mushy shrimp

[mrbigjas]

today i bought some wild tiger shrimp.

most of them were good, but a couple of them were mushy. they didn't taste bad per se, and i don't feel like the bite or two i had of them is going to make me sick or anything. but they were mushy and pasty and kind of tasteless.

so my question is: why does that happen?

[His Nibs]

They were prolly too old. The proteases have started their work on the dead shrimps. Win some.. lose some.

[scubadoo97]

While the really mushy ones are old I find a lot of the farmed shrimp to be softer than good wild fresh shrimp. One way to firm them up is to brine them. 30 min in a salt/sugar bath drain and cook. The shrimp get firm and you get that pop when you bite into them.

[Sugarella]

They also do that if they've been frozen then thawed more than once.

[newguy]

I agree, most likely they were old. thawed and frozen several times. do that enough and they are going to absorb to much water. no matter what happens, they are going to get soggy.

[WolfChef]

The shrimp were dead too long before they were cooked or frozen. Same thing happens to lobster.

[mrbigjas]

gotcha. thanks y'all--i'll probably not buy them from that vendor again. i've had good experiences with other seafood from them, but maybe they're not taking enough care of the shrimp...

[budrichard]

I seriously doubt that your shrimp were either wild or fresh(not previously frozen). Most tiger shrimp are farmed in Southeast Asia in fresh water. Because they are a fresh water/frozen product they are all mushy when compared to a fresh shrimp. We use Gulf of Mexico fresh shrimp from a vendor we trust. The shrimp have not been frozen and are crisp in texture and great tasting. They are also more expensive. -Dick

[mrbigjas]

i don't think they were advertised as fresh. if i remember right, they definitely said wild on the sign, as compared to the several other varieties of shrimp that didn't. but i wouldn't be surprised either way.