School me on shrimp, please

[jfmorris]

I think it has all been covered, but a few years ago the lady at the seafood counter at Publix clued me into the fact that the ones on display in the seafood case actually are the same as the shrimp in the freezer section of Publix. So, now I go for wild Gulf caught frozen, since I live about 300 miles from the ocean at this end of Alabama.

The only time I buy fresh shrimp now is at a local seafood market that brings seafood in from the Gulf of Mexico daily, or if I am at the ocean, and filling up a cooler to bring back home on the day I head back. And I usually do NOT do that since an incident in the 90's when my cooler with 20 pounds of shrimp on ice leaked shrimp scented water all over the trunk of the car. That car smelled horrible for the next 4-5 years, any time it was a hot day and the car was closed up. I was glad when someone rear-ended me and totaled it...

I do not grill shrimp often, unless they are large. To grill I would peel and devein, and then skewer. More often that not, I get the peeled and deveined frozen ones, as I like to use them in stir fry, or for scampi.

[FireMan]

I get mine fresh from Galveston. Outfit called Fabian. Trucks em up next day. I’ll buy 7 to 10 lbs. Freeze a portion myself. They are headless only. I love shrimp, the wife is allergic to em. Best I’ve ever had.
Read somewhere awhile back that 90 to 95% of the shrimp consumed in US is from Asia.
And BTW do a thorough check on your source for Tilapia. All Tilapia is not alike, in more ways than one.

[58limited]

I do occasionally buy fresh frozen and I never buy precooked frozen shrimp. Fresh frozen is OK, especially in a highly seasoned dish. When I grill shrimp or make a dish where the shrimp stands on its own, I buy fresh: I'm lucky and live on the Gulf Coast so the shrimpers come by my business and sell direct during the shrimp season - I often freeze them for later, they seem better than store bought frozen shrimp. The groceries here usually have fresh shrimp at the seafood counter too.

[lonnie mac]

Pretty much walking distance for me in any direction is a fresh seafood market down in my Galveston parts. I always buy fresh. Boiled, fried or grilled. It don't matter to me I love em! I will say that frozen from my HEB is just as dang dang good because they get it from the same vendors.

I'll bet that 99% of shrimp you find will be frozen, or previously frozen. Don't turn a nose up to it if that's all you can find. When I am buying frozen shrimp and know it, I will always ask to get some rock solid frozen out of the back. It's already been frozen once. Keep it that way until YOU want to thaw it.

[Clark]

We get fresh frozen Gulf shrimp from my BIL who lives In Mississippi and ships them to us. The only good frozen shrimp I have ever gotten in a supermarket was when we lived in Colorado and found large shrimp from Patagonia at Krogers or Safeway. They were good and big enough to wrap with bacon easily and grill. Do NOT buy the Indonesian or VietNam shrimp as they are inferior in every way.

[mnavarre]

Oooohh,Clark just reminded me. Trader Joe's has Argentinean Red Shrimp in the frozen aisle most of the time. They're pretty dang fantastic.

[Bumby]

I don't have much to add to the how to buy shrimp conversation. I usually go headless, easy peel, uncooked. I don't mind frozen, even though I'm close to the coast.

My favorite shrimp recipe for the grill is to take a raw jumbo shrimp, peel the shell other than the "tail", wrap it in a basil leaf, then wrap that in a piece of capicola, put on a skewer (I usually do three to a skewer) and then grill.

[mnavarre]

Damn. that sounds good. And I have a basil tree.

[jharner]

Frozen precooked shrimp is like boiling ribs, should be outlawed and a loss of man card. If you do not have access to fresh them raw frozen is your best choice. I cook shrimp several ways - boiled - blackened in a cast iron skillet ect. If grilling my go to is k bobs. I usually do steak and shrimp together and the family loves them. Get what ever veggies you want to use and but the skewers together ( marinade the beef if you want ) Put the beef skewers on first as the shrimp will cook faster as others have said. With the Shrimp I use a cajun seasoning ( toney's ) and lemon pepper. then bast then with some melted butter while they are on the grill. Hope this helps

[Stuey1515]

Aah, steak & shrimp, or prawns as we call them is delicious, referred to here as Reef & Beef or Surf & Turf

[JGo37]

Get fresh, head on shrimp. Thaw in a cold water bath. Stick a hook in each, dip in hogwild. Toss into the water, then clean and grill the catfish.

(but what everyone else said is good advice too)

[jharner]

Something just does not feel right using $5.00 a pound bait to catch $2.00 a pound fish

[JGo37]

With a $ 150.00 rod and reel, specialized line, and apparel for the weather... I guess you don't fish jharner because catching is actually a bonus.

[jharner]

Don't fish but love to hunt, point well made Venison by the pound is much more than beef but great times

[JackJ]

Wow—lots of great information here! I will avoid the precooked stuff and look for the domestic varieties. (No Trader Joe’s here, unfortunately, or I’d check out the Argentinian suggestion.) Lots of tips for me to follow up on. Thanks for all the insights!

[Stuey1515]

I love shrimp (prawns here) with a passion but it's been years since I have eaten a good one.
I have distant memories of my father and his mates going out netting prawns. Getting woken up in the middle of the night to feast on fresh cooked prawns, still warm and sweet, great days indeed.

Sorry to be off topic but this post took me back about 4 decades haha

[Bkhuna]

We still have shrimp boats in my area. Nothing like buying them fresh from the boat.


I'm spoiled. I won't eat anything but fresh caught.

[wrgilb]

I buy the frozen, raw, peeled and deveined, tail on 21-25 count from Costco. I use and adjustable basket that'll hold 25 or so shrimp. I used to to do multiple skewers, but doing multiple flips was a hassle. Now I turn 25 at once. This is the most requested thing I get asked to bring to group gatherings. Here's the recipe.

Thaw the shrimp (15 minutes in cold water), pat dry and set aside.

In a medium bowl add 1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how much heat you like)

Add the shrimp to the mixture, mix together well, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Skewer or use a basket, like I do and grill at high temp for 2 minutes or so a side. They should be opaque at this point and are ready to come off. These are truly delicious.

[BFlynn]

Shrimp I bought

Gulf coast wild caught brown shrimp 15/20 CT






Peeled and deveined. Took 5 or 10 mins.



Save shells for stock pot




Seasoned with salt and POG, cooked for 6-7 mins in a skillet with about a tbsp of butter.
Squeeze half a lime when done.


Served on po boy with hot sauce

[Jfrosty27]

YUM.