Mex. shrimp cocktail - 'coctel campechana' recipe?

B

Brisketexan

1,000+ Posts
I freaking love these things. You can go into many REAL mexican restaurants (often taquerias and that sort of place) and get a coctel de camarones estilo campechana. It is served in a large glass -- often it looks like a big malt or shake glass. It's shrimp in a somewhat soupy sauce of tomato sauce/ketchup, pico de gallo (onions, tomatoes, serranos, and cilantro), a little lime juice, and chunks of fresh avocado. You scoop some of the mix out, and put it on a tortilla chip. It's a mix of sweet, spicy, tart, seafood-y, and it's fan-freaking-tastic.

To my amazement, the best I have had is at a mexican dive in Mexia (we ate there several nights in a row during a trial I recently had in the area).

I have NO idea how to make it, and the recipes I have seen online vary a bit, so I don't know which way to go. Does anyone have a recipe for this? If I can figure out how to make it, it may be one of my go-to summer light meals at home.
 
I make these all of the time at home.
It is a great summer or anytime treat.

First thing is to boil some large shrimp.
Get a bag of Crab Boil Seasoning.
A large pot filled with water, salt and at least 1 beer.
Squeeze in about 4 lemons and then throw the lemon halves in too.
I also dump quite a bit of cayenne (sp) pepper into the water.
The shrimp are not in there very long so you need a lot of flavor.
Boil small amounts at a time so you keep the water temperature up.
Put them on ice immediately when they come out.

Peel and devein.

I make my own cocktail sauce too.

In a large bowl.

Heinz Ketchup
Worchester
Lemon Juice
Prepared Horseradish
Louisanna Hot Sauce
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

You just have to wing it on the amounts.
Mostly ketchup.
Quite a bit of Worchester.
At least one whole lemon.
I like a lot of horseradish in mine too.

Next I make my version of pico de gallo.

Chopped tomatoes and onions and seeded jalapenos and cilantro.
A little lime juice, salt and fresh ground pepper.
I also like some fresh roasted corn in mine but not in this.

Dice a large avocado.

Basically just throw it all together in anyway you want to serve it.

A large martini glass is cool.

I like mine in a bowl over some chopped lettuce.

Put the shrimp and avocado over the lettuce.
Cover with cocktail sauce and pico.

A nice little touch is to throw some finely crushed tortilla chips on top with some grated cheese.

Pretty tasty.
 
Shrimp -- no problem, I've boiled more than my share over the years.

Pico and avocado -- no problem.

But the sauce -- that's where I get hung up. Your suggestion looks a lot like a traditional American cocktail sauce (e.g., I make my regular cocktail sauce with ketchup, worcestershire, lemon, and horseradish). I honestly don't know WHAT the sauce recipe used by the mexican restaurants is -- it may BE what you listed. But I want to be sure. Of course, I guess even if I try and fail, the failure will still be pretty tasty.
 
Heinz cocktail sauce, key limes, worchester, horseradish, tobasco and you are ready. Don't use ketchup..
 
go with the recipes here, and tweak them to your taste. key ingredients are the cilantro and avocado. for the base, i use half ketchup half salsa. soak the shrimp in lemons for at least 2 hours first. we serve it as a dip at parties, and its usually the biggest hit on the table, and we've been to parties loaded with mexicans from monterrey. they still raved about this white boys' shrimp cocktail.
 
My mom makes this was a sauce that starts with ketchup. I think this is a "to taste" thing that includes lots of cilantro and avocado. I would also leave out the normal ingredients in American style cocktail suace (horseradish, worcestershire, etc.) and go with a pico type sauce with serranos with lemon and lime. I love making this at home because I get lots of great shrimp and lots of avocado and it is awesome. At restaurants, they are sometimes light on the good stuff.
 
I really like the campechana, and the vuelva al la vida, at Marisco's on Burnet Rd. Although I made my own version, I never could get the
cocktail sauce to taste right. Finally, I just asked the guy at the restaurant how they made it. He smiled and said ketchup and orange juice.
 
I've been making my version of campechana for years now, and it's always a hit. The amounts have become imprecise, but I'll do my best to estimate:

1 lb. boiled shrimp (I like a smaller shrimp, though rock shrimp doesn't really work for me in this recipe. Others have already posted good tips for getting flavor in the shrimp when you cook them. If it's a larger variety, cut them in half)
1-2 avocados, diced (I like the avocado and shrimp to be about the same size)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
handful of chopped cilantro
1 12-oz can tomato juice (Do NOT use V8)
juice of 2 limes (approx. 1/4 cup)
1/4 of ketchup
salt and pepper

It's best when it's had a chance to sit for an hour or two in the refrigerator, and it keeps for a day, maybe a little longer. You can add chopped tomatoes, serranos, tabasco, oysters, more/less of something already there if you like. Enjoy.
 
This is the NUTS and is a HIT everytime I have served it.

Boil and devain the shrimp in a good powdered shrimp boil.

For the sauce you and improvise and tweek it for your liking

I use either Clamato or a good bloody mary mix like ZingLing
Mix in some Sunny Delight or OJ if you prefer
2/3 to 1/3
Add to that:
Favorite Hot Sauce to your taste
Chopped red onion
Chopped cilantro
Cut up avacado
Diced up jalepeno or serrano
Add some spices such as
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc.
Make sure it is very soupy.....
Mix it all together and let sit in fridge for a hour or two

Put some chopped lettuce in the bottom of a glass, spoon in shrimp and serve with good ol Saltine crackers
 
Went to Marisco's on Riverside today, craving a shrimp cocktail. Got one. Meh. It was edible, but it used those little tiny cocktail shrimp, had hardly any cilantro, onions, or whole vegetables, and no avocado. NOT what the Dr. ordered.

I may try a place in Bastrop tomorrow (know of a decent place there -- will see if they have campechana on the menu).
 
i may be cheating when i do this, but it is the simplest, quickest way I wihip this dish up.

boil fresh shrimp and let sit to spice it up a little.
get two packages of the HEB pico de gallo mix. i use a hot and a medium, or 2 mediums. with the spicy shrimp, the 2 mediums are plenty. chop a little extra fresh cilantro, and dice a couple of avacados. mix in a big bowl and season with garlic powder and garlic salt. i also throw in a little tony chacere's seasoning. serve with chips.
 
Scottsin, I have no idea of the name of the place in Mexia. It was just off of 14, just past the intersection with 84, I THINK. It wasn't far from the old DQ that is now a pretty good italian restaurant (Frankies?), run by a croatian guy.

Although I just looked it up, and I think it's Taqueria Mexico Grill #4, so that would be the same place. It kicked much ***. Seriously. The campechana, the grilled meat platter (beef, chicken, shrimp, sausage I think) -- all was freaking outstanding.
 
I love this stuff too.

the sauce is basically ketchup with lime juice, shrimp juice and hot sauce/chile. The key is not to use Heinz ketchup, but buy the cheaper Del Monte or generic catsup. It's even better if you can find it at a mexican grocery or Fiesta. Mexican catsup (always spelled this way) is much runnier than Heinz. This helps make the soupy consistency that makes the coctel so good.

Don't overthink it. As with most mexican food, it's really about simplicity. Also, you'll notice that most cocteles, especially at the regular mexican restaurant are not big. They are small shrimp that were bought frozen and thawed (that's where the shrimp juice comes from, to thin the sauce if you need to) and then mixed together.

The shrimp in a coctel doesn't have a lot of flavor. It's a combination of flavors together that makes it work.

I've been eating these for over 30 years, starting on the coast of the Sea of Cortez. They are one of the best things to eat in the summer, with a cold beer.
 
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