Poached Shrimp Roll Recipe

Not one to take a backseat to its more famous big brother, the Lobster Roll, this delicious Poached Shrimp Roll recipe is just as tasty and just as easy to prepare. This famous sandwich is very easy to make, taking perfectly poached Shrimp that are diced into bite-sized pieces that are mixed together in a smooth and creamy sauce. The mixture is piled sky high into a bread roll that’s filled with crispy Lettuce ready for devouring. In this recipe we’ll show you how to make a simple and easy Poached Shrimp Roll, ready in under 20 minutes!

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The first step is to prepare and Poach the Shrimp

Of course, the hero of this dish is the beautifully cooked Shrimp. You can use any kind of Shrimp you like for this dish. We recommend getting some large Shrimp such as Jumbo Shrimp. That way you can cut it up into large chunks which adds the feeling of abundance to the dish

I would recommend getting peeled Shrimp from the store, it will just make cooking them a whole lot easier than preparing whole Shrimp. You can cook the whole Shrimp and then peel it once cooked without too much fuss. It will take a little bit more time, however, so we recommend going with some good quality Shrimp that is already peeled

Poached Shrimp for Roll — The beautiful Shrimp is poached in water for 5 minutes until perfectly cooked

Bring a large pot of water to a slight boil. Nothing too aggressive, just enough for some movement in the water. A super-aggressive boil may damage the Shrimp, so keep it a little bit lower on the temperature. Once warm, season the Water well with Salt and then add your Shrimp

Batch cook the Shrimp for the best result

I’d suggest cooking the Shrimp in batches to avoid overcrowding the Pot. This recipe will be enough to feed 4 people with beautifully cooked Shrimp Rolls, so you’ll need about 200g / 7 oz. of Shrimp (weight calculated once the Shrimp has been peeled). Batch cooking will help to regulate the water temperature. Adding too many Shrimp to the pot will drop the heat of the pot too much, preventing them from cooking

Poach the Shrimp in the Water until they turn bright pink and firm to the touch. It should take about 4 minutes, just check them as you cook. Once cooked, immediately remove them from the hot water and place them in cold, iced water (or simply run them under cold water). This will stop the cooking process. Once cooled, chop the Shrimp into bite-sized chunks. You want them pretty chunky, as to showcase the abundance of this amazing ingredient when they’re stuffed into the rolls

Poached Shrimp Roll Sauce — the delicious sauce in our Poached Shrimp Roll recipe consists of Mayo, Celery, Lemon Juice, Hot Sauce, Salt, and Pepper

Preparing the simple Sauce

A classic Lobster / Shrimp Roll is made using a Mayonnaise based sauce. It’s really easy to make, and we’re not going to tell you to make your own Mayo from scratch for this recipe! Simply add about ½ cup of Mayonnaise to a bowl and mix in Lemon Juice, finely diced Celery, some Hot Sauce, and season with Salt and Pepper

How much Lemon to add is as much about the consistency of the Mayonnaise as it is the flavor. You don’t want the Mayo to become too runny or liquidy. It needs to still be quite thick to adhere to the Shrimp and not drop out all over the roll. Certain Mayonnaise brands have different thickness levels, So I recommend gradually adding Lemon Juice while mixing, checking the consistency as you go. About ¼ a Lemon will be more than enough for this recipe

Adding Celery to the dish is primarily there for a textural addition. There’s no real crunchiness to the dish other than the Celery, so while the flavor may be mild, it does play a key role in making the perfect Poached Shrimp Roll. Try to dice it thinly so you don’t have bit chunks of Celery showing up in the dish. This recipe is all about showcasing the amazing Shrimp

We recommend using Kewpie Mayonnaise for some added sweetness

You can use regular Mayo, but we highly recommend trying our Poached Shrimp Roll recipe with Kewpie Mayonnaise. This sweet Japanese Mayo is widely available everywhere these days and tastes so good. In fact, we use it almost exclusively in any of our Mayonnaise based recipes. It’s got a rich, sweetness that tastes so addictive. It’s worth a try!

Shrimp Roll with Hot Sauce — Use your favorite Hot Sauce for this dish and always taste the finished sauce before serving

Finish the Sauce with your favorite Hot Sauce, just don’t go overboard

A hallmark characteristic of a classic Shrimp Roll is a little bit of heat there right at the end. This is achieved by adding a few splashes of hot sauce to the dish. For this recipe we used classic Tabasco Sauce, mainly because it was the only hot sauce we had in the house at the time!

You can use any hot sauce you like for this recipe. We know how much of a personal preference hot sauce is, so I recommend simply adding your favorite. They’re all going to taste great! I will caution, however, not to go overboard with the hot sauce. Especially if you’re making this dish for a few people! Even if you love things super-spicy, everyone else may not

The dish is all about showcasing the amazing freshness and flavor of Shrimp. So, dousing the whole thing with a load of hot sauce is going to simply dilute those wonderful flavors of the Shrimp. So, just add a splash or two to the sauce and give it a taste before adding to the Rolls. If you think you’ve added too much you can always add more Mayo or Lemon Juice to balance everything out

Poached Shrimp Roll with Lettuce — It isn’t a complete Poached Shrimp Roll without some fresh, crispy lettuce tying the whole sandwich together

Stuff the Bread Rolls with some Lettuce and as much Shrimp mixture as you can fit

The best Shrimp Rolls are the ones that are ridiculously overflowing with filling. Like, to the point where it’s almost comical how much filling has been added. The point of this dish is not to make it easy to eat, but to showcase the amazing abundance of the amazing Shrimp. So really try to jam as much of that delicious Shrimp Mayo mixture into the rolls as you can

At the base of the Rolls, you want to add some Lettuce. Add enough to coat the bottom of the Bread and have some sticking over the edges. Not only does this look great, but the Lettuce will act as a barrier to protect the bread from getting soggy. It also adds a nice crunchy texture to the dish

When it comes to rolls, you can’t go wrong with hot dog style bread rolls. This is a decadent dish, so go all out with the bread. We recommend some good quality Brioche or Potato Rolls for the best result. Martins Hot Dog Potato Rolls are always a good option, and our personal favorite

To finish, try serving the Poached Shrimp Roll with a handful of Chips to complete the plate. For our recipe there should be easily enough to make 8 rolls – so 2 each for 4 people. This dish is great for a hearty lunch or tasty dinner that is so easy to make!

Recipe Details

Servings

4 people

Prep time

10 minutes

Cooking time

10 minutes

Total time

20 minutes