Jonathan Zaragoza is a Chicago-based chef who got his start in professional kitchens working at the Michelin-starred Sepia and Sixteen, before becoming the chef of Masa Azul at 22. Jonathan’s path has taken him throughout Mexico, deep into its rich culinary heritage, to bring its traditions with him to London, Dubai, Paris, and the U.S.

Jonathan Zaragoza

I’m a big fan of classic American steakhouse shrimp cocktail: the spicy-sweet cocktail sauce, the horseradish and lemon, and the perfectly poached shrimp. (Although let’s be honest, the shrimp doesn’t even have to be perfectly poached, and it often isn’t.)But I’m an even bigger fan of the cóctel de camarón served in Mexican restaurants that specialize in seafood, or marisquerías, where poached shrimp is served in a tomato broth. At marisquerías, you can doctor up the cóctel with ketchup, maybe a little Maggi Seasoning sauce or the hot sauce of your choice. For this recipe, I use a fresh shrimp stock both to poach the shrimp and as the base for the cóctel broth. Instead of leaving it to diners to figure out the seasoning, I dialed it in, spiking the broth with grated raw garlic and Valentina hot sauce to give it punch, along with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and Clamato to pack it with glutamates and inosinates so it’s deeply savory. You can serve this cóctel with some tostadas and it’s the perfect dish for sharing with family and friends, but if you want extra credit, you should serve it with buttery fried saltines (a move I picked up from my buddy Fredo Nogueira, who owns Cane &amp; Table in New Orleans).

Cóctel de Camarón (Mexican-Style Shrimp Cocktail)