Living on the coast, as I do, tourists are an inevitable (but sometimes regrettable), inescapable truth of life. Once these same tourists find out that I live here, I find myself suddenly elevated to the somewhat esteemed position of Local Authority. I take this responsibility pretty seriously as I too, was once a tourist before I became a resident. I am very aware of the many pitfalls that face those who do not know the area well. While it is never my intent to confuse these folks who are looking for a little inside information, there is one question that if, answered honestly, will bring looks of pure puzzlement to the face of the visitor and will require a somewhat lengthy explanation. The question?"Where is the best place to get good shrimp?"
The honest answer? Check the freezer at the grocery store.
Let me explain. Back in the day, getting good fresh shrimp was simply a matter of going to our local port and meeting the shrimp boats as they came in. There, one could purchase delightfully fresh shrimp right off the boat at a fairly reasonable price. These shrimp did not disappoint as they were sweet, with a slightly briny flavor and a delightfully firm texture. Properly cooked, they literally popped in your mouth when you bit down on them with an explosion of great flavor and wonderful juiciness. Typically, they were iced down as soon as they hit the boat deck and were delivered to the docks within hours of being caught. This was largely due to the fact that the small, independent boats that plied the local waters for this beloved crustacean, had limited holding capacity. One large netful of shrimp were all that they could hold so fishing success meant short, productive trips and a quick run to the port to offload. This resulted in the fortuitous ability to purchase truly "fresh" shrimp and to treat one's self to some of the finest eating on the planet.
Within a few years, things began to change. First, the boats became larger. This meant bigger cargo holds that allowed the fisherman (sometimes called "shrimpers") to put much larger quantities of shrimp aboard their vessels. This resulted in longer trips as it is not cost-effective to keep running back and forth to the dock. Longer trips necessitated that a better longer-term storage solution aboard the boats be found. Initially, this took the form of freezing the shrimp into large blocks of ice made from clean, filtered sea water. You could buy a 5 pound block if you were feeding your family or you could buy a 20-50 pound block if you were feeding tourists in a restaurant. While many of us who were used to buying really fresh product off the smaller boats were dubious, this development proved to be a pretty good solution overall. The shrimp purchased in this manner were very nearly as good as those purchased in the older method and the fisherman benefitted by increased profits for their catch. This went on for a few years then something awful happened.
Sometime in the late 80's, the local shrimping industry was introduced to a insidious little chemical called STP. No, not the fuel additive made famous by the racing industry (though it is just about as appetizing) but a chemical preservative called Sodium TriPolyphosphate. In a process called "dipping" but in reality more like soaking, shrimp began to be treated with this chemical ostensibly for the noble purpose of assuring the shrimps freshness for a longer period of time. The actual reason is that this chemical allows shrimp to maintain a fresh appearance for longer periods allowing shrimp to be shipped longer distances and kept longer in the coolers of the local super-mega mart before having to be tossed.
Personally, I have a lot of issues with this practice, not the least of them being what this chemical does to the flavor and texture of this great food product. One of the (many) problems with this chemical is that once any product is treated with it, the flavor and texture become forever altered. The shrimp loses all sweetness and the texture is much less crunchy, almost mealy. Other issues include the fact that shrimp producers are not required to label such shrimp treated if they are sold as "fresh". In other words, the mega-mart may or may not know this shrimp has been treated and is not required to pass any such iknowledge along to the consumer.Additionally, in researching this chemical, I came across the federal governments Material Handling and Safety Data Sheet for it and found this little tidbit.
"This chemical should not be ingested."
Wait a minute! Doesn't that mean we shouldn't eat this stuff? If that is the case, why the devil are they putting it in my shrimp (oh yeah...scallops too!)?
Now, I am way too fond of shrimp to stop eating it, so I have a couple of choices. I can go out and catch my own (a hit or miss proposition at best) or I can search for untreated shrimp from some source.
This is where the grocery freezer comes in. Processed and frozen food products are required to list all ingredients. Thus, treated seafood clearly lists the inclusion of STP under the "Ingredients" listing usually found on the back of the package as well as the country of origin. A diligent inspection of these products can result in your finding untreated shrimp that have been individually quick frozen (the industry refers to this as IQF) and available in bags from 1 to 5 pounds. In addition, some of these shrimp will be labelled as "Product of the U.S.A."
Folks...this is as fresh as you are likely to get. IQF shrimp are coated in salted water (sometimes filtered seawater) and almost instantly frozen either by using dry ice or by using liquid nitrogen. The salted water protects the shrimp from cellular crystallization and this process almost always takes place within minutes of being caught.
These shrimp are nearly indistinguishable from those that are freshly caught and they are sometimes better as they can come from farther off shore than an individual (such as yours truly) can effectively catch them. This water is cleaner and cooler than inshore waters and the shrimp thus produced can be immensely sweeter and tastier. Some of these shrimp are available as "organic" which makes them fairly easy to find. It is worth the effort.
Okay, so you have found some untreated shrimp in your grocers freezer. You have thawed them out gently in your fridge and are ready to grill them. Not so fast there, gentle reader! We want to maximze their flavor and retain their sweet juciness. Believe me, there is nothing worse than chewy, dry shrimp. So, before you throw those beauties on that super-heated grill surface, why not invest a bit of time getting them truly ready to cook. I strongly recommend bring them first. This insures a moister product and allows you to introduce more fully any additional flavors you may want to add.
For 1 pound of unpeeled shrimp (the peel protects the shrimp and helps it to retain moisture), you will need about 1 quart of water, 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar. To this you may add Old Bay or chipotle peppers or white wine or rosemary or whatever flavors you like in shrimp. Place everything (except the shrimp) in a microwave safe container and nuke on high for 1 minute. Shake or stir the liquid to dissolve the salt and sugar and allow to completely cool (I make my brine in the morning and refrigerate it until needed). Now, 45 minutes before grilling, put your shrimp in the brine and soak for 45 minutes. Drain and rinse. They are now ready to grill.
Now, you've gone to the effort of finding untreated shrimp and brining them, the one thing that you don't need to do now is overcook them. For 26-30 count shrimp (the only size I buy) you will find that cooking them for about 2 minutes on one side then about 1 minute on the other will result in perfectly cooked shrimp. Of course, this depends on your grill, your fuel and the temperature so just watch them and check them. Once they are pink...they are done. All you have to do now is peel and eat and sit back to the adulation of your family and friends. Life is good!
