Shrimp Salad
Recently, I took a trip to the grocery store that serves one of my favorite cold shrimp salads, and I was taken aback by the price ! Knowing that I usually have these ingredients in my home, I decided to just whip some up and it was delicious. Needless to say I won’t be purchasing that shrimp salad anymore unless my cravings won’t allow me to be patient enough to make it from scratch. If you like this recipe, check out my Shrimp Ceviche recipe !
Guide To Poaching Shrimp For Shrimp Salad
Poaching simply means cooking of food in water that is at a temperature slightly lower than boiling. Poaching preserves the moisture in certain foods. Poached chicken will be naturally juicier than boiled chicken. This is due to the juice not escaping the meat caused by the high temperatures of boiling.
When specifically poaching shrimp, I like to add the shrimp to cold water and allow it to come to temperature with the shrimp in the water already. This ensures that the shrimp wont be shock and curl up onto it self, but rather remain in that “C” shape.
Adding Compounds to Poaching Liquid
Typically when poaching, there is some form of compound added to the liquid you are poaching with. For eggs, it is usually vinegar. For shrimp, I like to use a baking soda and salt combination. You can either dry brine the shrimp, or add this mixture directly to the water. The baking soda allows for the preservation of the texture and moisture of the shrimp, without drying and over curling.
If you dry brine, you would just add about 1 tbsp of the mixture per pound of shrimp. Then you would allow the shrimp to sit for 10-15 minutes prior to cooking. Alternatively, you could add the mix to the poaching liquid, allow it to come to temperature, and cook the shrimp that way. Both ways work well in my opinion, and they both make succulent shrimp in my delicious shrimp salad.
Shrimp Salad
Ingredients
- 2 lbs colassal shrimp peeled and tail off
- ½ cup mayo
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ shallot finely diced
- 1 stalk of celery finely diced
- 3 tbsp fresh dill chopped
- 4 tbsp fresh chives minced
- 1 tbsp all purpose seasoning
- ½ tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tbsp garlic pepper seasoning
- ½ tbsp black pepper
Instructions
- To a bowl, season your shrimp with all purpose seasoning and paprika. Set aside.
- To a pot of water on medium high heat , add in salt, baking soda, and shrimp. Allow shrimp to poach until about 90% cooked. This should take about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pot and place in a strainer and allow to cool.
- To a bowl, combine mayo, lemon juice, pepper, garlic pepper seasoning, celery, shallot, and dill. Mix well.
- Add in shrimp and mix well. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and serve chilled.
