The forgotten art (or is it science?) of boiling shrimp

Jumbo shrimp cocktail, all you can eat steamed shrimp, spiced shrimp, pickled shrimp...and I'm not talking about that Bubba Gump's factory at Navy Pier. Ah, the good old days. Growing up in the Norfolk area which is also called tidewater, a peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic where we were surrounded with great local seafood. Great local product prepared simply. less was more back then. No such thing as thaw and serve. Fried or broiled was the norm and I almost always went for the fried, the exceptions being baked flounder stuffed with crab imperial or a shellfish gratin.

Oysters, clams, crab, flounder, bluefish, sea trout (weakfish), not to mention my favorites, croaker and spot, both members of the drum family and some mighty good eating. Perfect pan sized fish.

I've picked up a few unique cooking methods and thought I'd pass them along.

1. Make a nice flavorful court bouillion. I like to use lemon, onion, celery, pickling spice, a few jalapenos, lots of salt, and at the last second before dropping the shrimp, a good shot of Old Bay seafood seasoning (simmer the Old Bay too long and the liquid gets too dark and the shrimp won't look as nice). Have your ice water for shocking the shrimp next to you before dropping you shrimp. As soon as they're done to your taste, transfer them to the ice water, but don't leave more than a few minutes as the water will kill your flavor.

2. I read about this method which comes from a low country chef, and tried it. Even better than the first. Prepare a double batch of court bouillion, chilling half and using it as your shocking liquid, so you are cooling your shrimp down in really flavorful stuff, rather than H2O. Even better than the first.

3. Saw a cook in Dallas using this method a few years back, and more recently, on Alton Brown's TV show. Scatter the shrimp on cookie sheets and season to your liking (salt, lemon, Old Bay, etc...) Bake until just tender/done at moderate temp (325 or 350). Immediately transfer to cool tray or pan. No water related flavor loss whatsoever. Just pure shrimpy goodness. A little cocktail or remoulade sauce and you're ready to roll up your sleves and have some fun.

Evil Ronie

You remind me why I rarely order shrimp any more. Living in the Low Country we caught our own shrimp and crabs.

The night before we'd have fried chicken for dinner (Maryland fried, specifically, served with a creamy gravy) and save the bones. The next day we'd leave the younger ones with mom on the dock with chicken bones, string, a bucket and a "Harry Caray" net - a long handled net. The water there is clear enough that a child (or even an adult!) can see the bottom. Lowering the chicken bone on a string, the intrepid crab hunter would wait until a crab scampered over to grab the bone (didn't have to wait long). Once this happened, all the crab hunter had to do was to slowly reel in the string bringing the crab - determined not to release it's prey - closer to the surface. Once the crab was about to break the water the net would be extended and the string quickly pulled up while the net was thrust under the crab. Once airborne the crab would release the bone and fall into the net, to then be dumped into the bucket full of water. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Meanwhile, I'd be with my dad in a johnboat making our way between marsh and river looking for shrimp. Once spotted, dad would toss out the shrimp net - in a manner that was half frisbee throw and half freethrow - combined into a maneuver that resulted in the net spreading open and falling/circling a bunch of shrimp. I'd help dad pull the net back in, quickly, and we'd dump the shrimp into the belly of the johnboat between us. We'd repeat this procedure until we'd amassed enough shrimp to feed the family that night and then head back to the dock.

By this time the bucket would be mostly full of crabs and I'd have about finished scooping up all the shrimp into either a garbage bag or a cooler (depending on whether we had one or 2 coolers, as the crabs had first priority on the cooler). We'd gather the food and the family and drive back to the house. Within the hour a crab-boil mixture had been fired and the crabs and shrimp were being dumped onto a newpaper-covered picnic table out underneath the Live Oak tree in the front yard. I was, of course, too young at the time to have beer with my meal but did grab healthy swigs of ice cold PBR each time I went back to the house to refresh my dad's. Citronella candles flickered in a vain attempt to hold off mosquitoes, I found better protection in the path of the smoke from dad's cigarette. Even under the most aggressive 'skeeter attacks, the food and the company were memorable - everyone picking crabs and peeling shrimp and reaching for more amidst grunts of approval.

I enjoy dishes made with crab meat and/or shrimp as an ingredient, but I can't and don't order either as an entree unless I'm back in the Low Country (or other regions with caught-that-day shrimp & crabs). Once you have had it fresh like that, it's just so disappointing to have it any other way. There really is a falloff in the texture and the flavor that can't be solved, IMO. And don't even ask me about oysters - that's a whole 'nuther story.

My dad would send me up to the corner grocery store for crab bait. It would be chicken necks and backs, or fish heads, either way they were free.

A few years ago, I ran into and old friend from Maryland, who now lives in Florida and commented that he doesn't order crabcakes anymore, unless he's back in Md.

We're pretty lucky to have Shaw's here for oysters. My luck at McCormick and Schmick hasn't been all that good.

As far as cooking crabs, I guess it's my Va/Md upbringing. I prefer my crabs steamed rather than boiled, as y'all do over there.

When I lived in Houston, we would pull over to the side of I-45 and buy fresh gulf shrimp. Those vans always seemed to be around.

Hope you're able to get a good mess of swimps real soon!

Evil

Yeah, I probably wasn't clear - the shrimp were boiled and the crabs steamed over the same boilmix. Totally agree on the Shaw's oysters - one of the few places here I indulge (and Shaw's does it extremely well).

