This is a poor-man’s lobster roll. Not that we’re poor, and not that shrimp is really all that cheap, but it’s a heckofa lot cheaper than lobster and much easier to prepare too. So maybe it’s more of a lazy-man’s lobster roll than anything. Poor and lazy aside, what makes this shrimp roll spectacular is the brown butter mayo, which truly is a revelation. Part mayonnaise, part hollandaise, if hollandaise were cold and made with toasted brown butter instead of just melted. It’s tangy and buttery and speckled with fresh herbs like chives, parsley, and dill.
I figured, since lobster/shrimp rolls are usually tossed with mayo and drizzled with butter, that making a mayo with some butter mixed in would serve double duty.
I first tried making the mayo with all brown butter, replacing it 1:1 for the oil in a typical mayo recipe. The result, while decadently buttery, was almost too much so. It was missing the zip that mayo brings to the party. The second try was more of a hybrid, incorporating some oil in addition to the butter to even out the flavor and keep the consistency soft, plus an extra splash of vinegar for kick.
If you’ve never made homemade mayonnaise before, you’re in for a treat. An arm workout, yes, but a treat nonetheless. And if you’re worried about the mayo breaking, just take some advice from that little blue fish and JUST KEEP WHISKING. Wait, that’s not how it goes, is it? But in all seriousness, whisk like you’ve never whisked before. You can also do this in a food processor, however I found whisking to be more effective since my food processor doesn’t do well with quantities under 1 cup.
