Jump to:
Mexican shrimp cocktail is a fun makeover of a traditional dinner party starter that injects passionate Baja California flavours into a classic prawn/shrimp cocktail. Using a base of chilli and lime, spicy tomato juice with fresh crunchy vegetables, packed with cold water prawns and poured over smooth avocado, our shrimp cocktail is then topped with the juiciest grilled shrimps to make the best Mexican shrimp cocktail. This is a savoury Mexican Martini at its best.
Following the order of a proper five-course dinner dictated by the haute cuisine of France where it originated, you begin with hors d’oeuvres, usually a small plate of light food often eaten with your fingers. This is then followed by the fish course, the main, cheese and finally with a dessert. Whichever one of these courses is your favourite, the most intense flavours have to come at the start.
Of course, modern-day dining that takes inspiration from this traditional order of fayre will blur the lines between courses, turn them upside down and introduce unusual ingredients designed to excite the senses, but keeping it simple without molecular gastronomy, fancy gadgetry or a lifetime of cheffing, we bring you a fantastic starter/fish course including inspiration of an amuse-bouche that perfectly mixes the courses seamlessly and perfect to start any dinner. We have also added another dimension, key, to making any dinner fabulous..the drink! And doing this, we have literally ended up with a stunning seafood cocktail. An amazing combination of aperitif and antipasti that is a Mexican shrimp cocktail must try.
Mexican shrimp cocktail - the perfect starter
This Mexican shrimp cocktail has the best of everything an amuse-bouche, starter or fish course needs to have. An amuse-bouche is a small bite-sized delicacy designed by chefs to titillate the mouth “bouche” with intense flavours and be picked up in one piece and devoured. The shrimps or crevettes are cooked to perfection in a little butter and placed on top of a prawn cocktail made with succulent cold water prawns in a spicy, chilli and lime, tomato salsa. You pick up the shrimps using your fingers and scoff them straight down just like the amuse-bouche and whilst taking swigs or little spoonfuls of this delicious prawn gazpacho or “pico de gallo” Virgin Mary style cocktail, this combination of drink / amuse-bouche / fish course is a real winner.
How to serve a Mexican shrimp cocktail
There is a certain theatre too with the serving of a prawn cocktail in a cocktail glass. The presentation, the ceremony of bringing a tray of cocktail glasses to the table. The excitement of the arrival of the dish, the uncertainty of what the dish is! Do you eat it? Do you drink it? The familiarity of when a tray of delicious drinks arrives only to be confused when you see that they’re not actually drinks! That is the theatre of serving the unexpected. Also, it might be prudent to add that this is not simply a starter served in a martini glass. The classic (and brilliant) traditional prawn cocktail of the ’70s and ’80s is a starter or fish course served in a drinks glass but because the sauce is mayonnaise, ketchup with citrus, Worcestershire sauce, tabasco and perhaps a little cognac, the consistency is too thick to drink. Isn’t a cocktail after all something that you drink? Our Mexican shrimp cocktail certainly has been inspired by the incredible traditional prawn cocktail but it is more fun, more vibrant and definitely as tasty, if not more so, and yes, you can drink it! You can go big on the presentation with height in the glasses by using the biggest, juiciest shrimp you can pile on tortilla slices that you can scoop or dip into the glass or you can serve this in shot glasses with one shrimp on top. It really is the best of party food even if it looks a little extravagant.
Vibrant and spicy Mexican flavours
The flavours of Baja California, which is the Mexican state on the peninsula that borders California are vibrant and spicy. Tacos from Tijuana are laden with avocados, seafood and meats, chilis, coriander/cilantro and tomatoes often with cooling creamy sauces and mint to tame the fiery heat. The sweetness and spice of many of these handheld delicious dishes can be transferred to many dishes to give a Baja twist on just about any dish you want to and our Baja king prawn cocktail or shrimp cocktail is a really good example. It is easy to make with everyday grocery items but certainly makes an entrance when you serve it.
