You shrimp! -- A contest!

Just be sure the "fresh" shrimp you are buying have not been frozen previously and then thawed for sale. Sometimes those become mushy when re-frozen.

Unless you live in a shrimping or fishing area like Louisiana, ALL shrimp is previously frozen in order to be shipped to various regions all over the country . So when buying shrimp, even if if looks "fresh" it has always been previously frozen. So cook it the night you buy it. I buy my shrimp already frozen, in a package, cleaned and shelled at Costco where the frozen fish is kept. This way I always have shrimp ready from the freezer in the amount I need, depending on the recipe. it just takes a few minutes to thaw by running it under cold water, drying it off with paper towels, and voila! It's ready to prepare.

Turns out it was a draw!Five winners!Sent you all messages but if any of you did not get the recipe, let me know!Thanks,xoxo,mensaque.

If pierino wins, I want pics of him de-veining without a knife! (I agree with him about knifeless de-sheilling, but I keep a little knife in my hand to slice into the back. Oh, and by the way, that "vein" is really the digestive track, i.e., the intestine. Some people don't bother to remove it, but for some reason, there are others who object to shrimp poop.) Regardless, have a wonderful party mensaque. I'm confident you'll remember "the time I prepped 20 pounds of shrimp" for a long, long time!

Thanks,everyone!Tomorrow we'll find out who's the winner!I think the biggest win was mine,after all you were all so kind...I smell a draw...Although pierino probably knows some portuguese(all those recipes from Portugal...)and nutcakes has two multilingual kids at home.But this will not afect my judgement,I promess!

As cookbookckick says, my understanding is that almost all shrimp purchased in the U.S. is frozen at sea, with few regional exceptions. That's why you want good quality frozen to start with. But now I have read your profile and you are in Brazil, so I don't know local practices. Do you have a good fish seller to discuss this with? That is a lot of shrimp, would you be able to order it to be fresh (or fresh thawed) and cleaned for you to be picked up a day or two ahead and kept well chilled at home? OR is that too expensive?

If you have to clean it, ou should enlist some friends to help with the cleaning the day before, make a little work party of it and have a bottle of wine while you do it.

Just for a note, my daughter and her boyfriend are studying Portuguese now because they are in a Brasilian drumming troupe in the U.S. and they want to visti Brazil, maybe next summer. She already knows Spanish so it is going well for her, but he is having more trouble. However, he is the more serious and dedicated drummer and really looks forward to it. Oh, she knits a bit too.

My understanding is that most shrimp sold at fish counters in supermarkets was originally frozen. Thus, you would not be gaining anything by purchasing "fresh" shrimp and freezing it yourself. In fact, you would be losing something because re-freezing would most likely cause a deterioration in the quality of the shrimp.

As Greenstuff said, if you buy them already frozen they are likely to fine if you hold them frozen but I wouldn't keep them longer than 60 days. But if they are sold to you frozen "defrosted" then don't refreeze them. Really, don't! Far better to buy them as fresh as possible. Shrimp, once they are beheaded, begin to deteriorate quickly. For peeling I usually don't even bother with a knife. I tear off the shells with my fingers and pull out the sand vein.

A key, as Greenstuff mentions is to know your seller, and to trust that they are truly fresh, and not previously frozen. If the price is better now, and you can trust that they are fresh, by all means go ahead. When thawing, be sure to allocate enough time for them to thaw under refrigeration (best alternative), never at room temp(worst), but if necessary, in cold water (second best). As for peeling, I've done lots many times as a 2-person operation: 1 person peels and tosses the shrimp off to the next person who de-veins with a paring knife and tosses them into a sink or bowl of very cold water to rinse. Then they get drained, cooked, and eaten with great joy. Happy New Year!

Let's see how it goes from here,G!Some ground rules to the contest:I'll wait for two days on more answers and then I'll send the "prize" to the winner OR winners by message...Thanks for playing along!

You can buy them now as long as you know your seller, they are frozen, and you're keeping them frozen. Unless you REALLY know your seller, I would not buy them fresh and then freeze them. As for how to peel them, good luck to you! I'm not a fan of any of the gizmos on the market, preferring just a knife and getting my rhythm going. Is suggesting that you should have had the foresight to clone yourself enough to get your recipe?