A Recipe for Charleston Pickled Spiced Shrimp

5 from 2 votes

The bold flavors in this Charleston Pickled Spiced Shrimp recipe are so fresh and intense, an encore performance will inevitably be required.

Prep Time1

Cook Time5

Pickling and Brining Time11

Total Time12 5

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: toasts

Cost: $2.79 per serving

½ cup lemon juice from 2 large lemons, both zested and juiced, zest to be reserved for poaching the shrimp
½ medium red onion sliced thin
5 stalks celery with leaves reserved; sliced thin on the diagonal
2 large carrots peeled and sliced thin on the diagonal
1 medium fennel bulb with fronds reserved; sliced thin on the diagonal
1 medium Fresno chili may also use a jalapeño; seeds removed, halved and sliced thin
½ cup Champagne vinegar
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 ½ tablespoons celery seed
2 teaspoons garlic powder

8 slices rye bread NOTE: you needn't make all 8 toasts at once, as the pickled shrimp and their vegetables will keep in the refrigerator for a week
4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Italian parsley leaves, dill, celery leaves, and reserved fennel fronds freshly torn

Combine lemon juice, Champagne vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce, celery seed, and garlic powder in a large bowl and whisk to incorporate. Add the sliced vegetables and give everything a good toss.

Add 4 quarts of water to a large stock pot. Add in two tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning and the zest of two lemons and bring all to a boil. Add the shrimp and poach for no more than 2 minutes. Use a spider to skim the shrimp from the water and place hot shrimp directly into the pickling liquid.
Spoon everything into a large and clean glass jar making sure all of the shrimp and vegetables are covered with the liquid. Attach the lid tightly. Place into refrigerator to chill for 9 to 12 hours or overnight. NOTE: If you own a wide mouth canning funnel, it makes transferring into the jar much easier.

About 2 hours prior to serving, remove the jar of pickled shrimp from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
Heavily butter as many slices of rye bread as you intend to serve. Brown the buttered sides in a pan on the stove or on a griddle before flipping and finishing them on the reverse. There will be enough butter to adequately brown the bread on both sides once you get going.
In a small bowl, whisk some mayonnaise together with a good quality sherry vinegar and some garlic powder. Liberally smear the aioli on one side of each griddled slice of rye. NOTE: if you would like to enjoy the toasts as finger food, once you've spread with the aioli, use a chef's knife to cut each slice of rye into thirds (or sixths if the slices are ginormous), reassemble, then proceed with adding shrimp and vegetables.
Place enough of the shrimp atop the aioli to completely cover the surface. Then add as many pickled vegetables as possible to also cover completely. Tear fresh leaves of Italian parsley, sprigs of fresh dill, celery leaves, and a few fronds of the fennel and lightly bunch them atop the toast.
Complete each plate with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of black pepper and serve at room temperature with plenty of napkins and good wine.

Pickled shrimp and vegetables will keep under refrigeration up to one week.