This Fried Shrimp Grilled Cheese Sandwich Is the Perfect Drunk Food

You know what New York City doesn’t have enough of? Fish markets that will let you buy fresh, shell-on shrimp when you’re drunk off your ass at 4 AM.

And that’s a damn shame.

If you happen to live somewhere like Taipei, you may have access to plenty of late-night markets selling raw seafood, among plenty of other already-cooked goodies. But the rest of us will have to write a reminder in indelible ink on our hands: Buy more shrimp.

And what exactly will you do with these sweet little decapods well past their bedtime?

Put them in a grilled cheese sandwich, you goddamn souse.

Yes, you will need to carefully negotiate a hot pan of oil, dredge some succulent shrimp in cornmeal and Cajun seasoning, and manage not to burn yourself as you fry the crustaceans to crackling perfection. But the next part—layering them into a roll with cheese and gently browning them in a buttery skillet—isn’t too much to ask.

If the standard American-cheese-on-buttered-white-bread is the Mercedes of sandwiches when you’re under the influence, consider this shrimpified version a new Bugatti. It’s chewy. It’s crunchy. It’s melty. And most importantly, it’s shrimpy.