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Pickled Shrimp With Fennel

From: foodrepublic.com, and The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen SERVES 8

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 pounds (21 to 25 count) large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 7 lemons)
1 small fresh bird or Serrano chile (green or red), sliced very thin on the bias
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds

Fill a medium stockpot with 2 quarts of water, add 1 tablespoon of the salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. When the salted water boils, turn off the heat, add the shrimp, stirring them once or twice to distribute them and cook until uniformly pink-opaque and just done, about 1 minute. With a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to the ice bath. Reserve 2 cups of the shrimp-cooking liquid in a medium bowl.

With the slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a plate lined with a double thickness of paper towels. (Don’t dump the ice bath yet!) Add the vinegar, lemon juice and chile to the bowl with the shrimp-cooking liquid and whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the sugar until dissolved. Set this bowl of brine in the ice bath (add more ice to the bath if needed) and whisk until the liquid cools to room temperature.

Dump the ice bath and use the cold large bowl to toss the shrimp, onion, fennel slices and fennel fronds. Pour the cooled brine over the shrimp. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour, tossing once, until chilled and ready to serve. (Pickled shrimp will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 days.)