It’s interesting how different nations will take the same ingredients, eat them a certain way, and strange looks (or sometimes, gagging noises) will ensue from others who can’t see it being eaten that way.
Take for example Britishland’s favorite, the prawn sandwich:
Most Murkins, at this point, are going “Say what?” while the Frogs are going “Quoi?” (with added lip curl).
Of course, New Englanders eat lobster on bread rolls, so we’re not that far apart — but Old Englanders would look askance at that because for them, lobster is strictly a main course, e.g. the Thermidor:
Back onto the prawn thing, though: even I, a committed Anglophile, have to admit to a little puzzlement at prawn sarnies, accustomed as I am — as are most other Murkins — to seeing shrimp (or prawns, for that matter), in a cocktail or as an appetizer:
All that said, I could see myself eating shrimp on, say, a croissant:
…because a croissant is more like pastry than a prosaic slice of Wonderbread.
Okay, is anyone else starting to feel hungry? For a chip butty (UK’s #2), maybe?
(a.k.a. carbs squared)
Two nations, divided by a common food. [sigh]
It’s enough to put a man off his breakfast gin. (Or is that just my favorite?)
Here’s an odd sound combination that is actually great tasting. I tried it myself last year and have been using it ever since.
Next time you either grill or pan sear a steak, don’t use olive oil and don’t use butter. Try this:
Coat the entire outside of the steak in mayonnaise. Not a ton, a little goes a long way. Just a light coating. If you see thick white globs you have way too much on.
Then after the light coat of mayo, season with what you like for seasoning. Salt. Pepper and garlic powder or red salt are my favs.
Then, get the temp of the grill or pan nice and high. Sear the outside of the steak until the desired sear you like it. Some like a darker brown than others for the sear.
After the sear, cook to what you like for internal temp at a lower temp than what you used to sear the meat.
I know. Mayo sounds so odd for red meat. I thought it was odd too until I tried it.
It’s good!
This is the 2nd or 3rd time I’ve heard of that procedure; I’m thinking of trying it this week with my sous vide chuck roast. If you’re unfamiliar with sous vide, it’s a restaurant cooking technique that has become available to home cooks over the last decade or so. You season your protein and seal it airtight in a ziplock. It is then immersed in a precisely controlled water batch for a period of time. In the case of my tough as nails chuck roast (same cut you’d use for pot roast) 129° for 24 hours. The end result is a perfectly cooked (rare, for me) and amazingly tender & flavorful piece of beef. When it’s removed from the bath, it is a very unappealing grayish lump, so the final step is a high heat sear for a minute or two on all sides. I use my grill; a cast iron skillet would also be a good choice – albeit smoky as hell if you’re doing it inside. It’s become quite a favorite at Chez SEP. Go ye, and try of it.
It’s really good. Just again I can’t stress enough , a little mayo goes a long way. You don’t want to see any white globs.
The shrimp po’ boy (fried shrimp on a sub roll) is commonly found on the Gulf Coast, and Shrimpburgers (fried shrimp on a hamburger bun) in beach towns of the Deep South.
As for steak fried with a mayonnaise coating, it’s not all that different than making grilled cheese sandwiches made with mayo instead of softened butter. It’s a tasty variation.
NOT fried, Grilled on a grill or in a pan on the stove top.
Frying suggests you dip the item in oil or at the least in a pan in butter, neither of those is what I am saying here.
Fish sandwiches are really good, breaded fish patty on a bun. mmm
And then there’s breakfast bourbon…
I’ll eat shrimps anyway I can get em with breaded being my least favorite way. My preference is peel and eat with continuous cocktail sauce and cold bottled beers.
Given that you live in Texas, don’t forget that basically ANYTHING can be made into a taco!
Fish tacos (grilled or fried), shrimp tacos (ditto), leftover tacos, breakfast tacos, taco tacos (crispy taco covered by flour tortilla), fried tacos, everything tacos.
Personally, I like my shrimp fried in cornmeal and wrapped with a corn tortilla.
I’d give that shrimp sandwich a try as well as a shrimp po’ boy. As you pointed out, it’s not that different than having a lobster roll.
I figure someone, somewhere is enjoying a great meal that I haven’t tried so I’d like to try just about almost anything.
JQ
The only part I don’t like about shrimp in dishes is that the tails are frequently left in place. I want to dine, not pick stuff off of my food. Same goes for mussels.
JQ
You can eat the tail.
Shrimp/ prawn tails are much crunchier, dryer, and tasteless than the rest of the frozen shrimps you buy.
