Tips needed on buying seafood.

They have a few stores in Prague that sell fish flown in from Norway, etc. every few days. I tend to only buy Salmon, but have been trying a few other things as well. Today I mainly have questions on shellfish along the lines of bang-for-buck.

They have different sizes of shrimps from small to Tiger, and the prices scale up as well along with the size. I don’t know how true it is, but when I look at the larger prawns, it seems to me that the body outweighs the head proportionately more than the smaller ones do…Another way of putting it is this: If I buy a kilo of large prawns and a kilo of small ones, after I shell them, would one tend to have more meat than the other?

The next question is then taste- I’ve never bought Tiger Prawns, do they taste THAT much better than just large shrimp or smaller shrimp?

Then comes the cost vs. meat issue comparing Lobster and crab. Lobsters are more expensive, but they have a heck of a lot of meat, whereas normal crabs are cheaper, but it seems to me that you are paying for more shell comparatively. Am I totally off base on this?

Lastly, any misc. tips on buying seafood would be appreciated. And you could throw in a recipe or two if’n ya want.

Thanks-
-Tcat

You can find some excellent tips on buying seafood here.
This is from the Monterey Bay Aquarium listing which seafood to use and which to avoid and why.
I don’t know how well this applies to the seafood available in Prague, but it should help you make an informed choice.

The guides I use:

Fresh seafood shouldn’t “smell”. If you can smell it through the bag or packaging, be suspicious. (Source: Mom.)

Larger Shrimp = Less Work. Not having to do so much shelling justifies the extra $1/lb or so.

If you don’t want to shuck shrimp, try scallops.

Bigger Fish = More Hg, more pesticide toxins. Pass on the swordfish, pass the flounder.

YMMV

You want recipes? Ask me in Café Society!