Head on shrimp, a new discovery
For years, I’ve known that people from Asia prefer to buy shrimp with the head on. I suppose it makes sense; no self respecting Cajun would buy crayfish if they were headless. Yet, other than a few restaurant encounters, I’ve never purchased them before.
Today, Alice and I were at Costco stocking up on household goods for winter and as much as I tried, I couldn’t resist the temptation of walking by the seafood section. Two things I should not buy are meat of any kind (we have a freezer full) and wine (we have a very well stocked wine cellar). Well, I broke rule number one and Alice broke rule number two.
I looked at a case full of gigantic head-on shrimp many with coral in the body and all about 9 per pound (I counted and weighed them when I got home). For some reason, it just beckoned me. I told Alice that when I got home, I’d go online and find out the best way to cook them. However, while driving home, I figured it was best not to overthink it. We both love the seasoned shrimp steamed in beer that they serve at the Bungalow in Manistee, so why not? I got some butter going in a hot pan and plunked 10 of those fat devils into the hot butter, sprinkled them with “Slap ya’ Mama” seasoning and after a minute or so turned them over to sear the other side and then doused them with about a half cup of strong IPA and put the lid on the pan and turned off the heat. A couple of minutes later, I took off the lid and we put them on our plates along side melted butter and crusty bread. Like crawdads, one sucks the head then eats the tail. I am telling you these were the most delicious shrimp I’ve EVER eaten. Wow, what have I been missing my whole life?
If your Costco caters to Asians, I’ll bet they have a pile of these in the seafood case as you read this. Don’t wait, this may be a one off. Hopefully, they are a quick seller and they continue to carry them at least seasonally if not all the time.
By the way, we haven’t tasted the wine Alice bought, but it is one of the Wine Spectator’s top 100, so I’ll add it to this post as soon as we do. Today, we opted for beer (same IPA the shrimp were cooked in).
Update, the wine: Funny how quickly one forgets. When I opened this a couple of days ago, I couldn’t even remember where we bought it let alone remember to put my notes into this blog post until I was re-editing as I always do a week or two after I post. 2017 Il Conte Villa Prandone Marinus Piceno Superiore (70% Montepulciano / 30% Sangiovese), Marche ITALY (14% abv) $17 at Costco has a nice, deep, black-red color and classic Central Italian nose, finesse without sacrificing strength or its place on the earth. As it airs, a berry liquor nuance emerges as it glides over the tongue with palate-gripping spice and more berry essence finishing with substantial texture, but again, still fine and classy. There’s a lot to like about this wine and at the price, not a bad value, but I’m not sure I’d agree that it is a top 100. I guess I drink too much wonderful cheap wine from Trader Joe’s to be a good judge of value anymore.
Enjoy in good health,
A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintenr
