It’s disappointing that many restaurants no longer accompany shellfish like shrimp and crab with this iconic American dipping sauce. Nowadays it comes with no zing, apparently generated by an app designed to impress foodies rather than people.
In V1 it was ketchup and horseradish, and it was great. V2 came along when someone spiffed it up with some lemon juice – and later lemon zest – and all was well with the world. Then later a genius who has not yet been adequately recognized created V3 by either substituting chili sauce for the ketchup or going 50/50.
Later someone slapped in some Worcestershire sauce. Near Perfection was achieved. V4.
Somewhere along the line I added garlic and ground coriander. I think it’s another improvement — but then again I’m one step away from putting garlic on my morning Raisin Bran.
Yeah, I get it. Shellfish flesh has a delicate flavor. And there is nothing subtle about this sauce. Some, therefore, conclude it overpowers the shellfish.
I call shenanigans. Dip some in the sauce, dip another forkful in the drawn butter. Repeat. Everything comes together in a rising “Kumbaya!” crescendo. Stop overthinking things. This is good. Crab is good. You’re harshing my mellow.
And for those of you who know me, I can read your mind. Yes, the above paragraph is largely directed at my wife.
It's supposed to be horseradish forward, but the heat of prepared horseradish can vary WIDELY from jar to jar - even the same brand. Sometimes a tablespoon is enough to blow your head off, sometimes you need half a jar to get it right.
You want a good zing but maybe aim short of sinus clearing. If you add too much you can't take it out, but of course you can double up the recipe and leave the horseradish out of the 2nd half. A lesson I've learned more than twice.
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Cup
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- 1/2 cup Ketchup
- 1/2 cup chili sauce — Heinz is best
- 1 lemon Juice and zest
- to taste prepared horseradish — The refrigerated stuff in glass jars.
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce — a nice liberal dash, no need to be careful.
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp Granulated garlic or garlic powder — Or finely diced fresh "to taste".
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- to taste optional hot sauce — Some folks like this. I love hot stuff, but for shellfish I think horseradish doesn't need any help.
Ingredients
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- Mix it all together. If same-day try to prepare it early enough to give it a couple hours rest in the fridge before serving. Overnight is even better.
If you don't have a zester (a.k.a. micro-planer) they are like seven bucks on Amazon. Get one. When you throw away un-zested citrus the terrorists win. [Apologies to Meathead Goldwyn]