I've made plenty shrimp in my day but I want some cold boiled shrimp. I've read several methods for boiling shrimp. Some include a ice bath after some don't. Some say to use some apple cider vinegar in the water others say that's nonsense. So I'll ask the experts here what's the fool proof method for ending up with good cold boiled shrimp?

Never boiled a shrimp in my life. What's this all about?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Never boiled a shrimp in my life. What's this all about?

You’ve never done a shrimp boil?

I used to eat a ton of cold boiled shrimp in the oyster bars in Nawlens. Lots of oysters too. It was the best shrimp I ever had. They would have a huge bowl filled with crushed ice and packed with cold boiled shrimp and you would order it by the dozen. I just never made it for myself. I figure there's a method beyond just throwing shrimp in boiling water for a period of time. But maybe it's just that simple.

Keep it simple

Pot of water
Sliced up onion
Couple lemon halves squeezed into it, throw them in
Couple stalks of celery rough chopped
Handful of rough cracked black pepper
Some white wine
Bay leaf or two if you have them

Bring to a boil for a few min, then add shrimp and simmer gently for 3-4 min then remove shrimp with slotted spoon to ice water bath immediately to stop the cooking.

Look up Marie Rose sauce, I had this served to me with cold shrimp in Ireland and loved it. It’s what the Brits and Irish use as a condiment rather than cocktail sauce, it’s got a base of mayo and ketchup with some other seasoning, delicious.

Pot
Water
Can of old bay
Shrimp

Boil
Then throw on ice in a bowl, or toss into the fridge to cool them off.

Enjoy

I guuuuantee the best shrimp is boiled using Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil, 3 oz.
$1.28 at Amazon.com yum!

One bag of crab boil is sufficient for 4 pounds of shrimp, 4 pounds of crawfish or 1 dozen crabs. To a large cooking container add 3 quarts of water, 4 Tbsp. of salt, 1 bag of Zatarain's Crab Boil, and 1 lemon (quartered). Add cayenne pepper to taste, if desired. Bring water mix to roiling boil. Add seafood; bring to a boil. Boil crabs vigorously for 5 minutes, crawfish 2 minutes, and shrimp 1 minute. Allow seafood to remain in water for 15-20 minutes after boiling. Lemon in water or squeezed on the shrimp… pack shrimp on ice and eat…

Those are in their shell. For spectacular shrimp peel except for the tail, de-vein before boiling.

This de-vein tool, $8, will last forever.
Shrimp Deveiner Shrimp Peeler Deveiner Cleaner Tool, 8-Inches, Red

I have never made it, but an ice bath makes sense to stop the cooking so they aren’t overcooked. My grocery store sells fresh shrimp cocktail packages so I buy those when that is what I want.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I used to eat a ton of cold boiled shrimp in the oyster bars in Nawlens. Lots of oysters too. It was the best shrimp I ever had. They would have a huge bowl filled with crushed ice and packed with cold boiled shrimp and you would order it by the dozen. I just never made it for myself. I figure there's a method beyond just throwing shrimp in boiling water for a period of time. But maybe it's just that simple.

Never heard of that. Shrimp cocktail around here is what the call it, but that's just steamed shrimp served cold. Maybe some places boil it too? Was it seasoned or just plain shrimp?

One option to play with some time, if you are set up for it, is sous vide. Just don't leave them in too long, or they'll get mushy. Make sure you plunge the sealed bag into an ice water bath immediately after. The intense "shrimpiness" is incredible, since all the flavor stays in the shrimp, steeping, instead of the flavor all getting donated to the water. https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-poached-shrimp

This thread harkens back fond memories of Swamp Guinea's not far from Athens GA back in the mid 70s. Huge bowls of boiled shrimp over crushed ice. An all-you-could-eat community shrimp peel!

You could have fried catfish, hush puppies, etc. along with the shrimp.

Students from NSCS in Athens would make the trek often. As an aside the Navy site was the only "wet" area at the time in the county Athens is in. Made for some interesting action.

Sadly it would appear that this outfit, still open, has fallen from its once lofty reputation.

I've been making Emeril's boiled shrimp recipe for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I used to eat a ton of cold boiled shrimp in the oyster bars in Nawlens. Lots of oysters too. It was the best shrimp I ever had. They would have a huge bowl filled with crushed ice and packed with cold boiled shrimp and you would order it by the dozen. I just never made it for myself. I figure there's a method beyond just throwing shrimp in boiling water for a period of time. But maybe it's just that simple.

Never heard of that. Shrimp cocktail around here is what the call it, but that's just steamed shrimp served cold. Maybe some places boil it too? Was it seasoned or just plain shrimp?

Different than shrimp cocktail. More like a crawfish boil (i.e. boiled in heavily seasoned water).

quote:

Originally posted by dubya:
I guuuuantee the best shrimp is boiled using Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp & Crab Boil, 3 oz.
$1.28 at Amazon.com yum!

IME, no bang for the buck in the bag. Zatarain's concentrated (i.e. liquid) shrimp and crab boil is their best product for shrimp and crawfish.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Keep it simple

Pot of water
Sliced up onion
Couple lemon halves squeezed into it, throw them in
Couple stalks of celery rough chopped
Handful of rough cracked black pepper
Some white wine
Bay leaf or two if you have them

Bring to a boil for a few min, then add shrimp and simmer gently for 3-4 min then remove shrimp with slotted spoon to ice water bath immediately to stop the cooking.

Look up Marie Rose sauce, I had this served to me with cold shrimp in Ireland and loved it. It’s what the Brits and Irish use as a condiment rather than cocktail sauce, it’s got a base of mayo and ketchup with some other seasoning, delicious.

I truly mean no offense to you personally, but being from Louisiana, this made me shudder!

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions gents. I think I got a good idea of how to go about it now. Seems straight forward enough. I have a tendency to over think things when it comes to food. Always looking for more unique ways to do things but sometimes simple is best and I think that applies here.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
I truly mean no offense to you personally, but being from Louisiana, this made me shudder!

Well then, how would you, being from Louisiana, do cold boiled shrimp?

What about PASig's method made you shudder?

The best thing for cold boiled shrimp is technique. Your seasonings are your seasonings, but technique makes all the difference.

Bring you water with seasonings in it to a full rolling boil. While it is heating, rinse your shrimp and make sure none have any frozen bits left, (if they started frozen).

Remove seasoned boil from heat (I just slide it to the cold burner on the stove) and dump in all shrimp. For large, wait 7 minutes, for extra large 8 minutes, for jumbo, 9 minutes. Pour shrimp and water through colander. Don't rinse shrimp, place in fridge to cool. Eat when ready.

Cooking the shrimp in the hot, but not boiling, water will leave them less chewy, and more flavorful. You win on both texture and taste.

Deveining tools are fine; however, the,tine of a fork works just as well.

Here's what we use:

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Use this (we use a bit more than the instructions tell you, but we like it spicy), boil it like you're eating it hot, then put it into a big pan of ice. Don't let the ice melt and turn to water, it will soak all the flavor off. Another option is to take the shrimp out of the water after boiling (won't take but a few minutes) and let it cool to room temp, then put in ziploc bags in the fridge overnight. My wife prefers cold shrimp like this to anything hot or fried. I admit it's pretty darn good.