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Gulf Coast Shrimp

(Shrimp Recipes Below)  Shrimp Festival Photos Here

OK- first thing......DO NOT BUY SHRIMP AT A LOCAL GROCERY STORE ASSUMING YOU ARE GETTING GULF SHRIMP !!  Most grocery stores in Gulf Shores sell the same farm-raised frozen Asian shrimp that you will get at home at any ole grocery. Always ask if you do not see location of origin on the shrimp.

Do not buy any shrimp from one of those trucks parked on the side of the road....a no brainer.

Buy your shrimp from any of the local seafood shops or from the actual seafood packing operations (they tend to be off the main drags). Your best bet is to go back up Hwy 59 to County Road 10 and go west & drive down it to the tiny community of Bon Secour. You will see signs for Billy's Seafood and Aquila Seafood. They both have lots of nice big signs with arrows and all. Bring your camera. These places are right on the water and have shrimp boats pulling in and out. They are rustic and remote but they do take credit cards. Most are open 8 to 5 M-Sat. The biggest most beautiful and best priced shrimp we have ever bought was at Aquila Seafood ph 251-949-6658. Map to these seafood shops.

Do be sure to try the Royal Red Shrimp when you can get them. They are sold frozen as they come from very deep water way out at sea and are frozen on board the boat. Sometimes you can buy them heads off but usually they are sold heads on. Either way is fine. Do not over cook them, or any shrimp for that matter. (More on that below) Do not add salt to the water you cook Royal Reds in. Royal Red Shrimp are salty enough as they get frozen in a brine rinse.

Shrimp Sizes

Shrimp are sized by 'Head Count' --the meaning of the term 'Large' can vary, but head count is the number of shrimp per pound. For example 26-30 means that there will be between 26 and 30 of those shrimp in a weighed pound. Peeling and deveinging , sometimes referred to as P&D, will reduce the weight by about half. Royal Reds have bigger heads, so more weight is removed by deheading.

Cooking Gulf Coast Shrimp

Boiled Shrimp...Boiled Shrimp...Boiled Shrimp...Boiled Shrimp...

Don't over cook them. Place a packet of shrimp/crab boil seasoning, a chunk of squeezed lemon and some salt (unless cooking royal reds-don't salt the cooking water) in a big pot. Bring to a boil. Dump in the shrimp. As soon as the water returns to a boil, pour out the water and shrimp into a colander to stop the cooking.

If you are cooking shrimp of mixed sizes, use a slotted spoon to remove the smaller ones as soon as they begin to curl. Work quickly.

Serve with Cocktail Sauce that you make using:
Good quality ketchup
Some Heinz bottled Chili Sauce or a bit of dried chili powder
Some fresh squeezed lemon juice
Black pepper
Dash of Lee & Perrin's Worcestershire Sauce (not a cheap store brand)
All the plain grated horseradish you can stand (not the creamed horseradish sauce with a mayonnaise or oil base)
All the Tabasco sauce you can stand

OR

Remoulade Sauce for Boiled Shrimp

This is an easy recipe from a fabulous cook from Memphis, TN named Ruth Morrow. It is best (I think) made a day or two in advance--it keeps really well.  Get out the food processor. You can make less than this recipe, just adjust ingredients accordingly.

Quart of Kraft, Hellmans, or  Duke Mayonnaise
1/3 cup drained, grated horseradish
1/2 oz. or more Anchovy Paste (In toothpaste type tube at grocery store, does NOT taste like catfood & is an important ingredient)
1/2 cup yellow mustard

Chop finely in food processor:
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
2 small or one very large onion
1 celery heart stalks
couple tablespoons of bottled capers

mix everything together, dip shrimp in this sauce and enjoy or pour over peeled shrimp on a bed of lettuce. Remember, it is better the next day.

OR

Make some Home-Made Tartar Sauce

soooo much better than the stuff in a jar.
This is a recipe from a restaurant in the Gulf Shores/Perdido Key area called Triggers from several years back, I do not know if they still make it from scratch as management has changed.

No proportions given, just the list of ingredients they used, just use as much of something as you want.
Mayonnaise
Creole Mustard
sweet pickle relish
chopped onion
pressed garlic
black pepper
Tabasco sauce
Lee & Perrin's Worcestershire Sauce (The cheaper brands don't taste right)
white vinegar
sugar

Coconut Shrimp-Coconut Shrimp-Coconut Shrimp-Coconut Shrimp-

We know that Fried Coconut Shrimp is a very popular dish. We are going to give you some recipes, but this is one dish that Gulf Shores restaurants do very well, so I suggest, if you are vacationing, save this for ordering while eating out and don't bother standing over hot frying oil on your vacation ! Plus you'd have to buy all that oil and you know you don't save oil that you use to cook fish or shrimp !

Coconut Shrimp 1

Coconut Shrimp 2  Nice and spicy, but not hot

                       Caribbean Coconut Shrimp

Shrimp Cleaning TIP: I found this shrimp deveiner /cleaner /sheller in a little shop in nearby Fairhope called Village Peddler 418 Fairhope Ave (across from Julwin's) 251/928-4850  and I must say, it is much better than the popular red one you see for sale most places. This one cost me $4 and worth every penny. I used it to devein these nice gulf shrimp that we boiled. With it you can clean the shrimp and still leave the shells on or easily remove the shells totally.

Join us for the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama

All the condos and hotels book early--so don't wait to make a reservation.

See Shrimp Festival photos from 2002

and 2003

Try these delicious marinated and grilled or broiled shrimp:

1 can or bottle of strong beer
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil
1 Tbs frozen limeade
2 Tbs fish sauce (oriental markets)
5 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp red chili paste (oriental markets)
18 large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Combine all ingredients and the shrimp in a zip lock bag and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Put shrimp on the skewers and grill until they just turn pink. Do not overcook.

More Shrimp Recipes

Click Here for Yummy & Easy
Fish Recipes

For more shrimp recipes, see the
Shrimp Festival Cool Stuff Site