Written by adam on Feb 10, 2005
Vertically Challenged, Please
Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sautee it. Dey's uh ... shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.
As if you didn't see that coming. Good old Bubba. He died so nobly. For our latest feature, we will be focusing on shrimp. As entertaining as Bubba's speech was, as well as the whole movie, he was right. Shrimp is so versatile, so willing and able to be the chameleon of our dinner plates, we might as well call them the chicken of the sea. (Again with the Jessica Simpson jokes). No, I wouldn't call tuna the chicken of the sea because there's only a handful of things that you can do with tuna and retain its eatability.
But shrimp ... SHRIMP ... you can do so much with 'em. You can boil them, saute them, fry them, broil them, do 'em ceviche style, throw 'em in soups or stews, shrimp cocktails ... great god almighty! Bubba was right.
One great thing about shrimp is that they do not take very long to cook. Just a few minutes depending on the heat sources. One of my favorite things to do with shrimp is to skewer them, douse 'em with a little bit of lemon butter and throw 'em over some hot charcoal. Wait a little while 'till they're cooked and 'till parts of the outside are little bit carbonized. Whoo-wee!
If you go to your local supermarket, most likely the shrimp will come in 3 main forms: raw, semi-cooked, or fully cooked. Frozen cooked shrimp is good for a few things, like serving as an quick appetizer with cocktail sauce or for tossing into a soup. You can also make quick and easy shrimp fried rice with the frozen kind. Nothing too fancy.
Raw is my preferred shrimp sytle if I am going to be featuring the shrimp in my dish.
Let's talk poop chutes. You need to devein your shrimp before you cook them, especially if you get the jumbo shrimp. The poop tube, or vein is a tiny intestine type of thing that runs along the back of the shrimp. Ya gotta take this thing out, unless eating shrimp poo is your kind of a party. Really, shrimp poo is not like mammal poo. It's mostly just algae and plankton. But it is waste nonetheless, so clean your shrimp. We may be men, but we don't eat shit.
To devein the shrimp, take a small but sharp knife and run it just along the outside edge of the shrimp's body. That is, of course, after you have peeled the shells off. the knife should only go in about an eighth of an inch, maybe less. Cut a slit along the length and then pull the vein out with the knife.
Rinse. Repeat. Once this is done, you are free to do with the shrimp as you will.
Be on the lookout for some great recipes featuring shrimp this month. Ken has a salmon loaf with shrimp sauce coming up and I plan on serving up my shrimp diablo. If you have a great shrimp recipe or shrimp story, or would just like to share some shrimp thoughts, please drop us a line via our contact form.
Did you know that the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Co. is for real? Check it out.
Responses to "Vertically Challenged, Please" ...
Actually, it's the cockroach of the sea. Not that that would stop me from inhaling a pound or two.
we call them prawns over here, and damn they're nice, one of my favourite foods and I'd eat 'em more often if they weren't so expensive
Since winter of 2004, I have been exploring the world of cooking and helping out my fellow men in their quests to better themselves in the kitchen. My name is Adam Byrd, you can learn more about me and my mission on my