Texas Wild Gulf Shrimp U16-20 in a Korean Mkt of all Places

As a Texan, I've been craving wild Gulf shrimp since I moved up here, and I was surprised to find them in a small Mom&Pop Korean market this past weekend up in Arlington Heights. Affordable too at $6.99/lb for U16-20's, previously frozen (they had the whole 4lb box present). I contemplated buying the whole box, but went with 3/4lb instead... sigh...



Bada Supermarket
http://www.yelp.com/biz/XJbdnYwgLaiL5qO5w4y9HQ

I've been living in Madison, Wisconsin for the year (coming back in July-woo-hoo). When I first got here, someone tipped me off about Fabian Seafood--some fisherman/shrimpers who drive up from the gulf coast of Texas with fresh gulf shrimp, crabmeat, oysters, red snapper, etc and sell it around the midwest. In Madison, they come to the parking lot of Steve's Liquors every two weeks or so--they send out postcards/e-mail before their trips. Anyway, one of the guys who was doling out shrimp was telling me that they sometimes go to Milwaulkee (he thought possibly to Illinois occasionally, too).
Anyway, thought Jay K and others craving seafood may be interested in this. You can sign up on-line to receive e-mail notification.
I have tried the shrimp, crabmeat and snapper. All have been excellent. They are not super-cheap, but given the quality, I think pretty reasonable. The prices fluctuate a bit but the jumbo shrimp (I want to say about 10/lb--does that sound right--they look huge) run about $13/lb. I usually buy the large which are about $11/lb. I didn't have my camera the last time I bought shrimp but I will try and snap a picture of the wares the next time they come.

http://www.fabianseafood.com/

Wow, that sounds wonderful. I used to live in Dallas and trucks loaded with fresh shrimp would park at specific spots on the side of roads throughout the metroplex on certain days. They would load their trucks in Houston at 3 or 4 AM and head to Dallas. I just loved those shrimp - back then, I paid about $4 a pound.

Hi,

Are these Gulf Shrimp also known as White Shrimp? If yes, they have been on sale at H-Mart recently for $4.99/lb in the same size range.

I brined them for less than an hour, then seared them in a non-stick pan and served. Yes, that was about it. My family ate them with and without the shell.

Regards,

Hey Cathy,

No, unfortunately, white shrimp are Penaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp) one of two species that make up about 80% of all farmed shrimp stock (hence the relative inexpensiveness of the product); The other species is Penaeus monodon (giant tiger prawn).

Gulf shrimp have a distinct flavor profile, being wild stock, which some people find to be an acquired taste. Some describe it as having some tinges of iodine (actually bromine) for lack of a better description. Also gulf shrimp are sometimes called "gulf brown shrimp" - cause their shells are beige-pink tinged in color.

In the U.S. markets, it's difficult to find wild shrimp these days - typically you're looking either for "Texas" gulf shrimp or wild Florida shrimp.

While P. vannamei and P monodon are tasty, it's the same taste differences as eating farmed vs wild salmon (aside from the antibiotics, color-added foot pellets, increased levels of dioxins, PCB's & heavy metals and differences in nutritional value).

Fabian Seafood shows up at the Sunday Mount Prospect Farmers Market about every three weeks or so. The site is the first parking lot west of the train station off Northwest Highway. Tried them several times in spite of an odor off their truck which has to make you wonder how fresh and how long that drive from Texas really was. My opinion is average tasting shrimp still a far cry away from the gulf shrimp I've had in and around the New Orleans area.

Found jumbo Texas gulf shrimp at Valli Produce on Golf for $7.99/lb (compare to Whole Foods $14.99/lb) - they are/were excellent.

There is some wierd political thing going on with the gulf shrimp. Even dominicks has them on sale for $7.99/lb. I think that due to the Byrd amendment to US tariff laws, the tariff money received on imported shrimp, since imposed under anti-dumping rules, is given out to the domestic competitors who are purportedly hurt by the dumping. Lots of Gulf shrimpers are selling their product at breakeven, or even a slight loss, so that they can get a piece of the tariff payout. I have had them twice, and I think that they are better than the imported product, but still not nearly as good as fresh off the boat.

-Will

WillG wrote: Even dominicks has them on sale for $7.99/lb.

What I love about Jewel:

It hires people who can't spell the name of their employer.