Shrimp Rémoulade
One of New Orleans’ best-loved appetizer is Shrimp Remoulade, a simple presentation of chilled firm Gulf shrimp with a mustard-based sauce. Note how quickly the chef cooks the shrimp: they will be cooked through, but not overcooked.
Ingredients
- Shrimp
- Shrimp - 1-1/2 pounds, 18 - 20 count size, without heads
- Water - 1 quart
- Iced Water - 1 quart, with 1/4 cup salt dissolved in it
- Remoulade Sauce
- Paprika - 2 tablespoons
- Creole Mustard - 3/4 cup (alt. Dijon mustard)
- Ketchup - 2 tablespoons (if not using Creole mustard)
- Horseradish - 2 tablespoons (if not using Creole mustard)
- Celery Hearts - 1/2 cup, finely chopoped
- Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped
- Sugar - 1 teaspoon
- Tabasco - 1 teaspoon (alt. other hot pepper sauce)
- Parsley - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Light Oil - 1 cup
- Shredded Greens - 2 cups
- Creole Tomatoes - 2 large, thinly sliced (alt. other red ripe tomatoes)
Instructions
To make the shrimp: Bring 1 quart of water to a rolling boil. Drop in the shrimp; the water will stop boiling. Let the water return to a rolling boil. Immediately remove from the heat, drain the shrimp, and drop them into the salted ice water to stop the cooking. Let them cool, then peel and devein, leaving the tail fins attached.
To make the remoulade sauce: Mix together all ingredients except the oil. Drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly, until the sauce is emulsified. The shrimp may be marinated in the sauce up to 2 hours if desired to intensify the flavor.
To assemble: Place the shredded greens on one half of each serving plate. Fill the other half of the plate with sliced tomatoes. Position the shrimp over the greens, tails touching in the center. Drizzle with remoulade sauce, and pass extra sauce at the table.
