Chef Joost
Gebakken Schol
A whole North Sea plaice, dusted with flour and fried in butter, is the Dutch weeknight fish at its plainest and best: crisp skin, sweet flesh, potatoes waiting.
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Hollandse Garnalen met Citroenmayonaise
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The smallest shrimp on the Dutch table carries the largest bit of coast: sweet North Sea grey shrimp, cooked at sea, peeled by hand, and served without fuss.
Main Dishes
Dutch
Special Occasion
Dinner Party
Celebration
20 min
Active Time
8 min cook•28 min total
Yield4 servings
In Yerseke, the tide table told us when mussels arrived, but the little grey shrimp belonged to the quay in a different way. You bought them already cooked, still faintly salty from the North Sea, and if you were lucky someone had peeled them by hand before impatience ruined the afternoon. Hollandse garnalen, Dutch grey shrimp, are not impressive at first glance. That is their trick.
But let me tell you a secret: these small brown-grey creatures are one of the great luxuries of the Dutch coast. They are cooked aboard or soon after landing because they spoil quickly, then peeled, traditionally by hand, a task so fiddly it makes you understand why a bowl of them feels like a gift. The flavour is delicate, sweet, mineral, almost nutty. If you drown it in sauce, you have paid good money to taste mayonnaise. For obvious reasons, this is a poor bargain.
So we keep it simple. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. A little lemon, a soft mayonnaise, buttered brown bread, maybe chopped chives or parsley, and the shrimp kept cold until the last moment. The cook's work is restraint. Let the sea speak first, then pass the bread.
Hollandse garnalen are the brown shrimp Crangon crangon, long landed along the Dutch North Sea coast and especially associated with fishing places such as Stellendam, Den Oever, Lauwersoog, and the Wadden Sea ports. Their fragility shaped the tradition: the shrimp are cooked very soon after capture, then peeled by hand or machine, with hand-peeled garnalen still prized for their intact texture and clean sweetness. The dish is less a single formal recipe than a coastal way of eating, served on buttered bread, in cocktails, through ragout for croquettes, or by the bowl at a feestelijke tafel, a celebratory table.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
hand-peeled Hollandse garnalen (Dutch grey shrimp)
Quantity
400g
chilled
dark brown bread or rye bread
Quantity
4 large slices
good butter
Quantity
50g
softened
eggs
Quantity
2 large
egg yolk
Quantity
1
Dutch mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
neutral oil
Quantity
150ml
sunflower oil preferred
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plus wedges to serve
lemon zest
Quantity
1 teaspoon
finely grated
chives
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
finely chopped
fine sea salt and white pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| hand-peeled Hollandse garnalen (Dutch grey shrimp)chilled | 400g |
| dark brown bread or rye bread | 4 large slices |
| good buttersoftened | 50g |
| eggs | 2 large |
| egg yolk | 1 |
| Dutch mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| neutral oilsunflower oil preferred | 150ml |
| fresh lemon juiceplus wedges to serve | 1 tablespoon |
| lemon zestfinely grated | 1 teaspoon |
| chivesfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt and white pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan
- •Mixing bowl
- •Balloon whisk
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Lower the two whole eggs into simmering water and cook for 8 minutes. Cool them in cold water, peel, and cut into halves or quarters. You want the yolk just set and still golden, not chalky; chalk has no business near shrimp.
- 2
Make the mayonnaise
Whisk the egg yolk with the mustard and a pinch of salt. Add the oil very slowly at first, drop by drop, then in a thin stream once the mixture thickens. Whisk in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and a little white pepper. Taste it carefully. The sauce should brighten the shrimp, not sit on them like a winter coat.
If the mayonnaise splits, start a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and whisk the broken sauce into it slowly. No drama. Dutch kitchens have survived worse. - 3
Dress the shrimp
Keep the garnalen cold until you need them. Fold half the lemon mayonnaise through the shrimp with the chives and parsley, using a spoon and a light hand. Stop when they are just glossy. These shrimp are small and tender; stirring them as if you are mixing mortar is a crime against the coast.
- 4
Butter the bread
Spread the bread generously with softened butter. The butter is not decoration, it is structure: it protects the bread from the shrimp juices and gives the briny sweetness something rich to lean against.
- 5
Serve at once
Pile the dressed garnalen onto the buttered bread or serve them in a shallow bowl with the bread alongside. Add the boiled eggs, lemon wedges, and the remaining mayonnaise in a small dish. Serve cold, immediately, with forks for polite company and fingers for the people you actually trust.
Chef Tips
- •Buy the smallest, freshest Dutch grey shrimp you can find, ideally hand-peeled. They should smell clean and marine, never sour or ammonia-like.
- •Do not rinse peeled garnalen unless they are excessively salty. Water steals the sweetness you paid for.
- •Serve this cold but not icy. Ten minutes out of the refrigerator is enough for the flavour to wake up while the shrimp still keep their clean bite.
- •For a dinner party, serve small mounds on buttered toast as a first course, then bring a larger bowl to the table with extra bread. Gezellig, convivial, does not require complicated plating.
Advance Preparation
- •The mayonnaise can be made up to 24 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •Boil and peel the eggs a day ahead if needed.
- •Dress the shrimp no more than 30 minutes before serving; longer than that and the herbs darken while the shrimp lose their clean texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
650 calories
Total Fat
51 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
39 g
Cholesterol
345 mg
Sodium
1270 mg
Total Carbohydrates
23 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
27 g
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