I will note that in some Oriental (east asian?) cuisines it is common to be served the entire shrimp, with the whole shell, legs, and antennae.
It is a blessing that now you can buy peeled, deveined, de-tailed and cooked shrimps.
In Maryland and other kids Atlantic states, the shrimp is made into shrimp salad (add mayo, celery, and spices, preferably Old Bay). Then put that on a sub roll or rye bread. The best ones, like so many dishes, are found in small, one-off joints, not larger restaurants. A Chesapeake Club sandwich is shrimp salad and a crab cake between three slices of bread. Tends to be either mediocre or exceptional. Some places just add it to the menu because it’s a popular option, but don’t put any effort into doing it well.
for a single serving….
Put 3 – 4 oz salad gereens in a heatproof bowl.
Peel and devein half a pound of raw shrimp.
Cut 3 -4 stripsof bacon into squares, cook over
moderate heat until thoroughly rendered. Put
bacon into greens, reserving as much grease
as possible in skillet.
Reduce heat, add a splash of malt vinegar, add
shrimp, toss until just pink, add to greens and
bacon, toss thoroughly.
Enjoy with a slice of pumpernickel.
.
Another weird combo that is good.
Toast some bread, rolls, whatever your fav gluten is, then spread whatever your fav BBQ sauce is on the bread.
Now put some chicken salad on the toasted bread with BBQ sauce.
Sounds simple and stupid, but omg, it is GOOD!
Yeah but how many people would think BunnyChow is way out there? Although we have the soup in a bread bowl.
It’s hard to go wrong with any shellfish. The prawn sandwich doesn’t strike me as odd in the slightest. Frozen shrimp are a staple in my freezer; the epitome of fast food.
Some of the best fast food of my life was eaten as a teenager. I spent my high school summer vacations deckhanding on fishing boats. The crew would often wind up with some of the excess – salmon, sea bass, halibut, ling cod, the odd shark… we’d filet whatever was available that day, and take it to a fast food joint across from the docks. The owner would deep fry our catch & serve it up with a mess of fries & a large coke for a buck & a half. I pretty much lived on fresh fish during those summers.
Something else I wouldn’t have minded a piece of during that period: one summer Burt Reynolds had his yacht moored to a private dock nearby, which we examined very carefully with our binoculars. To verify the vessel was seaworthy. That Loni Anderson might have been sunning herself on the deck in a bikini was purely ancillary. Really.
From the No Accounting Files: me mum was born & raised on Maui. Hawaii’s an amazing hodgepodge of Asian/Polynesian culture & cuisine. I found myself at a Filipino luau once upon a time where one of the offerings was a vile stew of goat entrails, with the animal’s bile as one of the flavorings. The smell alone was gag reflex inducing. I’m an adventurous eater; it’s the only thing I’ve ever been offered that I never tried.
” Lobster Thermador” — First – those aren’t Lobsters – the photo is a “Langusta” from southern waters, not a North Atlantic Lobster. No Claws and the feet are different. They take a cooked one. slice it length wise. Hollow out the shell, take the good meat out, who knows what they do with the rest of the internals, then they create a mix of the meat with bread crumbs, celery, onions and god knows what else. put it back in the shell half and re-bake it. The result is what they sell for ridiculous amounts to City people who have never been north of Connecticut. No actual self respecting New Englander would touch the stuff.
I much prefer to steam my own at $ 6.50 a Lb right off the boat at the garage of the Local fisherman who pulled them from his trap this morning.
Don’t Know what they do in England — maybe the water is not cold enough.
The water is indeed cold enough GT https://thecornishfishmonger.co.uk/lobster-large.html
There is a lobster hatchery in Padstow (or Padstein as it’s locally known, due to the amount of restaurants, chip shops, cookery schools and at least one house the chef Rick Stein owns there). You can see the baby lobsters, feed them and even adopt one – talk about order your dinner early! – as well as scoff one in his restaurant https://rickstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Seafood-Restaurant-ALC-July.pdf. Lobster Thermidor is just under £70……
Making a prawn sammich for himself entails big prawns, no green stiff, mayo, a tiny dollop of tomato sauce, and gently toasted white bread.
Marks and Spencer’s’ most popular sammich is indeed the prawn mayo. https://www.marksandspencer.com/c/style-and-living/the-perfect-prawn-sandwich
I believe the correct phrase is ‘nom, nom, and um…..nom’ 😄
potato chip sandwich and freedom fry sandwiches are weird
JQ