Make Ahead

Spicy Boiled Shrimp Cocktail with Smoky Remoulade

October  4, 2022
4.4
5 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4 as an appetizer
Author Notes

If you want to serve this dish more as a meal, bulk up the remoulade with about 2 cups of julienned celeriac and a half cup of chopped celery leaves. —cheese1227

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For Shrimp
  • 1 leek, white part only, roughly chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted and cracked
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 16 jumbo raw shrimp, shelled (with tails on, though) and deveined
  • For Remoulade
  • 1/2 cup cream fraiche
  • 1/4 cup minced green pepper
  • 1/4 cup minced parsley
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons minced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Triscuits for serving
Directions
  1. To make the shrimp, combine all of the ingredients except the shrimp in a large pot. Add four cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer it for five minutes. Add shrimp, bring it back to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and let stand until the shrimp are just cooked through. Drain. Let shrimp and aromatics cool to room temperature. Then chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
  2. To make the remoulade, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and chill for at least two hours.
  3. Before serving shrimp, shake them free of the aromatics they’ve been cooked and cooled with and arrange on a large platter or in individual serving dishes. Serve with remoulade and Triscuits.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Megan
    Megan
  • Faith Sternlieb
    Faith Sternlieb
  • cheese1227
    cheese1227
  • russwind
    russwind
I am an excellent eater (I have been all my life). I’m a pretty good cook (Ask my kids!). And my passable writing improves with alcohol (whether it's the writer or the reader that needs to drink varies by sentence.). I just published my first cookbook, Green Plate Special, which focuses on delicious recipes that help every day cooks eat more sustainably.

5 Reviews

Megan March 5, 2017
Finally tried this and enjoyed it very much! The smokey remoulade was a nice change from usual.
 
russwind December 30, 2015
There are only two tablespoons lemon juice to boil the rest in. Is a liquid left out? Thanks
 
cheese1227 December 30, 2015
Sorry russwind. My error. Add four cups of water.
 
Faith S. December 29, 2015
How much water (or other liquid) does the shrimp need to boil?
 
cheese1227 December 30, 2015
Sorry, Faith. You need about four cups of water.