The Clever Shrimp Marinade Inspired By A Classic Cocktail

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Shrimp should be a staple seafood in everyone's home cooking repertoire. It's versatile, deliciously prepared from the sauté pan to the grill to a boiling pot. It's inexpensive and easy to keep on hand in the freezer. And its mild base flavor harmonizes beautifully with just about any ingredient or seasoning you want to throw at it. To get more out of your shrimp marinade for maximum flavor, though, you should let the little guys marinate for at least an hour. Of course, there are other tricks and mistakes to be mindful of when it comes to marinating shrimp, like keeping your sugar, salt, and acid levels balanced. To cover all these bases, you can use one of the easiest and tastiest shrimp marinades, which comes (mostly) premixed from the grocery or liquor store. Marinate shrimp for your next seafood dish in bloody mary mix for perfectly balanced flavor.

You can use only the mix, straight out of the bottle, but adding vodka for a fully-realized bloody mary marinade will give the shrimp even more flavor. The tomato juice offers sweetness and a punch of umami that pairs nicely with other salt-forward ingredients. Plenty of acid is provided by the lemon juice and vinegar present in the mix. And the vodka adds a touch of mouth-puckering dryness, leaning bitter for a killer flavor profile that hits every taste bud on the tongue. It's almost like a strictly shrimpy cioppino. And you can customize this cocktail-inspired marinade with other common bloody mary tweaks to get your shrimp recipe right where you want it.

To pull off this special shrimp marinade, you'll naturally start with your bloody mary mix. Almost anything will do, but choose something that's already pretty close to your preferred flavor profile. For sautéed or grilled shrimp, you can marinate your shrimp in bloody mary mix (plus vodka) for only a couple hours and then get to cooking. But, for an extra tasty appetizer that gives new meaning to the phrase "shrimp cocktail," try poaching the shrimp, then leaving them to chill in the fridge in a bloody mary marinade for at least eight hours. Medium to medium-large shrimp (36/40 or 41/50 sized), peeled with the tails on will work beautifully. For a nice fleshy exterior and juicy interior with a perfect crunch when you bite through, try dry brining your shrimp in baking soda for just about 15 minutes before you cook them.

To modify your shrimp marinade to your particular tastes, you can use additions you already enjoy in a bloody mary cocktail. There are some easy standards, like celery salt, Old Bay, lemon or lime juice, and cocktail sauce — all similarly common in shrimp marinades, so you know they'll work great. If you like it spicy, try a few shakes of Tabasco or cayenne powder. For more saltiness and bold umami flavor, add some Worcestershire, Bragg Liquid Aminos, or a splash of Guinness. Part of the beauty of this shrimp marinade is, you can splash some vodka in any extra bloody mary mix and sip on a cocktail while preparing your dish.