mins
Active30 mins
Dry-Brining Time15 mins
Total30 mins
Serves4to 6 servings
1 3/4 pounds shrimp, shelled and deveined (see notes)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons fresh juice from about 8 limes, divided, plus more as needed
1 cup diced white onion (about 1/2 large onion)
3/4 cup tomato purée
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
2 tablespoons fresh juice from 1 orange
1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced
Saltines, for serving
Diced avocado, for garnish
Mexican-style hot sauce, such as Tapatío, for serving
Directions
In a large bowl, toss shrimp with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and baking soda until evenly coated. Transfer to refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together 4 tablespoons lime juice with onion, tomato purée, ketchup, cilantro, orange juice, and jalapeño.
In a medium pot, combine 2 quarts cold water with remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice and 2 tablespoons salt. Add shrimp, set over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches 170°F (77°C) on an instant-read thermometer and shrimp are just cooked through; adjust heat to make sure temperature does not go over 170°F.
Drain shrimp carefully, rinse under cold running water, then drain well. Cut shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces. Add shrimp to bowl with sauce and toss to combine. Taste, then add more lime juice if desired. Top with avocado and serve immediately with saltines and hot sauce.
Notes
You can skip the deveining if the shrimp don't have dark veins. I've also found that you can often remove the veins with tweezers from the head end of the shrimp without having to slice them down the back, which is the most common method for deveining (though that method works well, too).
Exactly how much lime juice you need will depend in part on the specific brands of tomato puréeand ketchup you use; adjust accordingly to get the flavor balance that tastes right to you.
Special Equipment
Read More
- Coctel de Camarones (Colombian-Style Shrimp Ceviche co*cktail)
- Shrimp
- Mexican
- Stovetop Seafood
- Sides
- Cinco de Mayo