Shrimp Cocktail

Topic: Recipe
Type: Continental

From Alton Brown's Good Eats

The thing about shrimp cocktail is that you need shrimp that has no preservatives in it. Usually these are sold in 5 pound blocks.

If you don't have a seafood place to buy shrimp with no preservatives and stuff, the Tiger shrimp at Sam's is pretty good, but you'll find one or two shrimp that aren't that great. The trick is to rinse the shrimp while defrosting so that when the ice melts, the preservatives don't soak into the meat, but once the ice is off, finish the defrosting in a colander in the fridge.

Anyways:

1 lb tiger shrimp with the shell on. Sam's sells them already de-veined.
2 Tablespoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups water
Some olive oil

Dissolve salt and sugar into water and cool the water with ice or in the freezer.
Brine the shrimp with the liquid for 30 minutes. If the water doesn't cover all of it, add more.

Preheat the broiler. Pat the shrimp dry and toss in olive oil. Broil for about 60 seconds on each side.

Chill immediately and serve with cocktail sauce.