In Port Aransas, we bought fresh Gulf Colossal Shrimp right off the boat! We had looked at shrimp in the local markets and they just didn’t look all that great for $11.99 lb.
We asked a fisherman where he suggested to buy fresh shrimp. He pointed out to a boat, named ‘Polly Anna’ and said there is the best place to buy and the shrimp couldn’t be any fresher. You couldn’t beat the price either, $5.99 lb!
I learned how to make homemade cocktail sauce from some hunters at a shrimp boil. Added a few of my own ingredients and here is the recipe for my Homemade Real Texas Cocktail Sauce.
You can download and print a full version of the recipe just by clicking on the hyperlink below:
Real Texas Shrimp Cocktail with
Homemade Real Texas Cocktail Sauce
Ingredients
Real Texas Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
1 cup Ketchup
1 – 2 tablespoons Horseradish (Not creamed)
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 tablespoon Worchester Sauce
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Pepper
Real Texas Shrimp Boil
1 – 2 pounds extra-large fresh Shrimp
2 whole Jalapenos, halved and seeds removed
1 teaspoon Szechuan Peppercorns (or Black Peppercorns)
1 tablespoon Zatarain’s Blackened Seasoning
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
1/2 fresh Lemon, quartered
Directions
Real Texas Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
Pour Ketchup in a bowl. Add horseradish, Worchester sauce, black pepper and fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and put it in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
Real Texas Shrimp Boil
Peel and devein the shrimp. Place in a bowl and put in the refrigerator until ready to boil.
Prepare water to boil. Add Jalapeños, Szechuan Peppercorns (or Black Peppercorns). Add Zatarain’s blackened seasoning, and kosher salt. Squeeze some of the lemon juice into the water and add the rest of the squeezed lemon quarters to the water.
Bring the water to a full boil and add the shrimp. The shrimp is cooked when the shrimp rises to the top of the boiling water.
Use a strainer spoon and scoop out the shrimp and run it under cool water. Immediately put it in the refrigerator to stop it from cooking. Chill the shrimp for at least 15 minutes.
Take the shrimp out of the refrigerator. Use a margarita glass, fill it with crushed ice. Place a little sauce cup with cocktail sauce in it, in the center of the crushed ice. Place the shrimp on the edge of the glass.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Ramona, yep, the Pollyanna is always my choice for great FRESH shrimp. Here in REAL SOUTH TEXAS, we cook our shrimp in the shell. I can see you are much more civilized. I think cooking the shrimp in the shell does add some flavor, my somewhat CAJUN opinion. Next time you come, we’ll have a shrimp boil!
The Polly Anna in my very humble opinion is in fact the very best place to buy shrimp. We make it to Port A 2 to 3 times a year and we always stop there first and boil up a few pounds of shrimp to eat while we are there: shrimp and egg tacos for breakfast, shrimp poor boys for lunch, green shrimp enchiladas or grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon for dinner, and just plain ol’ boiled shrimp with sauce in between. Then we also always will go back by the Polly Anna on the way home and pick up 5 lbs or so to take back and freeze.
We boil ours with the shell on too. Your information about not overcooking them and chilling them quickly is great. We usually dump them in an ice chest with ice water when we take them out of the pot. Keeps ’em “crispy” like they should be.