I enjoy the Low Country oysters in all forms but especially steamed. There used to be a place we went to that specialized in these. Each table had a hole in the middle to suspend a bucket. Silverware was a shucking knife and linens was a roll of paper towels. We'd buy buckets of steamed Low Country oysters that came with little cups of drawn butter. We'd pass the shucking knife around the table. The ritual was shuck open, slip the knife under the oyster and then - holding the oyster on the knife with your thumb - plunge it into the butter and then eat. Shuck, shuck, pass, and toss the shells into the central bucket. Oh, and by this time I was of drinking age so pitchers of beer all round, too. Good eats(tm).

I'll be having some fine Appalachicola oysters (different than Low Country, but still real good) every night when I head down to the FL panhandle in a few weeks. They are prepared all ways down there, too, but we enjoy them as appy's every night in the beach house sprinkled with Italian seasoning type spice mix, fresh grated parmesan, and then quick baked on a tray. Finger food while we wait for the shrimp and fish to get ready, watching the sunset. Oh yeah!

Upon my graduation from college, I felt fortunate to be offered a job by a bank down in Charleston, South Carolina. The only problem was that the job didn't pay enough for one to liove reasonbably on its salary.

But, wanting to live in the area, I put my best salesman's hat on and began calling friends in the area looking for bargain accomodations so that I could make the move to that beautiful area.

On about my third day of calling, I was advised that there was a man who owned a former farm on the banks of the Wando River that he was planning to develop upon completeion of a large highway project that would link his little area in Mout Pleasant to I-26 and the area barrier Islands. His farmhouse was being vandalized with regularity and he just wanted someone to live in the old farmhouse until the construction was complete and he could begin the development of the property for luxury homes on the water.

So we negotiated a lease - $75 per each of the three men living there with the promise that we would grade the mile long dirt road twice a year (which we never did in the three years that we were there).

Rat Hall Plantation as it was known back then had been heemed in between fences surrounding the highy way project and the Wando River just south of the Cooper River Bridge. Within that locked are was game (deer, quail, dove) and a seafood extravaganza in the creeks that ran off of the wando into the property.

For three years, we lived off the land eating more than our fair share of quail, deer, creek shrimp, creek flounder, crabs and oysters. Many nights dinner consisted of whatever I could bring in from my cast net. If we ever bought anything, it was some link sausage, fresh white corn and onions to go into a Frogmore Stew.

As much as I love Chicago and its wonderful selection of ethnically diverse foods, I miss those days of all of that wonderfully simple fresh seafood that was there for the taking.

Your recipe for Court Boullion sounds like something that I would have loved to have had in those culinarily uninspired days.

You've inspired me to give it a try on the pound of shrimp I still have in my freezer from my last trip down.

Ourpalwill

For three years, we lived off the land eating more than our fair share of quail, deer, creek shrimp, creek flounder, crabs and oysters. Many nights dinner consisted of whatever I could bring in from my cast net. If we ever bought anything, it was some link sausage, fresh white corn and onions to go into a Frogmore Stew.

Yet again, you have painted a very idyllic life in the Carolina's.

I lived in Maryland for 4.5 years between the ages of 6-10. Once when my Father visited Boston, he brought lobsters home to cook. Every kid in the neighborhood was in our kitchen to witness the murder. Surprisingly, we never once had the famous Maryland crabs in our household nor any clams or oysters. Years later, I returned driving around on my own. I couldn't believe the frequency of trucks parked on the roadside selling crabs and other seafood. Why it never occured to my parents to explore the local fare is beyond my comprehension.

A friend of mine grew up along a river which fed into the Chesapeake Bay. Her Mother would throw a crab trap off their dock and return later to find crabs, eels and fish trapped within. She would select what she wanted and ring up the neighbors to distribute the rest. For the holidays, they would buy crabs and oysters by the bushel for their eating pleasure. It is no surprise my friend's first Thanksgiving after marriage she served a turkey as well as a lobster for each guest.

A few years ago, Cook's Illustrated suggested brining shrimp for an hour before boiling, then removing the shells after cooking for the best texture and flavor. I have done it and found it more flavorful with a firmer texture. If any of you tried it, what was your opinion?

Another shrimp question: when you have a full shrimp, like the salt and pepper shrimp at LTH, do you eat the head? I eat the whole thing, shell and all.

Also, for crabs and lobsters - my preferred cooking method is steaming, also. Boiling not only dilutes the flavor. The water is all over the interior of the lobster making a mess. Steam is cleaner, easier and much more flavorful.

Regards,
Cathy2

When we visited Maine last year, my friend Wyatt's mom insisted not only on steaming (over seaweed plucked from the adjacent inlet) but that we clip the end of the claws slightly-- I can't remember if this was before or after cooking but the idea was that what liquid did build up inside would run out and the lobster wouldn't dump a pint on your plate when you tore into him.

Mike G

I can't remember if this was before or after cooking but the idea was that what liquid did build up inside would run out and the lobster wouldn't dump a pint on your plate when you tore into him

There is certainly some liquid after steaming lobsters or crabs but nothing like the flood with boiling. I like the taste of this liquid likening it to pot liquor from greens: pleasant.

Cathy2

I have to admit, Cathy, I like my shrimp headed and peeled.

Evil Ronnie wrote:We're pretty lucky to have Shaw's here for oysters.

My wife and I really miss the $.25 per oyster happy hour at the now closed Shaw's of Deerfield. We used to eat dozens when we lived up that way.