Shrimp Remoulade With Two Sauces
I think remoulade sauce is one of the most useful and enjoyable flavoring agents that money can buy. I like it so much that it's the very first recipe in my cookbook. Which reminds me. . . The new, third edition of Tom Fitzmorris's New Orleans Food is now in bookstores throughout the New Orleans area, and can be ordered on line. The main difference between this one and the two that came before are the we've taken a lot of photographs of the dishes in the books, and revised the cover.The price is at about $30, depending on the vendor. I hope you enjoy it. . .and both kinds of remoulade. There are two kinds of remoulade sauce served around New Orleans, and everybody has a distinct favorite. My preference is for the orange-red kind that's utterly unique to our area. White remoulade sauce, made with mayonnaise, is actually closer to the classic French recipe. It's good enough that in recent years I've taken to making both kinds of sauces, and letting people take their pick.
What they have in common is the main active ingredient: Creole mustard, a rough, brown, country-style mustard that has a bit of horseradish mixed in.
The shrimp for shrimp remoulade should be medium size--about 25-30 count to the pound. If you're making only the red style of remoulade, a good trick is slightly to under-boil the shrimp, then marinate them in the rather acidic sauce. That will finish the "cooking," in much the same way the marinade of ceviche does.
The word "remoulade," is an old French dialect word that refers to a kind of radish that hasn't been part of the recipe for centuries.
- Shrimp:
- Leafy tops of a bunch of celery
- 5 bay leaves
- 3 cloves
- 2 Tbs. Tabasco garlic marinade
- 1 large lemon, sliced
- 1/2 cup salt
- 3 lbs. shrimp
- Red Remoulade Sauce:
- 1/2 cup chili sauce (bottled) or ketchup
- 1/2 cup Creole mustard
- 1 Tbs. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. Tabasco
- 1/2 tsp. pureed garlic
- 1/2 cup green onion tops, finely sliced
- 1 cup olive oil
- White Remoulade Sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Creole mustard
- 2 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. garlic-flavored Tabasco
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup green onion tops, finely sliced
1. Bring a gallon of water to a boil and add all the ingredients except the shrimp. Boil the water for fifteen minutes, then add the shrimp. Remove from the heat immediately, and allow the shrimp to steep for four minutes, or until the shell separates from the meat easily.
2. Remove the shrimp and allow to cool enough to handle. Peel and devein the shrimp
3. To make the red remoulade sauce, combine all ingredients except green onions and olive oil in a bowl. Add the oil a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all oil is absorbed. Taste the sauce and add more mustard or chili sauce to taste. Stir in green onion tops.
4. For the white remoulade sauce, just blend all the ingredients except the green onions. Then add the green onions last.
5. Place the shrimp on a leaf of lettuce, sliced avocados, sliced tomatoes, or Belgian endive leaves. Drizzle half the shrimp with one sauce, half with the other. The sauces can also be served in pools for dipping.
Makes eight appetizers or six entree salads.