Cooking Wild Tiger Prawns

[creative]

Bearing in mind what we know here re. prawns getting tough if on a high heat - this seems to bypass food manufacturers, i.e. when making fish pie (with prawns) and paella. At least with paella you have the option to take off the prawn and add it towards the end. (I know the ideal is to make it yourself but, hey, at the end of a long day and when it is reduced in the shop....)

 

[Addie]

Ya. Me too. I commercial fished off the West Coast for over twenty years. Did all the cooking on my boat. Owned and operated a restaurant specialising in serving fresh seafood.
It's nice to have someone on this forum who is an expert on seafood cooking as you.
What's your preferred method of cooking fresh halibut?

In my family, all fish gets breaded and fried.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Opaque is not good enough for me. I want my seafood cooked. Having been married to a shimper, I know only too well what can be found in our seafood. That is why I will never eat sushi. I want my shrimp cooked until pink all around. And I don't care how long it takes to bring them to pink. One food I do know how to cook and do it well, is seafood.

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't like Serveche?

In my family, all fish gets breaded and fried.

I thought you were an expert?

Oh....Wild tiger prawns? All the tiger anything I have seen was farmed raised. Where would one find wild tiger prawns?

 

[CraigC]

Please, whatever you do never boil shrimp or prawns. If you're not going to grill them, put them into something such as a soup or stew, bring the liquid to a boil and turn off the heat. Then, put the shrimp/prawns into it, wait three minutes for shrimp, 5 minutes for prawns and then serve. Boiling or simmering would make them tough, over cooked and rubbery. Heating just below boiling will keep them tender and a pleasure to eat.

There are a whole bunch of folks in Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina etc, that would have a very good laugh at that. Although I like them boiled, I really prefer steaming.

 

[Selkie]

Having a good laugh doesn't make then right. Boiling is wrong.

 

[creative]

Having a good laugh doesn't make then right. Boiling is wrong.

Well boiling them is not getting the best out of them - much nicer to eat cooked gently both texture and flavour wise.

 

[CraigC]

Having a good laugh doesn't make then right. Boiling is wrong.

What is wrong with boiling them?

Well boiling them is not getting the best out of them - much nicer to eat cooked gently both texture and flavour wise.

How do you figure? If you know what you are doing there will be nothing wrong with either texture or flavor. Don't knock something until you try it!

 

[creative]

What is wrong with boiling them?

How do you figure? If you know what you are doing there will be nothing wrong with either texture or flavor. Don't knock something until you try it!

Have you ever tried prawns cooked more gently, i.e. simmered rather than boiled? If not you might be amazed,
so don't knock it until you try it!!

Also, I guess you haven't read the previous page then, specifically posts #17 and #18.

 

[Addie]

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you don't like Serveche?



I thought you were an expert?

Oh....Wild tiger prawns? All the tiger anything I have seen was farmed raised. Where would one find wild tiger prawns?

I cook it the way my family likes it. I prefer mine baked with a light tomato sauce. And I prefer the whole fish be cooked. I don't remove the head. My kids think I am a very sicky person.

 

[CraigC]

Have you ever tried prawns cooked more gently, i.e. simmered rather than boiled? If not you might be amazed,
so don't knock it until you try it!!

Also, I guess you haven't read the previous page then, specifically posts #17 and #18.

I don't limit myself to one way of cooking, or not, any kind of seafood. I've had shrimp in scampi, grilled, fried, "BBQ'd", poached in butter, stuffed with crab meat and broiled, etc and have probably forgotten even more along the way. I read the posts, what is your point? If someone wishes to limit their preparations to one method, that is their business. It doesn't mean the rest of us need to miss out! Have you ever had a low country or Cajun shrimp boil?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Come on people, quite snipping at each other. What is the "right" way to cook any food? The way that results in a food YOU enjoy eating. You know, you say "poTAYto, I say "poTAHto". Cook it the way you like. YMMV.*


*Your Mileage May Vary

 

[Selkie]

Yes, I've had a Cajun shrimp boil! My mother was Cajun (100%) and to my grandmother English was a second language with Cajun being her native tongue! I still have a large maternal family in Louisiana and I been to MANY shrimp/crawdad/'gater/oyster and general seafood boils. The shrimp is added AFTER the kettle stops boiling. The crawdads simmer for one minute and then steep.
It makes the difference between chewing an automobile rubber shock absorber or a tender piece of cod.

 

[creative]

Come on people, quite snipping at each other. What is the "right" way to cook any food? The way that results in a food YOU enjoy eating. You know, you say "poTAYto, I say "poTAHto". Cook it the way you like. YMMV.*

*Your Mileage May Vary

Yes, there may be no right or wrong way however, there are ways of getting the best out of the food you cook with.

