Fish Hopper Seafood and Steaks - How to Pick Out the Best Shrimp #SeafoodRecipesWorldwide

Fish Hopper Seafood and Steaks - How to Pick Out the Best Shrimp

People are often mystified at how they can buy good shrimps and for good reason, as there are tons of varieties for sale. When looking for the best shrimp for dinner, there are three main factors that will help you to choose the best: Fresh or frozen shrimp, what size shrimp you need, and what format the shrimp are sold in. Whether you are confused about the sizing system, if you should be buying fresh versus frozen or how to make sure the quality is top-notch, shopping for shrimp can be a befuddling task.

The first thing to think about when looking for high quality shrimp is the freezing. Unless the shrimp is extremely local, all shrimp has been previously frozen. This means that even the shrimp at the seafood counter is previously frozen"and by law, should state that. You can always ask is this previously frozen if need be. Do not purchase the thawed shrimp from the counter if you are not planning to use the shrimp that night. It is the same as what's in the freezer, only you have less control over its care.

Once you've learned that the secret to buying good shrimp is to find the freezer section, you can pick from what may be a wide variety of sizes. If you have a recipe, it should say what size you need. Shrimp are sized by how many fit in a pound, so you'll often see it specified that you need 21-25 ct (large) or something similar. That means there are 21 to 25 individual shrimp of that size in a pound. If you are grilling or serving the shrimp as a main, you probably want 21-25 or larger (16-20, U16). If you are stir-frying or adding to a soup or pasta dish, you probably want a smaller shrimp (31-35 or 36-40).

If you purchase an all-natural shrimp, it will not contain a preservation agent called sodium tri-polyphosphate, and thus will be about the same size after cooking as it is before. The cheaper the shrimp, often the more "STP" as it's called, is added, so the more the shrimp will shrink in the cooking process. If you want top quality shrimp, check the ingredients and make sure there is no sodium tri-polyphosphate added.

Once you have the proper size of shrimp the next step in figuring out how to buy good shrimp is to decide in what form you need them. Shrimp have heads, tails, veins and shells, and you'll find they are sold with any number of combinations of those on or off, either deveined or not. Most of the shrimp's flavor comes from the shell and the head, so if you can cook them with those both on, you'll get the most delicious shrimp in the store, though you'll have a lot more work to do peeling them later. If you want the easiest shrimp to deal with, look for deveined, peeled, headless shrimp.

Cooked shrimp are another option in the freezer. If the shrimp are cooked, it is most likely without head, vein or shell. These shrimp will have less flavor than if you cook them yourself, but will save you a lot of time and effort. If you don't want to deal with the process of peeling or deveining a shrimp, this is a good way to avoid it.

The last step in purchasing the best shrimp in the store is to take care of it. Keep it completely frozen until 24 hours before you plan to use it, then defrost it slowly by putting it in the refrigerator. If you need to use it quickly, leave it wrapped in plastic and place under cool running water for 15-20 minutes, until defrost.

Seared Steelhead Salmon #SeafoodRecipesWorldwide

Photo Source:Seared Steelhead Salmon by rwolff2012, on Flickr

Seared Steelhead Salmon

Ingredients:

4 fillets of salmon, steelhead or trout
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil
1 cup black beluga lentils
1 pint chicken or pheasant broth
1 pint water
1 sprig sage
1 minced shallot
1 minced Fresno or red jalapeno chile
1/2 cup minced cremini or button mushrooms
1/4 cup minced hard salami
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced parsley
2 tablespoons salmon or steelhead caviar
Juice of a lemon

Procedures:

1.) Rinse the salmon and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt on both sides and set aside.

2.) Bring the water and chicken broth to a simmer and add the sage sprig. Taste for salt and add it needed. Pour in the lentils and let simmer until just done. You want them al dente. Drain into a colander, remove the sage and set aside.

3.) Meanwhile, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the shallot, salami, mushrooms and chili and saute until it begins to brown. Turn off the heat and add all but 2 tablespoons of the lentils and parsley. Mix well and set aside.

4.) Get another pan hot and add the grape-seed oil; you can use canola oil if you can’t find grape-seed. Get the oil good and hot. Pat the fish fillets dry again and place flesh side down on the pan. You may need to do this in batches.

5.) Turn the heat down to medium-high and sear for 3-5 minutes, depending on how thick the fillet is. Turn carefully and sear on the other side for 3-4 minutes.

6.) After you turn the fish, add in 1 tablespoon of salmon caviar to the lentils and give it some lemon juice. mix gently to combine.

7.) To assemble, lay out some of the lentil mixture and top with the steelhead. Mix the remaining salmon caviar and beluga lentils and top the fish with it. Give the fish a little hit of lemon juice and serve at once.

8.) Serves 4

Salmon Tartare #SeafoodRecipesWorldwide

Salmon Tartare

Ingredients:

1 pound salmon fillet, with skin if possible
1 shallot, minced, about 1/4 cup
1 to 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seed oil
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons dill pollen (optional)
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 ounces salmon caviar

Procedures:

1.) Slice the skin off the salmon with a fillet knife and gently scrape off any meat sticking to it. Pat the salmon skin dry with paper towels and lay flat, cut side down, on a non-stick skillet. Turn the heat to medium and place another flat, heavy surface on top of the skin. I use another pot. Let this cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Listen for it sizzling under the weight, and do not check the skin for at least 3 minutes — this prevents it from curling up. Once the cut side looks crispy, turn the salmon skin, salt the side you just cooked, and repeat the process with the other side of the skin.

2.) When the salmon skin is crispy, take it out of the pan and let it cool for a minute or two. Use a sharp chef’s knife to cut it into cracker pieces. Let it cool completely.

3.) Meanwhile, make the tartare by finely chopping the salmon into small dice. Do not put it into a food processor and do not shop it into mush. Put the chopped salmon into a bowl and mix in the shallot, pumpkinseed oil, lemon zest, dill, dill pollen if using, and horseradish. Salt and pepper it to taste and set it in the fridge to chill for up to a few hours.

4.) When you are ready to serve, mix the lemon juice into the tartare and scoop little piles of it on each salmon skin cracker. Top with a dollop of salmon caviar and serve. Have some table water crackers around to serve after the salmon skin crackers are eaten up.

5.) Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer.