ABOUT SHRIMP

      Title: ABOUT SHRIMP
  Categories: Shellfish, Info
       Yield: 1 Text file
  
  
   If I may, I'd like to give you some unsolicited advice on handling
   your shrimp.  The better it's treated, the better it's going to taste
   in the end.
   
   1.  Only defrost the quantity you're going to use at any one time (I'm
   hoping here that the shrimp arrived frozen in manageable blocks. If
   not, place it in your refrigerator until it's thawed enough to
   portion, but still icy and essentially frozen.  Portion and re-freeze
   what you're not going to use immediately).
   
   2.  Thaw the shrimp in the refrigerator or in a bucket, by running
   COLD running water over it. If you use the cold water method, allow
   the water to run over the top of the bucket and into the sink, to
   ensure a constant supply of fresh water (the temperature of the
   thawing water should never exceed 70 degrees, and the temperature of
   the thawed shrimp should never exceed 40 degrees.) If your tap water
   is hotter, add ice to the thawing shrimp.  If the shrimp exceeds 40
   degrees, place it in a bath of half ice and half COLD water, and
   refrigerate until it comes down to below 40. Store thawed shrimp
   under refrigeration in a mixture of half shrimp, half ice.
   
   3.  To peel, devein your shrimp, go to your local seafood market or
   gadget center, and pick up a nifty little gadget called a
   "shrimptool". It will cost a couple of dollars, and for the quantity
   of shrimp we're talking about here, it's worth it.
   
   4.  If you want to peel/devein the shrimp for a recipe, keep the
   unpeeled shrimp on ice as you work with it. Do not let the
   temperature exceed 40 degrees.  Drop your peeled, deveined shrimp
   into an ice water bath until you're ready to use it.  Peeled deveined
   shrimp may be held this way for up to 24 hours without much loss in
   flavor/texture.
   
   This seems like a lot of trouble, but shrimp begins to lose
   flavor/texture almost immediately once it gets the least bit warm.
   Health/safety questions aside, the ice method, while troublesome,
   results in a MUCH better tasting end product.
   
   One other tip -- the iodine in the shrimp will be irritating to your
   hands, if you handle a large quantity at a time. To avoid this, soak
   your hands in a strong solution of baking soda and water after
   working with large amounts.
   
   Finally, a quick recipe for fried shrimp that we enjoy:
   
   Go to the store and purchase a package of tempura batter mix. Make
   the mix according to package directions, substituting cold beer (or
   cold club soda, if you prefer to avoid alcohol) for the water called
   for in the recipe.
   
   Dip butterflied peeled, deveined shrimp in the batter, and fry in hot
   deep fat until light gold (it won't and shouldn't get deep brown).
   
   The leftover batter makes unbelievable onion rings.
   
   Kathy in Bryan, TX
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