This isn’t the stuffy shrimp cocktail from your childhood. Our Mexican-inspired version brings the fiesta home with fresh, zesty flavors that will have guests requesting the recipe.
½ cup English or Persian cucumber, cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup finely chopped red onion
½ medium jalapeño, seeded and finely diced (or more to taste)
1 avocado, halved, pitted, and cut into ½-inch dice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
For Serving
saltine crackers or tortilla chips
lime wedges
hot sauce
Directions
For the shrimp: with shrimp shells/tails, make a quick shrimp stock by bringing the water and salt to a boil. (If the shrimp are purchased already peeled, bring the water, salt and lemon or lime to a boil and jump to step 6.)
Add the shrimp shells/tails, reduce to a very low boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain out and discard the shells and return the liquid to the pot.
Bring the poaching liquid back to a boil.
Prepare an ice bath and set aside.
Bring the poaching liquid to a boil then turn off heat. Add the shrimp, give a stir and let sit off heat for 5 minutes.
Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and plunge immediately into the ice bath to cool completely.
Remove the shrimp from the ice bath and pat dry.
Put a few whole shrimp aside for garnish and chop the remaining shrimp into bite size pieces.
For the cocktail: in a large bowl, combine the tomato juice, ketchup, creamy garlic sauce, lime juice, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Add the cucumber, red onion, jalapeno and shrimp pieces; stir until evenly coated.
Gently fold in the avocado and cilantro.
Divide the mix between small bowls or glasses, garnish with the whole shrimp and a slice of lime.
Serve immediately with saltines or tortilla chips, lime wedges, extra hot sauce and cold beers.
While all the prep work can be done up to a day ahead, don’t combine everything more than 3 hours ahead, keep chilled and fold in the chopped avocado and cilantro just before serving.
Chef’s Tips
Mexican seafood cocktails often contain a mixture of seafood. If you’d like to do this, cook each type of seafood separately, in the same stock, for the best texture. Bay scallops = 5 minutes. Squid/calamari = 10-15 seconds. Mussels in the shell = 3-4 minutes. Small clams in the shell = 5-10 minutes. Remove the cooked meat from the shells for mussels and clams. You can even use small pieces of firm, white fish like halibut or cod.
The recipe calls for regular tomato juice but you can also use a tomato-vegetable juice or a tomato juice that’s combined with clam juice. Some bars are also well known for adding a bit of tequila to the mixture as well which makes for a bit of tasty cocktail at the end.
Small clear glasses are best for serving, especially martini glasses for a great presentation.
