Coctel de Camarones – Yucatan Style Shrimp Cocktail

This is one of my absolute favorite things to eat from anywhere in the world. It may very well be my favorite of all time. A cold refreshing dish originating from the gulf coast regions of Mexico, in particular the Yucatan peninsula. Plump and flavorful large shrimp, a cool refreshing sauce made of tomato, cucumber, orange and lemon. An amazingly wonderful dish to enjoy on a hot day near any body of water.

Relatively simple to prepare, the dish requires a small amount of knife work and a minimal cooking. The base can be made a day in advance, though I wouldn’t push it to far as the tomatoes and onions will begin to ferment in the fresh citrus juices. The shrimp can also be prepared a day in advance. Just build the dish when your ready to eat.

In addition this dish is naturally gluten free. There are two ingredients that must be purchased gluten free. Fish sauce and Oyster sauce. The higher end of both of those are usually naturally gluten free. A simple dish to prepare and a wonderful dish to enjoy. It will be a definite crowd pleaser at any get together.

Dennis Davis

Yucatan Style Shrimp Cocktail

A wonderfully refreshing shrimp cocktail from the gulf coast region of Mexico.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

The Sauce

• 1 tbsp Hot Sauce I use Cholula, but your favorite brand will do just fine.
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice I can not express how important fresh squeezed is for this recipe.
• 1 ea Cucumber I always remove the seeds inside, but I most always leave the skin. You can peel the cucumber if you prefer.
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce If you want to make this gluten free then be sure to buy a gluten free brand.
• 1 tbsp Ketchup Adds a little sweetness and acid without adding so much the dish tastes almost exclusively like ketchup with vegetables in it.
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce Again, use a gluten free brand to make the dish GF.
• 1 tsp Black pepper ground
• 1 Cup Diced Tomatoes I use romas, remove the seed pod in the center, and small dice the flesh.
• 1 Cup Diced Onion small diced
• 1 Pint Tomato juice with clam juice A good north American brand is Clamato, if you can't find it substitute 3 parts tomato juice and one part clam juice.

Cooking Ingredients

• 20 ea Shrimp 20 is a good quantity for a 16/20 shrimp. If you are going bigger you can drop the number. Enough for each person to have 3 to 5 shrimp depending on the size.
• salt as needed
• pepper as needed

Building the dish

• 1 ea Avocado Make sure it is ripe.
• 4 ea Pickled Jalapeno's Whole
• 1 bunch Cilantro washed and pulled into sprigs.
• 4 ea Tostadas I usually break up whole tostadas to serve with the cocktail, but you can also use tortilla chips.

Equipment

• Pot
• cutting board
• knife
• A couple of bowls
• Serving vessels

Method

 

Cocktail Sauce

1. Dice the vegetables and combine with the other ingredients in the sauce section and reserve in the refrigerator.
   

Shrimp

1. Devein and peel the shrimp leaving only the last section and the tail.
   
2. Put a pot on the stove big enough to hold the shrimp. Fill with water and enough salt to make the poaching liquid taste of the sea. Sprinkle on cracked black pepper to your liking.
   
3. When the water is boiling add the shrimp.
4. This is a very important step. You only want to cook the shrimp until just done, about one minute.
5. Remove from the pot with a spider or strainer and immediately submerge in ice water and hold.
   

Plating

1. Fill the bottom of each of four glasses with a quarter of a diced avocado.
   
2. Top with the cocktail sauce.
   
3. Add the shrimp to each glass.
4. Top each glass with a pickled jalapeno, cilntro sprigs, a lime wedge, and serve with tostadas or fried tortilla chips.
   
5. Enjoy!!!