The sauce is a mix of a pico de gallo salsa, a virgin mary cocktail and a Spanish gazpacho. Start by finely chopping fresh vegetables to give a crunch. We use cucumber, onion, tomatoes, celery and garlic. Adding chopped coriander/cilantro and mint introduces a warm minty, nutty and citrusy flavour and little fresh jalapenos add a lick of heat. Simply just pour over tomato juice or a mix of tomato juice and passata depending on how thick you like the sauce. You could finish it just here as it is amazing already, but we want to add more flavours that you would traditionally add to a classic cocktail, so in goes fresh citrus juice. You can use lemon or lime, but limes especially are more Mexican. Bringing out the virgin mary aspect we add Worcestershire sauce, celery salt and a little tabasco for a little bit more of a savoury heat. Now, all that is needed is to add some defrosted and drained cold water prawns in the mix and let the whole thing infuse together. Let all the ingredients mingle and you will end up with a myriad of flavours and textures that will certainly excite you.
We have crunch, fresh flavours and spicy tangy flavours with a deep umami kick with some amazing savoury notes too. Sweet and spicy and cooling all in one mouthful.
When ready to serve, chop up some fresh avocado and spoon it into the bottom of a martini glass. This adds a softness to the dish and also a refreshing smoothness to complement the prawn cocktail which is poured in over the top. Again, at this point, this dish is amazing and ready to serve with some tortilla chips but we want to go even further and even more gratuitous.
Impressive grilled shrimps
De-shell some large uncooked shrimp / Madagascan crevettes or tiger prawns, keeping the heads on and slice a knife down the backs of the prawns to devein. This will force the prawn to curl up when cooked and give a lovely shape that will support itself to sit upright when you serve it. If you are serving this at a BBQ, then grill over some live flames to chargrill and give some more theatre or simply fry in a pan with some butter for four minutes until lovely and plump.
Place a glass in front of everyone brimming with the savoury cocktail and arrange three succulent prawns upright on each one and get stuck in. Tortilla chips on the side can be dipped in the sauce and the whole dish, however dainty it may look, just entices you to tuck in without any cutlery at all. Just make sure there are finger bowls and plenty of paper towels and a few bowls to place freshly sucked prawn heads into (for those who like that).
More delicious recipes with Mexican flavours
Amazing Sunday Roast Beef with The Best Chilli Cheese Sauce
Trending recipes on the blog
Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe
Ingredients
- 160 g of cucumber
- 160 g of red onion
- 160 g of cherry tomatoes
- 1 celery stick
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh mint
- Juice of 2 limes
- 200 g of defrosted cold water prawns
- ½ teaspoon of celery salt
- A dash of Worcestershire sauce
- A dash of Tabasco
- 125 ml or half a cup of tomato juice or mix of passata and tomato juice
- ½ tablespoon of tomato ketchup
- 1 ripe avocado
- 12 uncooked shrimp/tiger prawns
- Tortilla chips or slices of soft tortillas dried in the oven
Instructions
- Finely chop the cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes, celery, garlic, coriander and mint and mix together in a bowl.
- Squeeze the limes over the mix and add the tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and celery salt and stir through.
- For a thinner Virgin Mary style sauce just add tomato juice or if you prefer a thicker consistency add a half half mix of tomato passata and tomato juice and stir through. Add tomato ketchup to taste.
- Stir in peeled, defrosted cold water prawns.
- Chop the avocado in half and take the stone out. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and chop into cubes. Spoon in equal amounts into the bottom of a martini glass and spoon the prawn cocktail mix over the top in each glass.
- Peel the shrimps / tiger prawns leaving the heads on. Run a knife down the back of each one and devein.
- Heat a pan with a little oil and butter and fry the prawns for about 4 minutes until cooked. Sit three prawns on top of each glass and serve with the tortilla chips.
Leave a Reply