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Episode 12: The Battle of the Shrimp
(Boiled Shrimp with Two Cocktail Sauces)

Ingredients (Classic Cocktail Sauce)

Wash and peel the horseradish. Using a microplane or other fine grater, grate generous amount of radish into a bowl.
Pour desired amount of ketchup over it.
Add freshly squeezed lemon juice and a dash of Worcestershire Sauce. Stir.
Cover and keep in a cool place until serving.

Wash the ginger root. Scrape the skin off with the back of a coffeespoon. Grate desired amount of ginger into a bowl.
Pour required amount of ketchup over it.
Add freshly squeezed lime juice and a dash of Hot Sauce. Stir.
Cover and keep in a cool place until serving.

Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring it to a rolling boil.
Have a large bowl with ice water handy.
Drop shrimp in to the boiling water and cook for several minutes. When the shrimp floats to the top, they are ready. If you're making a large amount, cook them in several batches.
Skim the shrimp out of the water and drop them into the ice water.
When they are cool enough to handle, peel and, if desired, devein the shrimp.
Cover and keep in a cool place until serving time.

Skewer each shrimp with a woodden pick and arrange them on a tray. Served them flanked by the two sauces, filled into bowls. Watch which sauce you're running out of first to decide who won the battle.

Regarding the ratio of ketchup and horseradish or ginger: It's a matter of taste. Generally speaking, a heaped tablespoon of grated ginger or horseradish should suffice for one cup of ketchup. Just make sure either are fresh. Preserved horseradish is loaded with vinegar and lacks the subtlety of the fresh root, and pickled ginger doesn't pack the same punch as fresh, raw ginger.
Some people prefer their shrimp deveined. To do so, split the shrimp open along the back so you can remove the vein, which is really the little buggers' intestine. I do recommend doing this when using large shrimp, but usually do not find it necessary for medium shrimp, which I prefer for their sweetness and very thin, negligeable "veins".
When grating the horseradish, be careful not to breathe in the rising fumes of mustard gas: it can burn your lungs. Call Homeland Security if you have any problems.