St. Elmo shrimp cocktail
Photo: David Berkowitz · CC BY 2.0

History

St. Elmo Steak House has served the cocktail since the early 1900s in its 127 South Illinois Street dining room. The kitchen grinds the horseradish daily; commercial prepared horseradish is not used. National food writers have called it one of the most-imitated appetizers in American steakhouse cooking, and St. Elmo bottles the sauce for retail through its online store.

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Common allergens: Shellfish

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails on
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup fresh horseradish root, peeled and finely grated, or 1/2 cup prepared horseradish drained of its liquid
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • Pinch of kosher salt

Method

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with the lemon halves squeezed and dropped in, plus the Old Bay.
  2. Add the shrimp and cook 90 seconds, until pink and just opaque through. Drain immediately and shock in ice water to stop cooking.
  3. Dry the shrimp on a paper towel and refrigerate while you make the sauce.
  4. Whisk the ketchup, freshly grated horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire and salt in a small bowl. Taste and add more horseradish until the sauce makes your eyes water from across the room.
  5. Spoon the sauce into small ramekins. Arrange the chilled shrimp around the rim of each ramekin, tails out.
  6. Serve immediately, on ice if possible, with extra lemon wedges.

Tip from the editors. Use fresh-grated horseradish root if you can find it. The volatile compounds dissipate within hours, which is why St. Elmo grinds it daily and serves it the same day.

Where to eat st. elmo shrimp cocktail

St. Elmo shrimp cocktail in Indianapolis

St. Elmo Steak House ★ 4.8

$$$$ Tasting $70 to $130 a la carteSteakhouseDowntown

St. Elmo Steak House on South Illinois in Indianapolis since 1902. The canonical Hoosier steakhouse with the eye-watering horseradish shrimp cocktail.

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