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Created by Chef Remy
Sweet Gulf shrimp tossed in a bold, zesty remoulade with celery, capers, and green onions, the kind of salad that makes you the hero of every potluck and the reason folks ask for your recipe.
Remoulade is the soul of this salad. That tangy, mustardy, slightly spicy sauce that turns simple boiled shrimp into something people fight over at the buffet table. I have been making remoulade since I was tall enough to reach my grandmother Evangeline's counter, and I can tell you there are as many recipes as there are cooks in Louisiana. This one is mine.
The secret is balance. You need the sharp bite of Creole mustard, the heat from good Louisiana hot sauce, the punch of horseradish, and enough acid to make it all sing. Too much of any one thing and the sauce falls flat. But get it right, and you have something that coats each shrimp in pure Louisiana magic.
At Lagniappe, we serve this salad piled high on toasted French bread for lunch, and folks clean their plates and order another. It works just as well over crisp lettuce for a lighter meal or stuffed into a ripe avocado when you want to get fancy. The shrimp do the heavy lifting, sweet and tender from a quick poach in seasoned water. The vegetables add crunch and freshness. And the remoulade ties everything together with that unmistakable Creole flavor that tastes like home.
Quantity
2 pounds
peeled and deveined
Quantity
2 tablespoons, divided
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
2
Quantity
1
halved
Quantity
1 cup
Quantity
3 tablespoons
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
2 teaspoons
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
2 cloves
minced fine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
drained and roughly chopped
Quantity
3 stalks
diced small
Quantity
4
sliced thin, white and green parts
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
to taste
freshly cracked
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large Gulf shrimp (21-25 count)peeled and deveined | 2 pounds |
| Creole seasoning | 2 tablespoons, divided |
| kosher salt | 1 tablespoon |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| lemon (for poaching)halved | 1 |
| mayonnaise | 1 cup |
| Creole mustard | 3 tablespoons |
| prepared horseradish | 2 tablespoons |
| hot sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| Worcestershire sauce | 2 teaspoons |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| garlicminced fine | 2 cloves |
| capersdrained and roughly chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| celerydiced small | 3 stalks |
| green onionssliced thin, white and green parts | 4 |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
| smoked paprika | 1/2 teaspoon |
| black pepperfreshly cracked | to taste |
| butter lettuce leaves | for serving |
| crusty French bread or po'boy rolls (optional) | for serving |
Fill a large pot with water and add one tablespoon of Creole seasoning, the kosher salt, bay leaves, and both lemon halves. Give those lemons a good squeeze before dropping them in. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Your kitchen should smell like Louisiana already.
While the water heats, toss your raw shrimp with the remaining tablespoon of Creole seasoning in a bowl. When the water reaches a full boil, drop in all the shrimp at once and stir gently. Watch them closely. The moment they curl into a C shape and turn pink, about two to three minutes, they are done. Overcooked shrimp are rubbery and sad. We are not making sad food.
Drain the shrimp immediately and spread them on a sheet pan in a single layer. Slide them into the refrigerator to cool completely, about fifteen minutes. Do not run them under cold water. That washes away all the seasoning you just built. Patience here. The shrimp need to be cold before they meet the remoulade.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Creole mustard, horseradish, hot sauce, Worcestershire, lemon juice, and minced garlic. The color should be pale gold with visible mustard seeds. Taste it. This is your base, and it should have backbone. Add more hot sauce if you like heat, more horseradish if you want that sinus-clearing punch.
Fold in the chopped capers, diced celery, sliced green onions, parsley, and smoked paprika. Stir until everything is evenly distributed. The celery gives you crunch, the green onions bring a mild bite, the capers add those little bursts of briny sharpness. This is how you build layers of flavor in a cold dish.
Chop the chilled shrimp into generous bite-sized pieces, about three cuts per shrimp. You want pieces big enough to taste, small enough to pile on bread. Add them to the remoulade and fold gently until every piece is coated. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and taste. Adjust the salt if needed, but remember the shrimp brought seasoning with them.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes to let the flavors marry. The salad improves as it sits. Serve generous scoops over butter lettuce leaves, pile it high on toasted po'boy bread, or stuff it into ripe avocado halves. However you serve it, do not be stingy. That is not the Louisiana way.
1 serving (about 220g)
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