Freshwater Shrimp From India

[Corinne]

I bought a 2 lb bag of these things: IQF. What are these creatures?!?! I peeled them today. I peel a lot of shrimp to make Bang Bang Shrimp - - so I'm really familiar with what a shrimp & it's shell feel like! These things totally threw me off. The shell was very thick & they seemed to have a double shell on one section that you could pull away from the other shell - like wings. The shrimp felt short & fat, for lack of a better way to describe them!

I was going to use them for Bang Bang but after feeling them I didn't know if that was a good idea. I pulled the bag out of the trash & the package suggested grilling or sauteing. I will grill them tomorrow with a garlic paste concoction.

They just totally freaked me out! I haven't found much info on them by Googling Freshwater Shrimp.

 

[AllenOK]

Buy any chance, could you take a picture of the packaging and post that? I've seen freshwater shrimp/prawns before, live, and they look just like regular shrimp. However, what are describing, at least to me, sounds almost like a langostine/langostino, which are more closely related to lobster. I've bought some before, at an Asian grocery store, and they were different.

 

[Ishbel]

They sound like what we call Langoustines or Dublin Bay prawns. Here's a phtoograph.

http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/features/index.cfm?uNewsID=6861

 

[Constance]

I remembered my father-in-law talking about "rock shrimp", so I looked that up. I believe that's what you have. Check out the following:

http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/FCS/FlaFoodFare/RkShrimp.htm

 

[Shunka]

Corinne, was the name on the bag IQF? If it was, I have tried them and you can use them like you would regular shrimp. They just don't have as strong a "shrimp" taste but are still good.

 

[Constance]

I was just talking to my husband about what we call rock shrimp, and he reiterated what was said above...they are more like lobster than shrimp. He likes'em.

 

[Robo410]

they're very good.
However, as the adds say, if you want wild American shrimp, then you gotta get wild American shrimp. (and PAY for em too)

 

[Corinne]

I'm so sorry that I didn't take a photo of the bag & the things themselves - especially the shells! That's what weirded me out so much!!!
If I buy them again, I will follow up with photos.

The bag said "Freshwater Shrimp". From India. And yes, they were IQF - which I took to mean Individually Quick Frozen. I bought them at a Super WalMart. The 2 lb bag cost around $15.

 

[Swann]

Corinne, was the name on the bag IQF? If it was, I have tried them and you can use them like you would regular shrimp. They just don't have as strong a "shrimp" taste but are still good.

Some of the best shrimp around are raised in Gila Bend, AZ. http://www.desertsweetshrimp.com/ One of the premer chefs in Scottsdale was quoted on a TV interview that those are the only ones he will use.

 

[Shunka]

I have heard that too about the fresh water shrimp from Gila Bend. Haven't had the pleasure of trying them yet. Seems they are a bit pricier and usually only sold around the Phoenix area; not up here in Prescott or Flagstaff that I know about. Thanks for the link!! I just checked it out!

 

[buckytom]

i often see freshwater shrimp available, thawed from "previously frozen". they are a somewhat chubbier and lighter colored shrimp, and i've found have a good albeit mild shrimp flavor. i've used them in everything from fra diavolo to old bay rub grilled, and have found they're as good and verstile as their salt water counterparts.

 

[Constance]

There has been talk about starting fish farming operations in our area, because of all the old strip ponds left from the coal mines. One guy did raise freshwater shrimp for a while, but he didn't have a good marketing plan, and went out of business.
I wish some clever entrepreneur would get ahold of this thing and make it work...there's great potential here, and we land-locked seafood lovers would have a chance to get some fresh shrimp, salmon and tilapia, instead of having to settle for the frozen stuff.

 

[Robo410]

Obvoiusly, from the amount of shrimp the world eats and expects, (especially America, I gather) aquaculture is necessary. Salmon, catfish talapia mussels, etc too. We need to get crabs in there also, but they seem trickier to do, fiesty little critters.

Yes the taste is a little different, as other foods vary whether being "wild" or cultivated. But still real good!