Shrimp: farmed or wild?

"Felice Friese" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with
tails on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with
few exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but
what about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can
anyone tell me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed,
and/or between American (whatever that means) and imported?

Felice

Based on my experience recently, "fresh caught" shrimp actually taste like
the ocean, whereas the frozen ones are pretty bland. Tough? Cook them less.
Fresh caught shrimp will not be as consistent as farm raised shrimp, due to
seasonal variations in their diet.

As far as deveining, that's not a good reason to avoid a certain kind of
shrimp. It wasn't so long ago that NO shrimp were deveined. Do it yourself.

"Felice Friese" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with

tails

Quoted message said:

on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with few
exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but

what

Quoted message said:

about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can anyone

tell

Quoted message said:

me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed, and/or

between

Quoted message said:

American (whatever that means) and imported?

Felice

Considering farm raised shrimp often come from filthy regions of third world
countries where the ponds are supplied with waste water, street runoff and
industrial waste. Hardly a clean industry. Wild shrimp is also a huge
problem. The "by-catch" ratio is often 20 to 1. That is 20 pounds of sea
life destroyed, wasted, squandered, for 1 pound of shrimp.

If you can find certified, inspected farm raised shrimp, that is the way to
go. But you will pay a lot more for them. 2-3 times the stuff that is
imported from Thailand and Malaysia.

Paul

"Felice Friese" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with
tails on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with
few exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

No brainer. Eat the obviously better, although slightly more expensive
shrimp.

It's not a zero-sum game. World trade benefits us AND them. When you
practice isolationism, in this case, you get crappy shrimp, reward people
who produce an inferior product just because of the country where they
happen to live, and take a meal from the mouths of a family because they are
foreigners. World trade also benefits the US producers who do well in
foreign markets.

Mitch

In article <[email hidden]>,

Felice Friese said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with tails
on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with few
exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but what
about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can anyone tell
me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed, and/or between
American (whatever that means) and imported?

Felice

Our wild shrimp here come mostly from the gulf coast (sold as gulf
shrimp). They taste much more strongly of Iodine than the farmed. I
prefer the farmed for that main reason.

I've not noticed any difference in Texture.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

Omelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Felice Friese said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with tails
on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with few
exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but what
about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can anyone tell
me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed, and/or between
American (whatever that means) and imported?

Felice

Our wild shrimp here come mostly from the gulf coast (sold as gulf
shrimp). They taste much more strongly of Iodine than the farmed. I
prefer the farmed for that main reason.

I've not noticed any difference in Texture.

I've found the fresh, never frozen gulf brown shrimp that show up here
from time to time to be very good. As for deveining, I'm one who doesn't
bother so I don't pay much attention to whether they are deveined or
not. I also love steamers and other whole belly clams.

Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think I'll go back to
the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay
prawns?

BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was the same with both,
so that wouldn't have accounted for the toughness. I follow someone's advice
(Fruge, perhaps?) that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.

Felice

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

No brainer. Eat the obviously better, although slightly more expensive
shrimp.

It's not a zero-sum game. World trade benefits us AND them. When you
practice isolationism, in this case, you get crappy shrimp, reward people
who produce an inferior product just because of the country where they
happen to live, and take a meal from the mouths of a family because they are
foreigners. World trade also benefits the US producers who do well in
foreign markets.

Here in North Carolina, during the season, you can go to the docs and
buy just-off-the-boat shrimp for $5 or less a pound. They still have
their heads and are not sorted for size, but they are dirt cheap and
taste a whole lot better than any farmed shrimp.

Competition from imported farmed shrimp has really hurt the shrimping
industry here. On the one hand, I hate to see these people lose their
work. On the other hand, shrimping is so destructive of maritime
environments that I think the move to farmed shrimp is a good thing.

--
Peter Aitken

Felice Friese said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with tails
on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with few
exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined at
best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but what
about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can anyone tell
me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed, and/or between
American (whatever that means) and imported?

