Pickled Shrimp from John Besh

I watched him make this on one of the episodes of his new show and it looks so good. He did it a little differently than the recipe below.

ETA: I watched the episode again. The brine was the same except I saw some spring onions in it and he used lime juice, Meyer lemon juice and just put the halved orange in the pot. No zest was used.

He boiled the shrimp in spring onions, garlic, onion, celery and a small sachet of crab boil. He brought the water to a boil, put the shrimp in and then lowered the water to almost off. He said he didn't want to cook the shrimp all the way. He stirred them around in the water a bit. He took the shrimp directly from the pot with a slotted spoon and added them in layers to the jar, alternating the vegetables. After this, he poured the hot brine in. He said the brine would cook the shrimp a bit more.

He didn't blanch any of the vegetables. He had some baby green beans, whole, purple and yellow cauliflower florets, whole okra, peeled baby carrots, garlic, spring onions. It looked like he had some peppers in it, maybe red and yellow, but I didn't see them put in.

His Recipe:
Here is my recipe for Pickled Shrimp that's included in the Bon Appetit Magazine and Longines Guide on how to throw the perfect Kentucky Derby party.




PICKLED SHRIMP

Serves 10




This recipe requires high-quality wild shrimp. Of course, I prefer wild Gulf shrimp from the waters I know. It’s better to find the best shrimp than to worry about whether they’ve been frozen or not. Unless the shrimp come straight from the net to your kitchen, sometimes the highest quality are frozen. This is where a trusty fishmonger makes all the difference.




You can mix up your vegetables with the shrimp, using whatever’s fresh and local. I love to add cauliflower, carrots, daikon, beans, onions, mirliton, and/or okra.



FOR THE BRINE

2 cups rice wine vinegar

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1/2 cup sugar

5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon coriander seed

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1 tablespoon peppercorns

1 tablespoon red chili flakes

2 bay leaves

Pinch kosher salt




FOR THE SHRIMP

12 baby carrots, peeled

12 green beans

12 pearl onions, peeled

12 okra pods

2 pounds boiled wild Gulf shrimp, peeled and deveined




1. For the brine, combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Add 2 ½ cups water and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.




2. Pack all the vegetables and shrimp into a very large glass jar, alternating layers. Pour the hot brine into the jar to cover. Cover the jar and let cool. Refrigerate overnight. Serve right from the jar when you’re ready.



—From My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh/Andrews McMeel Publishing





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