Good Fish_ Sustainable Seafood Recipes From the Pacific Coast - Becky Selengut [30]
BUYING TIPS: If you are buying your shrimp or prawns frozen or previously frozen, make sure there is no sign of freezer burn (little white or dry-looking patches). Live spot prawns are a treat and a treasure: snap them up if you see them. Pink shrimp and spot prawns are not sold in the “count per pound” size designations you often see when purchasing other shrimp and prawn varieties at fish counters (such as 21 to 25 for large, or 31 to 35 for medium). You will find pink shrimp and spot prawns listed instead by the price per pound alone.
QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU PULL OUT YOUR WALLET: What species is this and where was it caught? Look for pink shrimp from Oregon or Washington and spot prawns from Washington or British Columbia.
CARING FOR YOUR GOOD FISH: Pink shrimp are often purchased frozen and can remain in your freezer for up to 6 months. They defrost very rapidly. I like to defrost them on paper towels since they tend to retain some water. Spot prawns can be purchased frozen or fresh (heads removed), or live. Thaw spot prawns under cool running water or over a drip pan in the refrigerator. If you purchase live spot prawns, you should remove their heads as soon as possible, as an enzymatic process will make the meat mushy if the heads remain on once the prawns have died. They are sometimes sold with their bright orange eggs attached; I like to stir the eggs into a pasta sauce at the last moment for a little crunch and texture.
HOW THIS TYPE OF SEAFOOD IS RAISED OR HARVESTED: Pink shrimp are caught by trawling. Although trawling is often a destructive process, this fishery trawls midwater instead of on the seafloor and is therefore generally recognized as less damaging to the environment. Also, the trawl net has a bycatch reduction device that keeps other species from getting into the net. Spot prawns are caught with traps, which have low bycatch issues and minimal negative impacts on habitat.
SUSTAINABLE SUBSTITUTES: Domestic farmed white shrimp, because they are grown in closed-containment systems, make a good, though not ideal, substitute for spot prawns. (They are sweeter than white shrimp.) I find that scallops and prawns are interchangeable up to a point, and similarly, I think big chunks of crabmeat could stand in as a possible substitute. Whether fresh or frozen, it is best to purchase shrimp from the United States. U.S. fisheries managers are making efforts to keep the catch sustainable and find solutions to bycatch issues. We don’t have these assurances for imported shrimp and can’t be guaranteed that the environmental standards or social justice issues for the workers who farm or fish for shrimp in other countries are adequate.
oregon pink shrimp salad with mint
2 tablespoons freshly
squeezed lime juice
(1 medium lime)
2 tablespoons freshly
squeezed grapefruit juice
(½ small grapefruit)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon hot chile sauce,
such as sriracha15
⅛ teaspoon salt, plus extra
for salting the grapefruit
1 teaspoon sugar
½ pound Oregon pink shrimp
1 small carrot, grated (¼ cup)
¼ cup chopped cilantro stems
and leaves
1 avocado, peeled, pitted,
and cut into medium dice
1 tablespoon peanut or other
high-heat vegetable oil
⅓ cup thinly sliced shallots
1 grapefruit (Texas Ruby Red,
if available)
4 large butter lettuce leaves
¼ cup roughly chopped dry-
roasted, salted peanuts, for
garnish
¼ cup loosely packed fresh
mint leaves, stacked and cut
into thin ribbons, for garnish
I used to teach a culinary program to new Vietnamese immigrants. Some of my students were painfully shy, so, to boost their confidence, I would have them teach the rest of the class a simple family recipe in English. I got a lovely education in Vietnamese regional cuisine just as surely as my students learned how to read and write recipes and work in a commercial kitchen. This dish reflects my love of the herbs