Shrimp Tips:
Cooking Shrimp

Shrimp Tips:

Unless you live in Louisiana or Florida, most shrimp sold, is frozen. Restaurants buy shrimp in five pound units and they are available in your supermarket freezers in one and two pound bags. Typically you are only buying the tail meat and it is sold either shell-on, peeled and de-veined or already cooked. If you buy your shrimp in a retail seafood market, most likely it will be thawed.

Shrimp are sold by the unit. By that I mean, they are sold by the amount of tails in a pound. 16-20 count would be much larger than a 51-60 count. Sometimes you’ll see descriptions like Jumbo or Colossal. These terms are used improperly sometimes, so go by the count and you’ll be safe.

Here are some Shrimp facts and tidbits:

• A shrimp and a prawn are the same thing.
  
  
• A shrimp under a 15 count per pound is considered Jumbo or Colossal. A 16-20 count shrimp is considered to be extra large. From 21-30, they are usually called large and from 31-40 are called medium.
  
  
• Stale or bad shrimp will have an offensive ammonia odor. Don't be afraid to ask to smell the shrimp when buying thawed or fresh. The shells should be shiny and the meat should feel firm against the shell.
  
  
• 2 pounds of shrimp in the shell will produce just over 1 pound of cooked, shelled meat.
  
  
• Shrimp have a wonderful flavor and texture. They are high in protein and low in calories. You control the calories by how you prepare it! Americans buy more shrimp than any other shellfish in any form.
  
  
• The trick with shrimp cocktail is not to overcook the shrimp. I buy a medium peeled and deveined shrimp and thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. If I’m cooking them for a cocktail, I’ll lightly salt the water. If the cooked shrimp is for an ingredient component of a recipe, I eliminate the salt.
  
  
• If you’ve shelled the shrimp yourself, you can add the shells to the cooking water for more flavor. Then I lower the shrimp into the boiling water in a colander or strainer’ this way I don’t have to dig the shrimp out of the shells. A medium shrimp will be done in only 3 minutes, when it turns pink and gets firm. Get them out of the water and chilled immediately.