• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1104 0

sold alive or cooked. Shrimp are beheaded (which removes the part of the animal that spoils quickest) and the tail meat is frozen. Shrimp that are sold with the head on need more careful handling (frequent icing) and are more perishable than headless shrimp. Shrimp freeze exceptionally well, and all shrimp are frozen as close to harvesting as possible. Even when you purchase “fresh” shrimp, they have been previously frozen and then thawed in the store. This means that frozen shrimp are actually closer to fresh than the shrimp labeled “fresh” in the fish case.

* * *

SHRIMP are sold by “count,” which is the number of shrimp in a pound. The lower the count, the larger the shrimp. Shrimp that are very large are often called “prawns” in the States, although in the rest of the world a prawn is a different crustacean altogether. The following chart lists industry shrimp counts and the retail names that are usually assigned to them. Shrimp that are larger than 26–30 are best for grilling. Any shrimp larger than U-10 should be butterflied (split lengthwise and opened like a book) to help them cook evenly.

* * *

SHRIMP COUNTS

* * *

* * *

SPLITTING A LOBSTER FOR GRILLING

1. Put the live lobster on a rimmed baking sheet. Uncurl the tail and lay it out flat. Insert a sharp knife just behind the head and cut the shell of the thorax in half lengthwise.

2. Turn the lobster onto its back. Insert your knife into the abdomen of the lobster right where the tail meets the thorax, with the edge of the blade facing the head. In one motion, bring the knife down the center line of the body, splitting the front end of the lobster in half.

3. Now reverse directions and split the posterior end in the same way. Separate the two halves by pressing lightly on them. Remove the sand sac from the head and discard. Remove the light green tomalley from the body cavity and, if present, the long sac of dark green roe that runs down the back of the lobster. These can be saved and used to flavor a stuffing or thicken a sauce. The lobster is now ready for grilling, or it can be separated into claw and tail sections.

* * *

* * *

Although more than 300 species of commercial shrimp are fished from all over the world, almost all of the shrimp in the U.S. market are warm-water shrimp, which are categorized by the color of their shells when raw: white, brown, pink, and black tiger.

• White shrimp have grayish white shells when raw that turn pink when cooked. The flesh is white to pink.

• Brown shrimp have tan shells when raw that become coral when cooked. The meat is white with coral streaks.

• Pink shrimp have pink shells that turn deep pink after cooking. The flesh is white with pink overtones.

• Tiger shrimp are the fastest-growing farmed shrimp and are often lower priced than other types. Their shells are black-and-gray striped and turn bright red when cooked. The meat is white with a red skin.

To clean a shrimp, remove the shell. If the shrimp are large and you are not tossing them with other ingredients, you can leave the end of the tail on; otherwise, remove it. The “vein” in the crevice running along the outside curve of the shrimp is the tail end of the digestive tract. It can be filled with sand and grit and should be removed, especially if it is dark in color. Frozen cleaned and shelled shrimp are available, but they tend not to be as fresh as shrimp that have been frozen intact.

* * *

LOBSTER There are two orders of lobster: Atlantic lobsters, which live in seawater, and crayfish, which live in fresh-water. Both are similarly structured, with large tails and enlarged pincers on their forelegs. Spiny and rock lobsters are their distant clawless relatives. They are usually sold for their tail meat alone and are the principal source for frozen lobster tail.

Unlike shrimp, lobsters must be sold alive or cooked. Choose live lobsters that are active and feisty; they will keep well for a day in the refrigerator covered with damp newspaper or seaweed. It is dangerous to cook a dead lobster, unless it succumbs