My husband is from Delaware. He was used to having access to fresh seafood. He could cook it (or buy it cooked) the same day it was caught. Thus, he loves seafood. He loves Maryland style crab cakes, blue crabs, shrimp and Old Bay Seasoning.
I am from land-locked West Virginia. My exposure to seafood was much more limited. It came in cans, frozen or sometimes in salt. I also loved shrimp, but my came in cocktail sauce or deep fried growing up.
I never cooked shrimp until my early 20’s. My first try was not a success. After decapitating and cleaning three to four pounds of shrimp brought from the beach by a neighbor, I over cooked the entire lot. I mean, I REALLY overcooked them. They were disgusting.
After getting married, I tried cooking shrimp a few more times with my husband’s help. We also managed to overcook them, just not as much. I gave up and just bought the pre-cooked frozen shrimp for years.
We do not get to Maryland/Delaware as much since moving to the South. My husband loves seasoned steamed shrimp that is not sold anywhere around here. So, I decided to try cooking shrimp once again.
However, this time I finally got it. I did not over cook it. I also discovered another trick – not following the directions on the seasoning can.
Recipe: Steamed Shrimp with Old Bay Seasoning
Ingredients
- Shrimp
- Water
- Vinegar
- Old Bay Seasoning, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Peel and clean shrimp, if desired. (The restaurant in Maryland my husband loves leaves the shells on, so I left them on also.)
- Put at water and vinegar into a pot. The vinegar should be about 1/3 the volume of water.
- Place either a steaming basket or straining insert into the pot. A colander may be used instead.
- When water mixture boils, add shrimp, Old Bay, and salt to the basket or colander. The salt will increase the intensity of the other seasoning.
- Cover and cook until shrimp is pink and opaque.
- Stir shrimp several times to make sure seasoning is well coated.
- Remove from basket and serve immediately or place in freezer to chill before serving.
- Serve with cocktail sauce, sweet chili sauce, or melted butter.
Variations
A beer may be used instead of vinegar.
Coming from the DC metro area the vinegar
tastes better to me as well as kicking it up with some cayenne and using coarse salt