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Food for thought! Hopefully the following article about where to find
some of the best shrimp and what you should be looking for will inspire you
enough to leave a comment when you are done.When selecting items for a seafood feast, wild caught American shrimp are
considered to be an excellent choice of many gourmet cooks. Wild American shrimp
are not only recognized for outstanding flavor but they can be an important part
of a healthy diet.
They are delicious steamed, boiled, grilled, fried and in
dishes like shrimp scampi. They are also popular as an appetizer, such as shrimp
cocktail, shrimp bisque and shrimp salad. Shrimp even freeze well and can be
purchased in large numbers, processed and the excess amounts frozen for later
meals.
Wild American shrimp include white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus),
brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus), pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum) and royal
red shrimp (Pleoticus robustus or Hymenopenaeus robustus) rock shrimp (Sicyonia
brevirostris) and Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis).
Shrimp are sized by
“count”. The number is the average number of shrimp specimens per pound. This
applies to both whole and heads-off shrimp. For example, headless shrimp of
16/20 count means there are 16 to 20 headless shrimp per pound. Counts for
headless shrimp typically range from 16/20 (large shrimp) to 60/70 (small).
Pacific pink shrimp are even tinier, having counts of about 100 to 140 whole
shrimp per pound.
Wild caught American shrimp are also a good choice in terms
of sustainability. Many of the American shrimp fisheries have been recognized
for ethical harvesting techniques.
The Wild American Shrimp Certification
Program certifies that warm-water, wild caught shrimp from U.S. coastal waters
meet a high standard of quality and consistency. Shrimp that attain Certified
Wild American Shrimp certification receive special labeling. Participation in
the certification program is available to harvesters, processors, distributors,
retailers, grocers and restaurateurs.
Another American shrimp fishery has
received international recognition. Oregon’s pink shrimp fishery has earned the
world’s first sustainable shrimp certification under the Marine Stewardship
Council (MSC) certification program.
Pink shrimp, also known as bay or salad
shrimp are small (100-140 whole shrimp per lb) shrimp which are harvested using
the advanced trawl methods. Pink MSC certified shrimp are delivered to shore for
cooking, peeling, and freezing, resulting in an extremely fresh product that is
considered some of the most flavorful shrimp in the world.
The variety of high quality, healthy and
sustainable American shrimp makes them an excellent choice for seafood lovers.The author maintains seafood related websites including Fresh-Seafood, Commercial Fishing and Chincoteague Island Virginia.
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