Shrimp in Black Pepper Sauce (Camarones a la Pimienta)

(This picture is of the oysters in black pepper sauce that we ate at Villa Rica in Veracruz. The recipe using shrimp is from my book,  Zarela’s Veracruz (Houghton Mifflin 2001.)   If you want to use oysters, make the sauce adding extra liquid and adjusting the seasoning and lightly poach them.)

One of the standard Veracruzan treatments for any kind of seafood is a la pimienta –- briefly pan-cooked with onion, garlic, fresh green chiles, and a hefty dose of black pepper.  With a few little adjustments in timing the same general formula works equally well for crabmeat, shucked oysters and scallops, squid cut into bite-size pieces, or virtually any seafood variety I can think of.  Use this recipe as a general model for all kinds of raw seafood.  The octopus version given below is a good pattern for anything a la pimienta made with pre-cooked seafood.  For one pound of seafood you should always use roughly the same amounts of oil and other seasonings.

I like about 1 teaspoon of salt in the dish, but it is surprisingly good without.  Do not scorn the finishing touch of mayonnaise, which I at first thought was unnecessary.  It really does mellow and round out the dish.  In Veracruz, people also like to add a generous slug of Maggi sauce.  This I usually omit.

            I prefer to use peeled shrimp because they absorb the pepper better, but shrimp in the shell are also very good.

Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely sliced or chopped

3 garlic cloves, slivered

3 – 4 jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeded if desired, sliced or julienned

1 pound shrimp, any preferred size, peeled and deveined or in the shell

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon salt (optional)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the oil to rippling over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and a little wilted but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the chiles and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes, or until softened.

 Add the shrimp, optional salt, and pepper and cook about for 3 minutes, or until they are just done through.  Swirl in the optional mayonnaise and serve at once.  It makes a great and very quick meal with fried plantains (see page 000) and cooked white rice (see page 000).

VARIATION: For Pulpos a la Pimienta, cook and peel 3 – 3 1/2 pounds octopus (cleaned weight) by the directions on page 000; cut into 1-inch pieces.  You should have about 1 pound, or 2 cups, cooked octopus meat.  Follow the directions above, adding the octopus to the pan with the pepper and salt and cooking it to heat through, about 2 minutes.