Having recently spent some time in Latin America to attend a friend’s wedding (congrats again Mr. and Mrs. Spinks!) my head is full of vibrant fruit, spicy seasoning and lovely fresh seafood. While the food in that part of the world is a trove of fantastic recipes the one I kept ordering again and again was the humble shrimp cocktail. Each time I ordered it seemed a bit different, so this version combines all of my favourite elements from eating this simple dish for weeks on end, to be exact – ketchup and mayonnaise.

I saw various sizes of shrimps used in this dish, from tiny salad shrimp to absolute monsters of the deep. I tend to land somewhere in the middle but tailor it to your preference.

To be totally honest, this is a dish where you can totally spare your pocketbook and go for lovely little inexpensive shrimp.

Serves 4


Coctel de Camarones

Ingredients:

⅓ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons ketchup

1 lime

1 tsp hot sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

½ cup finely chopped red onion

1 cup finely chopped cucumber

1 pound cooked shrimp

1 head of lettuce coarsely torn, to garnish

Avocado, to garnish

Saltine crackers, to garnish

Method:

1. Whisk together mayonnaise, ketchup, juice of ½ a lime, and hot sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add red onion, cucumber, and cooked shrimp and toss together until everything is evenly coated in dressing. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce.

2. Arrange lettuce on a plate and place shrimp on top of the lettuce. On a separate plate arrange the avocado and crackers. Serve shrimp topping with crackers and avocado at the table and pass additional hot sauce and lime wedges alongside.

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