Sous Vide Garlic, Sherry, Paprika Shrimp

Simple shrimp recipe
1h shrimp

Looking for a Spanish recipe to go with Tortilla Espanola, I found this on Serious Eats that we can make with a pantry that’s at a low point.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds large peeled shrimp (about 700g) (see note)
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 6 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon sweet smoked Spanish paprika (about 6g)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 tablespoons (45ml) sherry
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (6ml) sherry vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons (30g) butter
  • Crusty bread, for serving

Process

  1. Set your sous vide water bath to 135 F
  2. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and the baking soda. Set aside.
  3. Heat olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, until garlic sizzles and softens but is not browned, about 3 minutes. Add paprika and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sherry and sherry vinegar, increase heat to high, and cook until the liquid is reduced and sauce starts to emulsify, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Season to taste with salt. Let cool about 5 minutes.
  4. Place shrimp in a heavy duty zipper-lock bag or a vacuum bag. Pour in oil/garlic mixture. Remove all air from bag using the water displacement method or a vacuum sealer. Press shrimp into a single layer.
  5. Add bagged shrimp to preheated water bath and cook for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour (the texture should show very little variation within this time frame).
  6. Pour cooked shrimp and sauce into a warm bowl and serve. Alternatively, preheat a cast iron skillet over high heat until a bead of water dropped in sizzles immediately. Place on a trivet and pour in the shrimp/oil mixture. Serve immediately, passing bread for sopping up the extra sauce.

Impressions

This is very good. I love the texture of the shrimp from the sous vide. It might be a little on the soft side for some tastes, but I really like it. The obvious, wonderful paprika flavor really challenges the claim that paprika doesn’t contribute flavor and we don’t have any special kind of paprika (so following the actual recipe would probably be even better).