Frozen shrimp around here is usually farmed, which is both much inferior in flavor and often an environmental shitshow. Fresh NC shrimp are in general more sustainable and also taste like ocean candy. I don’t eat shrimp often, except for a week or so a year I’m on the coast, when I go Augustus Gloop on them. Lots of deveining.
It’s almost impossible to get fresh shrimp unless you live where there are shrimp boats. Most of the time shrimp is frozen right on the boat. We only buy frozen that was ocean caught.
Excellent farmed shrimp are available from a few places in Indiana.
Contrarian take: when making cocktail sauce, skip the ketchup and use diced tomatoes instead.
True that. Most ‘fresh’ shrimp (prawns to me) found in shops is actually defrosted. Might as well buy frozen.
Fair points, both of you. The ones in the frozen case at my local grocery store are the Indonesia mangrove-swamp farm type, that taste like hard gelatin infused with shrimp powder, so that’s what I think of when I think of frozen-case shrimp.
As anyone who has ever had the pleasure of eating a dozen raw oysters anywhere in New Orleans knows, one of life’s great joys is the Sacred, Sacramental Ritual of preparing your own little saucer of cocktail sauce using the ingredients invaribly provided, specifically, catsup, fresh grated horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, fresh lemon juice and hot sauce, preferrably Crystal, Louisiana or Trappey’s, depending where you are at. Never exactly the same twice, a mystical elixir to cleanse the soul of even the darkest trespasses.
Done right, it’s spiritually akin to alchemy, like making the perfect Bloody Mary from scratch when savagely hungover like a son of a bitch, or deciding on what flavor of Boone’s Farm pairs best with a Taco Bell Nacho Gordita…
TIL: coctail sauce in America is a completely different beast from the rest of the world. Horseradish? Bleaugh! Maastricht had it right.
And FWIW, well frozen & properly thawed shrimp isn’t really that much different than the fresh stuff. Better than frozen, thawed and them kept in a display case for a while, anyway.
I’m surprised that so many folks devein their shrimp. It’s not necessary, and I never bother, nor does anyone I know do it regularly. Maybe it’s because we eat a lot of shrimp - I made shrimp and grits for breakfast on Tuesday and will make shrimp scampi for supper today. It’s cheap and plentiful. A lot of time would be wasted deveining every shrimp. I’m on an email list for a guy down the road who has a shrimpboat, and bait shops around here usually have table-fare available (in addition to live and dead bait shrimp) for $3-$4 per pound, and even humongous grilling-size shrimp go for about $5-$6/lb.
And cocktail sauce MUST have horseradish in it 
Maybe that is how you can stand the sand vein.
I know this is an actual American dish, but y’all should know - to the rest of the world, it sounds like you’re saying “I’m making shrimp shrimp”
I’m another one who isn’t bothered by the sand vein. That said, I usually buy deveined, ez peel shrimp, anyway, but for other ones, I don’t care. Maybe for company, I’ll clean, but for myself, never worth the bother.
I didn’t clean either them until I found out what it was.
Oh, I know what it is. Don’t bug me, though.
No tips on cocktail sauce, I usually just buy it. For cooking the shrimp, I boil them in water with a liberal amount of pickling spice. The pickling spice adds an amazing but subtle hint of flavor to the shrimp. When done (3-4 minutes), I immediately transfer the shrimp to an ice bath with a slotted spoon. This stops the cooking process and prevents them from becoming over cooked. Once cooled, remove and serve.
Thanks everyone.
Needless to say there are many ways to skin this shrimp. And I learned many of them due to this post.
Fortunately we bought frozen, shell on, deveined shrimp. Steamed them and they turned out great. We also prepared thinly sliced celery which was excellent with the cocktail sauce.
The shrimp were farm raised from India. But were superb!
My main takeaway from this thread was don’t apply heat until you cook them. And don’t over cook them.
Thanks again, troops.
Our favorite Mexican restaurant has this shrimp cocktail.
Where in the rest of the world does it sound like “shrimp shrimp”? I’ve heard “shrimp” and “prawn” for the shellfish itself, but never “grilled scampi” or “fried scampi” to mean grilled or fried shrimp. “Scampi” is the Italian word for langoustine , a different shellfish entirely. (shrimp or prawn is “gambero” or “gamberetto”) A traditional way to cook them was with olive oil ,wine and garlic. Italian-Americans prepared shrimp the same way and essentially used “scampi” to refer to the style of preparation. Which is why in the US you can find “chicken scampi” or “flounder scampi”.
Yes, scampi is langoustine - but shrimp and prawn is substituted for actual langoustine in dishes all the time. And most people don’t really make a fine distinction in shellfish - in fact, big sea shrimp and langoustines are both called prawns here, not just freshwater “prawns”.
But my point was it’s not the name of a dish or cooking style, it’s the name of the ingredient. Perhaps I should have said it sounds like “I’m making shellfish shellfish” to be more accurate.