Question regarding shrimp

[Constance]

Tom, the shrimp to which you refer, with the shell split and the vein removed, are called "easy-peel", and I love them.

Aunt Dot, the polite name for the intestine is "sand vein".

My mother, a school teacher, was always big on using "proper terminology". I guess it rubbed off on me.

 

[jennyema]

I think what Andy M. was getting at a while back is that almost all shrimp sold in most parts of the US has been previously frozen.

The "fresh" shrimp you see sitting on the ice is almost assuredly thawed frozen shrimp, unless you live in a part of the world where shrimp is caught and shipped to the store right away.

Thus, you are generally better off buying hard frozen shrimp, rather than shrimp that has been hard frozen and then thawed and sitting out for who-knows-how-long.

You can buy frozen shrimp already deveined. Admittedly, sometimes they aren't exactly gentle in the mechanical deveining process, but it depends on how picky you are about that. If you are, buy them as is and use a sharp knife.

 

[Hopz]

What I mean about traps in my yard is that I lived on a canal off the intercoastal waterway in Florida. My boat dock and seawall were my back yard. I made traps like most of my neighbors and everyday, before going to work, I would go back there and empty the traps. Some days I would get one or two. Most days 2 or 3 pounds. Big days I woud get 5+pounds, and all these shrimp were very large... about 20-25/lb.

We called then three-biters... three bites per shrimp.
As for dealing with alive shrimp- I just drained off the salt water- and pourde in a few pounds of ice- enough to cover them. They passed away peacefully and were ready to be de-headed.
Fresh shrimp are sweeter, more tender, less rubberry and altogether better than those poor things frozen in Thailand and air freighted to the west coast.

Anyone who lives near the Florida/Gulf Coast/Texas etc, can find a shrimper that will sell fresh. Just let your nose be your guide. Sniff them and you will know. If it does not smell like sea water- go to the next guy.

Enjoy them bugs.... If you insist, I will pass along the family secret for boiled shrimp; just ask.

 

[boufa06]

In the Far East, prawns (big shrimps) are available fresh in local markets. They come in various sizes. "Large" prawns are usually around 4-5 inches long. Medium-size prawns (2-4 inches long) are the most economical and popular. Prawns are easily deveined when fresh because their flesh is firm. Very large prawns are also available at prices that escalate very rapidly with size. Despite the exorbitant prices of such prawns, no fishmonger I know would ever peel and devein for the customer.

If ever fresh prawns/shrimps are available in your area, it's good to buy them with the shell on if the price is right as you can easily use the shells to boil and use the stock to flavour a variety of dishes. Also IMO, fresh prawns are tastier than frozen shelled prawns which might have been parboiled to make peeling easier. Most likely this is the reason that frozen shelled prawns appeared reddish, ie. the colour of cooked prawns, rather than greyish/greenish/bluish or whatever the natural colour of a given prawn variety may be.

Sadly, over here, only small shrimps are available fresh mostly during the winter months. Because of this, I usually stock my freezer with large quantities during this time of the year. So you can imagine the amount of work involved in peeling for myself and mil since I am not as lucky as Buckytom to have prawn peeling services available in the neighbourhood. In a way, I would call myself a good prawn peeler save for the fact that in Singapore "prawn peeler" is a very derogatory term for ladies. As for large prawns, I buy them frozen with the shell on usually from importers/wholesalers.

 

[attie]

"sand vein" Thank you constance, that is a much nicer term, I shall remember that.
I should have explained that, to us, shrimp live in fresh water. I don't know what you call them over there.
Buckytom also made mention of "steaming", I've also heard of steaming soft shell crabs,we never steam prawns nor crabs. Then, we never get soft shell crabs and we call it boiling, not broiling. It's a bit confusing for me.

 

[boufa06]

"sand vein" Thank you constance, that is a much nicer term, I shall remember that.
I should have explained that, to us, shrimp live in fresh water. I don't know what you call them over there.
Buckytom also made mention of "steaming", I've also heard of steaming soft shell crabs,we never steam prawns nor crabs. Then, we never get soft shell crabs and we call it boiling, not broiling. It's a bit confusing for me.

Fresh prawns and hard shell crabs can be steamed whole. They taste very sweet. You can eat them plain or with sauces such as light soya, chilli, etc. Soft shell crabs if they are small can be deep fried and eaten with the shell. They can be served as an appetizer.

 

[dergyll]

How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs?

My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea...

Derg

By the way, what the heck is this? I found it in my local Asian market, the old CHinese dude told me it's a type of shrimp...

 

[attie]

Fresh prawns and hard shell crabs can be steamed whole. They taste very sweet. You can eat them plain or with sauces such as light soya, chilli, etc. Soft shell crabs if they are small can be deep fried and eaten with the shell. They can be served as an appetizer.

Thanks for that, I add a little sugar to the salted water when boiling prawns or crabs and then shock them in ice water to cool them so I must give the steaming bit a go. Should I cool them in the ice water or just let them cool naturally

 

[attie]

How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs?

My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea...

Derg

By the way, what the heck is this? I found it in my local Asian market, the old CHinese dude told me it's a type of shrimp...

We call them Mantis Shrimp or Prawn Eater, not very common here

 

[boufa06]

How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs?

My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea...

Derg

By the way, what the heck is this? I found it in my local Asian market, the old CHinese dude told me it's a type of shrimp...

Me too and prawn catching also but there is no place to go for that here. I have not cooked soft shell crabs as it's difficult to get hold of them. From the ones served in restaurants, I think you need only to marinate them in a bit of salt, pepper, dust them with flour and deep fry them until crispy. By the way, they go very well with a cold beer! There are male and female crabs. The female ones have a pouch attached to the shell. These ones have a lot of roe, so what your aunt is eating is the roe which is very tasty.

I do believe you have posted something but my computer cannot pick it up. Is it some kind of scampi with big head?

 

[boufa06]

attie, you can eat the steamed crabs hot or room temperature. Remember that the roe of the female ones are edible.

 

[dergyll]

Well, I bought a batchfull of those mantis shrimps, and I didn't know how to cook them so I just steamed it. (They say most seafood can be steamed!) They turn out to be quite delicious! The meat in the back reminds of lobster meat (not as expensive though!) and is pretty tender. I recommend people to try it out!

Derg

 

[attie]

attie, you can eat the steamed crabs hot or room temperature. Remember that the roe of the female ones are edible.

It's been a long-long time since I've tasted crab roe. It is illegal to keep female crabs here and the minimum size must be more than 150mm [6"] across the shell.

 

[dergyll]

It's also illegal here in CT to keep crabs less than 5 or 6 in. in length (I think) and during mating season and egg-diploying season where the female crabs are carrying pouches with those yellow-orange eggs. I haven't crabbed for years, there are no good crabbing spot in CT, you never get the good tasting blue crabs.

Derg