Forums > Specific Focus > Mexican Kitchen

DoDi2

Mar 16, 2006, 6:10 PM

Post #1 of 16 (2249 views)

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Big Shrimp

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(excuse the oxymoron)

Where are the BIGGEST colossal shrimp found in Mexico? You know... the kind that you grill up like a steak.

???

Esteban

Mar 17, 2006, 12:29 AM

Post #2 of 16 (2229 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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We have the camarones grandes here in Mazatlan. Down on Aquiles Serdan, a place where the "changueras" sell camarones. It's the most popular and economical place to buy shrimp, lobster, crabmeat, scallops, sea snail and dried shrimp in Maz. Mostly women, sit under big blue Pacifico umbrellas selling their wares from scores of galvanized washtubs. It's a site to see. Be nice, ask them to dance and you may get an extra shrimp or two.

DoDi2

Mar 17, 2006, 10:52 AM

Post #3 of 16 (2206 views)

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Re: [Esteban] Big Shrimp

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Thanks Esteban!

Seriously, sitting in a beach palapa eating giant shrimp is a major fantasy of mine.

Is there any season when the big Maz shrimp aren't available.

Esteban

Mar 17, 2006, 12:23 PM

Post #4 of 16 (2197 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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Shrimps come in such a variety of sizes, sometimes it's a better deal to get the size that is one level below the grandes.
Yes, they are available all year round. At a place about a block away, called Dunias, you can bring your load of shrimp from the changueras and Dunias Restaurant/Cantina will cook them up for a nominal fee if you stay and buy beer or soft drinks. Cocktail sauce is practically imposible to find. That's something you might bring for a trip.

DoDi2

Mar 17, 2006, 12:44 PM

Post #5 of 16 (2196 views)

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Re: [Esteban] Big Shrimp

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I'm glad to hear there's no 'shrimp season' I have to worry about. Cool.

About the shrimp cocktail, I have another question. Normally I make my own from ketchup and horseradish. Is horseradish hard to find? I've never tried to buy any in Mexico.

Camille

Mar 17, 2006, 1:13 PM

Post #6 of 16 (2193 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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Bring that horseradish! It's one of the hardest things to find. Not as hard as grits, and Sam's does have wasabi, but not the brand I prefer. Any time I have to go back to Texas I return with horseradish, grits, umeboshi, balsamic glaze, fish sauce, ajvar, nori fumi furikake, and other items that keep me praying for the green light.......

sfmacaws

Mar 17, 2006, 3:31 PM

Post #7 of 16 (2181 views)

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Re: [Esteban] Big Shrimp

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I've always thought the medium sized shrimp have a better flavor than the really grande ones. What do you think Esteban?

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

bournemouth

Mar 17, 2006, 6:14 PM

Post #8 of 16 (2172 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Big Shrimp

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I'm not Esteban but I certainly agree with you on the mediums. We also prefer the browns to the blues.

Esteban

Mar 18, 2006, 9:27 AM

Post #9 of 16 (2152 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Big Shrimp

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Since the big ones are so expensive( there's a big jump in price) they tend to stay around longer which leads to less flavor. That's my guess. I've cooked them all. Of course the biggest secret is to keep an eye on them and pull them as soon as they change from translucent to opaque. I mean you gotta be fast or they end up tasting like cotton.

We had an overabundance of shrimp this year so I've been eating a lot. Out at the Ostioneria del Puerto, a fine place to dine local style with local price, they are selling the pretty big shrimps for 100 pesos (kilo of pa' pelar). Beers are 11 pesos, the music is Sinoloense with some other groups doing baladas...Under the blue Pacifico umbrellas in those comfy white plastic chairs...hay nada mas mejor amigos.

Eaten so much shrimp this year that I'm craving a big steak or arrechera from El Bambu out next to the Gran Plaza.

Esteban

(This post was edited by Esteban on Mar 18, 2006, 12:12 PM)

Anonimo

Mar 18, 2006, 11:51 AM

Post #10 of 16 (2140 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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We'll check out the big shrimp quality and freshness here in Morelia, when we dine at http://www.pbase.com/panos/langostikos, later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, I'm smoking an "Andreas" Mexican cigar and sipping an German hefeweiss bier on the patio of http://www.casadelarosa.info/.

Saludos,
Anonimo

Ron Pickering W3FJW

Mar 18, 2006, 3:41 PM

Post #11 of 16 (2120 views)

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Re: [Esteban] Big Shrimp

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A nice cocktail sauce can be made from catsup and ground horse radish. Add a few drops of lemon or lime if you like. It also goes well with fried or deep fried pollo.

OOPS: Should have read farther down the forum before adding my dos centavos.
Getting older and still not down here.

(This post was edited by Ron Pickering W3FJW on Mar 18, 2006, 3:44 PM)

Bubba

Mar 19, 2006, 9:07 AM

Post #12 of 16 (2097 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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The largest shrimp (a self-canceling phrase if there ever was one) in Mexico can be found, as in all the world, at the raw sewage outets in urban areas bordering the sea. When I was in what was then known as Madras, India, I used to walk down to the sea to watch the shrimp boats work the sewage channel. It is instructive, when riding the train in from Calcutta in the early morning , to see the locals squatting over the drainage channel pooing in the channel while reading the local morning paper.

Many of the creatures we like to eat love, in return, to eat doodoo which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.

DoDi2

Mar 19, 2006, 11:25 AM

Post #13 of 16 (2088 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Big Shrimp

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Thanks Bubba. That's a lovely image for us to think about while relaxing on the beach with our shrimp cocktails.
:-b

Anonimo

Mar 19, 2006, 1:20 PM

Post #14 of 16 (2080 views)

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Re: [DoDi2] Big Shrimp

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HUMONgous shrimp were offered at Costco, Morelia, today, for something like $430 a kilo. (I may have remembered wrong, so don't hold me to it.) We didn't buy any.

Buen provecho,
Anonimo

Bubba

Mar 19, 2006, 2:54 PM

Post #15 of 16 (2076 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Big Shrimp

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Anonimo:

Knowing Mexico as I do I can asure you that those $430Peso per kilo shrimp will be consumed by someone no matter how old they may become before that happens. This is the land of honesty as long as it suits our needs. We remain alive because we remain alive.

wendy devlin

Mar 19, 2006, 7:13 PM

Post #16 of 16 (2058 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] Big Shrimp

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These days am wondering how many of the shrimp sold in Mexico, are harvested by the shrimping boats( used to watch them in the distance, easy to spot because of the hovering birds). Boats were then scraping the ocean bottom, and it seemed only a matter of time before there was nothing left to scrape.

When one takes flights down the NA coast and looks out the windows of the jet, there are long stretches(100's of km) of lagoons, along the coast-lines of Sinaloa and Nayarit, where thrive many shrimp farms.

You wouldn't generally notice these enterprises as the coastal highway rarely comes close to the coastline along these stretches. In some small towns, when slowing to mount topes or cross rail-road tracks, vendors approach slowing vehicles with big bags of dried shrimp.

Always wondered where these shrimp came from, given their abundance on the roadsides or in the mercados.