Montery Bay Aquarium has a great website listing the pros and cons of
various types of sea food. Regarding shrimp:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx

In article <[email hidden]>,

Felice Friese said:

Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think I'll go back to
the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay
prawns?

BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was the same with both,
so that wouldn't have accounted for the toughness. I follow someone's advice
(Fruge, perhaps?) that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.

Felice

I agree with that advice.
I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

"Kathleen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Felice Friese said:

For years I've been buying bags of frozen farm-raised raw shrimp with
tails on, from various sources and various distributors. All have, with
few exceptions, been nicely deveined and quite tasty.

My local Shaw's has now added wild raw shrimp from "American" waters, at
about the same price (perhaps a dollar less) and the seafood people
recommended I try them. I found the ones I bought to be poorly deveined
at best, and quite tough.

I attribute the lack of proper deveining to be careless processing, but
what about the toughness? Before I report back to my seafood man, can
anyone tell me of differences they have noticed between wild and farmed,
and/or between American (whatever that means) and imported?

Montery Bay Aquarium has a great website listing the pros and cons of
various types of sea food. Regarding shrimp:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_search.aspx

Oh, my! There's a whole lot more to choosing shrimp than I ever realized.
I've bookmarked the site so I can now find out about the other seafood I
buy. Thanks so much, Kathleen.

Felice

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:53:58 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Felice Friese said:

Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think I'll go back to
the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay
prawns?

BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was the same with both,
so that wouldn't have accounted for the toughness. I follow someone's advice
(Fruge, perhaps?) that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.

Felice

I agree with that advice.
I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

shrimp don't suffer from boiling (simmering?) as much as crabs do, but
you have to watch 'em pretty close. steaming might be better, but i
haven't tried that.

your pal,
blake

In article <[email hidden]>,

blake murphy said:

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:53:58 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Felice Friese said:

Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think I'll go back to
the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay
prawns?

BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was the same with
both,
so that wouldn't have accounted for the toughness. I follow someone's
advice
(Fruge, perhaps?) that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.

Felice

I agree with that advice.
I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

shrimp don't suffer from boiling (simmering?) as much as crabs do, but
you have to watch 'em pretty close. steaming might be better, but i
haven't tried that.

your pal,
blake

It's more difficult to observe them during the steaming process unless
you are using an open steamer of some sort, and stirred them around a
bit.

The trick for that I guess would be establishing a time per lb. for it,
(I'm sure they do that commercially as the frozen pre-cooked shrimp I
buy is always perfect), but I'd personally rather watch over them.

They are too damned expensive to damage!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

Omelet wrote on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:53:58 -0500:

??>> Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think
??>> I'll go back to the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland
??>> for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay prawns?
??>>
??>> BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was
??>> the same with both, so that wouldn't have accounted for
??>> the toughness. I follow someone's advice (Fruge, perhaps?)
??>> that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.
??>>
??>> Felice

O> I agree with that advice.
O> I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
O> Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

You certainly don't want to eat them overcooked. After all,
Japanese eat them raw ("sweet shrimp"😉 as one type of nigiri
sushi.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

In article <FjgGi.2684$282.485@trnddc01>,

James Silverton said:

O> I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
O> Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

You certainly don't want to eat them overcooked. After all,
Japanese eat them raw ("sweet shrimp"😉 as one type of nigiri
sushi.

James Silverton

Indeed.

Oddly enough, it's difficult (at least around here) to get them totally
raw as sashimi/sushi. Most of the shrimp "sashimi" is still very lightly
cooked.

Yes, I know that sashimi is supposed to be raw and I have no trouble
getting raw tuna, salmon, octopus and even quail eggs, but the shrimp
has never appeared to be totally raw. Wrong color and texture.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <FjgGi.2684$282.485@trnddc01>,

James Silverton said:

O> I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
O> Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

You certainly don't want to eat them overcooked. After all,
Japanese eat them raw ("sweet shrimp"😉 as one type of nigiri
sushi.

James Silverton

Indeed.

Oddly enough, it's difficult (at least around here) to get
them totally
raw as sashimi/sushi. Most of the shrimp "sashimi" is still
very lightly
cooked.

