Royal Red Shrimp

[LizStreithorst]

I've been lucky twice to be given the gift of Royal Red Shrimp. Have any of you ever had them? I call them "the poor man's lobster" because they actually taste like lobster.

Brian from here stopped by on his on the way home and brought me a nice big bag of them. I know what's for dinner tonight. They're best to me the classic way with nothing but drawn butter and lemon. The next time I have them, which may be tomorrow night will be sauteed in garlic butter with a little wine and a bit of pasta water to make a sauce, and serve it over pasta. Steamed spinach would be perfect with this.

Brian, I sure enjoyed your visit. The shrimp were just lagniappe. I hope you enjoy the lagniappe I sent you home with.

[Second Hand Pat]

Brian told me about the royal reds he gets from North Fla. I had never heard of them and oh man, are they good. :D
Pat

[jeep]

It was very nice to see you again as well! It's a shame I'm always in a rush, but 16 hours in a car isn't as easy as it used to be...

They are my favorite! Either boiled or sautéed with garlic and cajun seasonings. They go well with a huge steak on the side, lol... Never tried the wine, sounds good!!

Fish arrived safe and sound!!

[jeep]

BTW, your coffee is awesome!!

[LizStreithorst]

I remembered how much you liked it last time. That's why I had a nice hot freshly made cup for you.

[brady]

Those shrimp are harvested along the gulf coast of Florida. I am sure you all have seen the pictures of the aftermath of Ian.
The shrimpers in the fort myers and the rest of the area around there were totally devestated.
Possibly going to be awhile until you can enjoy those again.
Jay

[LizStreithorst]

Oh no! Brian told me that they live in real deep water. I didn't think they would be affected. This is terrible news for me. I've had them 3 days in a row. The ones I didn't eat up yesterday I'm using to make shrimp fried rice.

I saw frozen red shrimp from Australian at the supermarket and thought they would be the same. They were not. They weren't even close. They had a very strong flavor, not sweet and mild like the ones Brian brings when he comes.

[jeep]

Correct. Regular shrimp is usually harvested between 400-600 feet. Royal Reds are harvested at something like 5000-7,000 feet (possibly deeper) in extreme cold waters which is what makes them so red and sweet. It's strange that the locals don't like them and prefer regular shrimp.

They're now selling them across the country under the name Red Argentine's. They look the same and taste very similar, but they are soaked in preservatives and I don't like that.

All this talk made me have some for dinner last night, and tonight and possibly tomorrow night, lol...

[LizStreithorst]

Yes, the ones I bought were from Argentina but I didn't care for their stronger flavor.

[RogueDiscus]

So, I'm in Oregon. We probably don't really get fresh shrimp here. I don't have enough experience to recognize differences unless i was presented with side by side comparisons. The "best" shrimp I get are the ones Costco bags and sells in their freezer case, 16-20 count I think. Do you have any experience with these? Where do you think these fit in to your strong/mild flavor discussion? Knowing Costco, they could come from anywhere in the world.

A garlic, butter, white wine sautee over pasta is our usual.

And of course when I saw this thread, I thought were going to show off shrimp :)

Maybe I should stock up.

[LizStreithorst]

I find the ones in the frozen bags labeled with their size only are in no way extraordinary. They have the flavor of what most folks would be the normal shrimp flavor. You would be able to tell the difference in flavor between what you're used to and the sweet mild flavor of the Royal Reds without them having to go head to head.

[LizStreithorst]

I have had a hankering for those shrimp again so when I was at the supermarket today, I decided to try the ones from Argentina again. It was a totally different flavor this time. These were sweet like your Royal Reds. Something must have been wrong with the first bag I bought.

Steve, look in your frozen food section for very large red shrimp. If you can get them up your way they will say Wild Caught and Argentina on the bag. I'm sure that they're flash frozen on the boat. I don't even think that they're available fresh.

[jeep]

They are the same shrimp except soaked in preservatives.

[LizStreithorst]

Just curious, how do you know this. I still have the bag. I'll look of the list of ingredients.

[jeep]

If they're the same as I get here, it's on the bag.