Ingredients

   
700g shrimp, shell on (21–25 count)
3800g water
45g Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 lemon, halved
1 bay leaf
2g black peppercorns
  Parsley stems from 1 bunch
120g dry white wine (optional)
1 clove garlic, smashed (optional)

Ice Bath

   
2000g water
  Ice, enough to fill
20g Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Steps

  1. Combine the water, salt, lemon halves (squeezed in, then dropped in), bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley stems, and the wine and garlic if using. Boil hard, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

  2. Fill a bowl with the ice bath water, ice, and salt. Set it beside the stove.

  3. Add all the shrimp at once. Stir once, turn the heat off immediately, and cover.

  4. Sit off heat for 4–5 minutes for 21–25 count, shell on. See Poaching Shrimp for other sizes and shell states.

  5. Cut one open at 4 minutes. It should be opaque all the way through and bent into a C, not curled into a closed O — 140°F at the thickest part if you’re probing. If underdone, cover and give it 60 more seconds.

  6. Transfer to the salted ice bath for 3 minutes. Drain on a rack.

  7. Peel, leaving the tails on. Devein with the tip of a paring knife.

  8. Chill uncovered on a plate for 1 hour to dry the surface. Serve with cocktail sauce and lemon wedges.

Notes

  • Reserve the poaching liquid and the shells. Simmer the shells in the strained liquid for 15 minutes for caldo de camarón — the base for Coctel de Camarón.
  • Keep at least 2800g of water per 450g of shrimp. Less and the pot drops below 150°F when the shrimp go in, and they stew rather than poach.
  • The lid is doing the work. Uncovered, the pot sheds its heat into the room and the times are wrong.
  • The ice bath is salted for the same reason the poaching water is: plain water leaches salt and flavor out of seasoned shrimp.
  • Shell on is worth the peeling. The shells carry most of the flavor, and they buy you the caldo.
  • Buy by count per pound, not by adjective. There is no industry standard for the names: “jumbo” is used for anything from 13–15 to 26–30 depending on the seller, which is a factor of two in the weight of one shrimp.
  • At U-15 colossal, stop using the clock and use a thermometer — 140°F at the thickest part. No published recipe gives an off-heat time at that size.
  • Frozen-thawed shrimp work. Thaw overnight in the fridge, pat dry, and add a minute to the sit if they’re still cold at the center.
  • Peeled and chilled, they keep 2 days refrigerated. Don’t freeze cooked shrimp — the texture goes.
  • Scaling up: keep the water-to-shrimp ratio, not the pot. Two batches in 3800g of water beats one batch in 5700g.