 

[salt and pepper]

Meant to add a pic.

Looks yummy Cheryl...

 

[Cheryl J]

Thanks, Joey.

I'm with those who have said there are so many different ways to cook/bake/steam/simmer/grill, etc., shrimp. I've prepared and eaten shrimp so many ways. There isn't any one 'right' way.

I don't know much about it, but I've always thought a good ol' low country boil would be so much fun - lots of goodies, newspapers on the outdoor tables, plenty of napkins, and good company. Sounds like my kind of meal.

 

[Addie]

Thanks, Joey.

I'm with those who have said there are so many different ways to cook/bake/steam/simmer/grill, etc., shrimp. I've prepared and eaten shrimp so many ways. There isn't any one 'right' way.

I don't know much about it, but I've always thought a good ol' low country boil would be so much fun - lots of goodies, newspapers on the outdoor tables, plenty of napkins, and good company. Sounds like my kind of meal.

So right Cheryl. Every year my sister and I would go to the yacht club for their lobster boil. Two huge lobsters, corn, red potatoes, Cole slaw and each year the dessert would change. Another plus is you could go up for seconds as long as the food held out. Of course most folks went for seconds on the lobsters. I was always more interested in collecting the shells for a seafood broth. My two, my sister's three or more, and any others I could collect. I never came home with less than 10 to 15 shells. They made the most delicious broth you could imagine. I let it boil down to almost a paste. It was so intense in flavor, all you needed was a large tablespoon for whatever you were going to put it in. My daughter used to use it for her marinara sauce. My sister had a huge appetite and would get seconds on everything except the Cole slaw. Now that is one of my most favorite foods. How could she not like Cole slaw!

 

[creative]

I guess everyone knows that the shells and heads of prawns make a great fish stock? I have read that a 20 minute simmer is sufficient i.e. going over this makes the fish stock milky and bitter (I realise this may refer to fish bones though).

 

[Addie]

I guess everyone knows that the shells and heads of prawns make a great fish stock? I have read that a 20 minute simmer is sufficient i.e. going over this makes the fish stock milky and bitter (I realise this may refer to fish bones though).

Any time my sister would make fish chowder, she would always toss a couple of fish frames into the stock.

 

[Bigjim68]

One of my favorite preparations of those huge prawns is to butterfly and stuff with crab. Basically a crab cake mixture minus the filler. Lightly broiled.

Fresh corn on the cob, hush puppies, slaw. Eatin' doesn't get much better than that.

And, of course, a good, not too hoppy, micro.

 

[RPCookin]

Yes, I've had a Cajun shrimp boil! My mother was Cajun (100%) and to my grandmother English was a second language with Cajun being her native tongue! I still have a large maternal family in Louisiana and I been to MANY shrimp/crawdad/'gater/oyster and general seafood boils. The shrimp is added AFTER the kettle stops boiling. The crawdads simmer for one minute and then steep.
It makes the difference between chewing an automobile rubber shock absorber or a tender piece of cod.

This is just nuts. Sorry but there is definitely more than one way to cook these tasy morsels. I agree that you have to be a bit more careful with larger prawns, but with the shrimp that most of us typically have available from the supermarket, it's just not that touchy. I made shrimp cocktail for our hors d'oevres on Valentines day. I put the pot to a rolling boil, then added the cold (not frozen) shrimp. I removed them after about one minute, chilled them in cold water then into the freezer for 15 minutes. They were perfectly cooked and nicely chilled and went very well with the Shannon Ridge Cabernet that we drank with them.

Boiling did not make them tough or rubbery. It isn't the boiling that does that, it's overcooking that does it. When I make my version of jambalaya, I add shrimp at the very last. After living in the Bahamas for 2 years, and eating a lot of conch, I know what rubbery is. Conch can turn into pure latex if held too close to a match. It's best eaten raw after a few minutes spent marinating in a bit of lime juice.

Crack conch is very good, battered and deep fried, but it has to be pounded nearly to death before cooking to be edible. Conch fritters can be good, but the conch in them can be very tough. The conch I've had in Chicken and conch souse and in conch and rice is added right at the end to just warm it and keep it tender.

By the way Addie, I don't generally eat raw seafood either. Seviche is not high on my list of good eats, and I've never even entered a sushi bar. The raw conch was different because it was no more than 5 minutes from the live animal on the ocean bottom to being passed around for a beach munchy. For, conch eaten on the beach or on a boat, the setting is part of the experience. It would probably not be as interesting if eaten while sitting in a Colorado restaurant, even assuming that you could find such a thing here.