Shrimp Tacos
A weeknight shrimp taco built for a dinner party table. Spiced shrimp cook in under four minutes, the lime slaw does as much work as the wine in the pairing, and everything assembles open-face so the layers show. Serve with a chilled Provençal rosé — the acidity bridges the lime, the mineral quality echoes the shrimp, and the result is one of the most naturally coherent food-and-wine pairings you will find outside its own country of origin.
Ingredients
The Shrimp
- 500 g about 1 lb large shrimp — 21/25 count, peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper adjust to your heat preference
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Zest of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- Several grinds of black pepper
The Lime Slaw
- 2½ cups finely shredded red cabbage about ¼ small head
- ½ cup finely shredded green cabbage
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice about 1 large lime
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey or agave
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
The Avocado Crema
- 1 ripe avocado
- 3 tablespoons Mexican crema or sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 small garlic clove minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 –3 tablespoons water to thin to drizzle consistency
Pickled Jalapeños — from Chili Pepper Madness by Mike Hultquist
- 6 –8 fresh jalapeños sliced into thin rounds
- 1 cup white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- Optional: ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, a pinch of dried oregano
Instructions
Make the pickled jalapeños the day before (or up to 2 weeks ahead)
- Recipe by Mike Hultquist, Chili Pepper Madness (chilipeppermadness.com)
- Combine the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely — about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Pack the sliced jalapeños and garlic into a clean glass jar. Add the optional cumin seeds, peppercorns, and oregano if using. Pour the hot brine over the jalapeños, making sure they are fully submerged.
- Allow to cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate. They are ready to use after 24 hours and will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. The colour shifts from bright green to olive as they cure — this is normal and the flavor deepens with time.
- Mike's note: for a quicker version, the jalapeños can be used after just a few hours if you need them same-day, though the full 24 hours produces a more balanced, rounded pickle.
- Store-bought pickled jalapeños are a perfectly good shortcut if you are making this on short notice — look for a brand with a clean brine and no added sweetener.
To Assemble
- 8–12 small corn tortillas (5–6 inch) — corn gives more flavour and better texture than flour here
- 1–2 jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds (fresh or pickled — pickled preferred for colour and tang)
- ½ small red onion, very thinly sliced
- Fresh cilantro leaves — a generous handful
- 2 limes, cut into wedges for serving
- Flaky salt for finishing
Optional but Worth It
- Thinly sliced radishes — 3–4 radishes, paper-thin rounds; adds crunch and a flash of pink
- A few thin slices of fresh mango or pineapple — the sweetness is unexpected and works well with the spiced shrimp
- Hot sauce of your choice — alongside, not on top, so people can control their own heat
Notes
For the shrimp: pat completely dry before seasoning — wet shrimp steam rather than sear. Cook in a single layer over high heat without moving for 90 seconds before flipping. A loose C-curl means done; a tight O-curl means overcooked and they will not recover. Pull the pan immediately.
For the slaw: the red cabbage is not optional — it provides both the colour contrast that makes the taco photograph well and the acidity that bridges the wine pairing. Make it at least 15 minutes before assembling; it softens and brightens.
Make-ahead: the pickled jalapeños the day before (or up to 2 weeks ahead), slaw up to 4 hours (add cilantro just before serving), avocado crema up to 2 hours (plastic wrap pressed to the surface). Shrimp marinade no more than 15 minutes — the lime will begin to cure the shrimp and change the texture.
Wine Pairing Note
The wine for this dish is a dry Provençal rosé — Côtes de Provence, the most recent vintage you can find, served cold. The pairing works because the wine and the food share a flavor logic rather than a geographic origin. The rosé's high acidity resonates with the lime throughout the dish — in the slaw, in the crema, in the squeeze over the finished taco. The saline mineral quality in the wine echoes the briny sweetness of the shrimp. The delicate red fruit holds cleanly next to the chili heat without amplifying it — low tannins mean no capsaicin amplification. Three things happen at once when you eat a bite of taco and taste the wine. The wine tastes fresher because of the lime in the food. The shrimp tastes cleaner because the wine's minerality echoes it. The heat becomes more manageable because the chilled wine provides physical contrast. Serve the wine at 8–10°C — cold enough that the acidity is precise and the mineral character is vivid, but not so cold that the aromatics close down. Let it warm slightly in the glass as you work through the tacos. By the second glass it will be at its best. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!