Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

This is definitely not your shrimp cocktail of the 70’s with sweet, dark red sauce. We experienced the best Mexican shrimp cocktail at a restaurant in Wicker Park in Chicago many years ago. After watching the owner take one too many shots with the live band on a Friday night, we sweet talked him into giving us the recipe! Unfortunately, that recipe died when an old phone took a swim. Ugh, what was it that he had said was his secret ingredient? Hmm. We were determined to recreate it and we did.

This fresh, limey, spicy cocktail is the perfect early dinner on a warm, summer evening. We tried a number of different hot sauces and it’s enjoyable with many. We encourage you to try this recipe but make this your own.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

1 pound fresh shrimp
1 cup V8
Juice of 2-3 limes *more to taste
2 T Frank’s hot sauce *or hot sauce of your choice
Splash of Vietnamese garlic chili sauce (we also tried Valentina)
1 T minced garlic
Splash of orange juice
2 T ketchup
Avocado
Diced cucumber
Cilantro
Diced onion
Ice / water – for ice bath

De-vein and remove tails from the shrimp. Heat water to gently poach shrimp by flavoring the poaching water with some orange juice, cilantro stems, garlic and salt. Bring the water to a boil then turn off the heat, drop in shrimp and cover to cook for 2-3 minutes, they cook quickly. Remove & drain shrimp and immediately drop them into an ice bath to stop their cooking.

In a large bowl, combine V8, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic, orange juice, and ketchup. Stir and taste, you may want to adjust with more hot sauce and lime. Chill the cocktail. Dice avocado, cucumber, cilantro, onion and combine to your sauce. Add your cooked shrimp. Serve in tall glass with saltine crackers. We hope you enjoy this incredible Mexican shrimp cocktail, you might also like our salsa recipe. I’d love to hear what hot sauce is your favorite!