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Wellspent Market founder Jim Dixon has been writing about food and restaurants for Willamette Week for a long time. He wants our readers to eat well, and he shows them how with the recipes he creates just for us by using simple cooking techniques and easy-to-find ingredients.
The average American eats nearly 5 pounds of shrimp annually, and more than 90% of our favorite seafood is imported. Shrimp from overseas is mostly farmed, and the poorly regulated aquaculture often causes environmental damage and can result in the shrimp being contaminated with all kinds of stuff you don’t really want to eat.
But Oregon pink shrimp, Pandalus jordani for the biology nerds, have been certified as a sustainable seafood source for nearly 20 years. Local fishers harvest about 20 million pounds between April and October, but the small crustaceans are always processed and frozen immediately, so they’re available all year.
Calling a dish of seafood dressed with a mildly spicy sauce a cocktail originated on the West Coast in the late 1800s. Bartenders would put a few oysters in a glass and add a little whiskey, horseradish, lemon and sometimes Worcestershire. A shrimp version came with better refrigeration, and the sauce became tomato-based. While bottles of seafood cocktail sauce are cheap and available everywhere, this simple version can be whipped up in a few minutes and tastes much better. It makes about a cup, enough for several cocktails.
Recipe
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher-style sea salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish (from a jar)
- 1 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce
- 1 cup Oregon pink shrimp
Combine the sugar, salt, and vinegar in a bowl and stir to dissolve. Stir in the olive oil, then add the ketchup, horseradish and hot sauce.
Put a cup or so of the chilled shrimp in a nice bowl and spoon on some sauce.