Yes, I know that sashimi is supposed to be raw and I have no
trouble
getting raw tuna, salmon, octopus and even quail eggs, but the
shrimp
has never appeared to be totally raw. Wrong color and texture.

Actually, my favorite sushi places around here have them both
cooked and raw. Nigiri sushi does not always use raw fish.
Octopus is cooked, Japanese omelet is common and Spam is used
in Hawaii!

--
Jim Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:26:54 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

blake murphy said:

On Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:53:58 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
"Felice Friese" <[email hidden]> wrote:

> Thanks, all, for some good information and advice. I think I'll go back to
> the farmed. But first, I'm off to Ireland for a spell. Ever had Dublin Bay
> prawns?
>
> BTW, I should have mentioned that my cooking method was the same with
> both,
> so that wouldn't have accounted for the toughness. I follow someone's
> advice
> (Fruge, perhaps?) that one not cook shrimp, but just threaten them.
>
> Felice

I agree with that advice.
I cook them until they JUST turn pink all over.
Hard rubbery overcooked shrimp are a waste.

shrimp don't suffer from boiling (simmering?) as much as crabs do, but
you have to watch 'em pretty close. steaming might be better, but i
haven't tried that.

your pal,
blake

It's more difficult to observe them during the steaming process unless
you are using an open steamer of some sort, and stirred them around a
bit.

The trick for that I guess would be establishing a time per lb. for it,
(I'm sure they do that commercially as the frozen pre-cooked shrimp I
buy is always perfect), but I'd personally rather watch over them.

They are too damned expensive to damage!

you're right, boiling is probably more practical for the home cook.
and i suppose steaming large quantities could cause some to be over-
and some undercooked.

your pal,
blake

In article <[email hidden]>,

blake murphy said:

Quoted message said:

The trick for that I guess would be establishing a time per lb. for it,
(I'm sure they do that commercially as the frozen pre-cooked shrimp I
buy is always perfect), but I'd personally rather watch over them.

They are too damned expensive to damage!

you're right, boiling is probably more practical for the home cook.
and i suppose steaming large quantities could cause some to be over-
and some undercooked.

your pal,
blake

Do you ever boil them?

I've honestly not tried that in a long time. I prefer them carefully
grilled or sauteed, but YMMV of course.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

blake murphy said:

Quoted message said:

The trick for that I guess would be establishing a time per lb. for it,
(I'm sure they do that commercially as the frozen pre-cooked shrimp I
buy is always perfect), but I'd personally rather watch over them.

They are too damned expensive to damage!

you're right, boiling is probably more practical for the home cook.
and i suppose steaming large quantities could cause some to be over-
and some undercooked.

your pal,
blake

Do you ever boil them?

You never actually boil shrimp. You bring a large amount of water **TO** a
boil - enough water so the quantity of shrimp you're adding doesn't lower
the temperature TOO much. When the water (and perhaps spices) boils, you
remove it from the heat, add the shrimp, and cover. The timing cannot be
explained because it depends on the size of the shrimp, and whether you have
a clue as to how much to cook shrimp.

In article <[email hidden]>,

JoeSpareBedroom said:

"Omelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

blake murphy said:

>The trick for that I guess would be establishing a time per lb. for it,
>(I'm sure they do that commercially as the frozen pre-cooked shrimp I
>buy is always perfect), but I'd personally rather watch over them.
>
>They are too damned expensive to damage!

you're right, boiling is probably more practical for the home cook.
and i suppose steaming large quantities could cause some to be over-
and some undercooked.

your pal,
blake

Do you ever boil them?

You never actually boil shrimp. You bring a large amount of water **TO** a
boil - enough water so the quantity of shrimp you're adding doesn't lower
the temperature TOO much. When the water (and perhaps spices) boils, you
remove it from the heat, add the shrimp, and cover. The timing cannot be
explained because it depends on the size of the shrimp, and whether you have
a clue as to how much to cook shrimp.

I cook shrimp until they are evenly pink.
The cook quickly, so I watch over them.

I'm not fond of shrimp flavored rubber...
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson