Despite the title, this isn’t about Australians or Australian cuisine. Still, hey there Down UnderDopers
For the first time I went to BBQ some shrimp on the grill last night. It was an unqualified disaster. It had a nice Chinese marinade on it, and I used a proper fish griller holder thingy.
It looked done and I tasted it. It was juicy and reeked of raw fish, so I spat out the weird tasting bit and kept cooking it.
It was rubber. And… still faintly tasted fishy. Now, I do love my shrimp and fish, but this was weird.
The most obvious difference is that prawns have four pincers and shrimp have two.
Still, outside of proper taxonomy, prawns are generally called “shrimp” in North America. If you want to make it clearer that you’ve prawns on the menu, you say “jumbo shrimp.”
I generally don’t shop for shrimp/prawns. Not for any particular reason; just that I never think of it. However when I have seen them at the market, prawns were called ‘prawns’. (I’m about 35 miles south of you, BTW.)
Ten minutes??? Those are gonna be some really well-done shrimp.
Okay, squeeze a lemon into a plastic ziploc bag. Pour in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of good extra-virgin olive oil, depending on how much you or your wife cares about your fat consumption. A teaspoon or two of Kosher salt, and a good teaspoon of fresh coarse-ground pepper. Put in a pound of cleaned, de-veined jumbo shrimp.
Get your grill ready, good and HOT. The shrimp don’t need to marinate in the lemon/oil mix for more than an hour, tops. Thread the shrimp onto skewers, letting the pepper cling but the oil drip off. Grill over high heat until the shrimp is just opaque and slightly charred, 1-2 minutes on each side.
Lightly salt after grilling. Serve with lemon wedges.
This is the Gamberi alla Romana recipe from Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman’s CUCINA RUSTICA (Morrow, 1990). It’s so simple and so delicious that you’ll never want to cook shrimp any other way again.
I’m not entirely sure what your point is: all I’m doing is correcting the misperception popularised by Paul Hogan’s ads. Besides, some Merkins are wrong.
Just talkin’ generally about North America. I think L.A. (and to some degree, Vancouver) are a bit different, as large, coastal, urban centers. Sort of like how it’s easier to find espresso, and when you do, it’s much rarer for the cafes to have signs advertising the availability of “expresso.”
We’re all, like, sophisticated and stuff. ← Irony here, middle America. Unclench your fists.
Ike, that sounds fantastic. Might dig out the hibachi tonight and give it a shot. What kind of wine would you recommend to go with that?
(Never mind, I’m going with #1 Bass Ale, regardless. Heh.)
Yay! Beer and bbq. I’ve got to get my ass out to the shops.
Really, I’m just posting again to say that I’m not so geographically ignernt as to think that Los Angeles is thirty-five miles south of me. (If only.) I just missed that bit.
I’ve even been down to Blaine, for the same reason all Canucks go down there-- to stock up on cheese and cheap smokes.
In my defence I did say for no more than
Thinking about it further, I probably do mine for closer to 2-3 minutes per side (vaires with size of the shrimp)
I look at the curl more than time.
Um. I didn’t post the title or OP to offend the Aussies, ok? As mentioned, up here Prawns and Shrimp become a bit of a word-play, since depending on size, once you are buying them dead and beheaded ( and sometimes more cleaned out than just beheading ), the number of pincers is irrelevant and we simply go for what size we want. However, I defer to your understanding of your own cuisine. I’ve seen what we call Prawns. I bought a VW Rabbit from a Prawn once. His name was Claus] Mighta been Claws. Really couldn’t say for sure. They’re large. VERY large. Shrimp? They’re…um…shrimpy. Hence the name.
I couldn’t cook them till they curled- they were trapped in a fish griller and in order to turn them over to cook both sides ( stupid idea? Yes? No? ), the griller side was closed over the shrimpies firmly enough that they couldn’t curl more than they already were if they wanted to.
2-3 min? Oh god. No wonder they were atrociously rubbery. The fishy smell, it worries me. I love shrimp and haven’t had it smelling like that. My guess is that they sat in ice that was melting slowly down from other areas in the fish display that held fillets. Just my wild guess.
Love the recipe, I shall attempt that next time out.
Uke?? Too hot for wine? I’ve got four words for you, my friend.
sigh. I wasn’t taking offense. I was pointing out that despite the “shrimp on the barbie” phrase being linked with Australia no Australian would bbq shrimp. It’s the same as Fosters being Australian for beer, even though we don’t actually drink or like it here.
Just consider it edumacational, or at the very least something that might help at trivial pursuit someday.
What was that mystery story about a detective who rousted out a guilty-of-murder connoisseur-in-disguise by pouring a fine wine over ice?
Not that EVERY Chardonnay would be spoiled by icing, of course.
Try this instead, though, on a hot day: a manzanilla sherry, bone cold, in a chilled glass. Best thing in the world to accompany a cold tapas supper. Which could include some a dem Gamberi alla Romana.
