Whether grilled, fried or butterflied, no matter how they are prepared, Americans love shrimp.
Menus across the country feature the crustacean all year long, but shrimp dishes — classics, fresh takes and ethnic variations — are especially abundant this October, which is National Seafood Month.
According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, Americans consume more shrimp than any other seafood species, including salmon and canned tuna. Every year we consume about four pounds per person of the abundant species, according to the latest research.
A good portion of that shrimp is consumed at Captain D’s, the fast-casual seafood chain, which serves about 5 million pounds of shrimp in its more than 500 restaurants each year.
“Consumers really love shrimp,” said Jason Henderson, Captain D’s vice president of product innovation. “I sometimes jokingly refer to shrimp as the pixie dust of our menu. If you sprinkle a little bit of it on any dish it will fly out the door.”
Although shrimp is on the menu year-round, the shellfish takes center stage in the chain’s annual Shrimp Feast, which this year runs from Oct. 19 through Christmas. As part of the promotion, the chain will introduce three new dishes: Shrimp Scampi, a garlic, lemon and cream dish served with pasta; Shrimp Jambalaya, a soup with shrimp, Andouille sausage and rice; and Shrimp, Cheese and Bacon Bites, bite-sized fried poppers. Captain D’s will also bring back favorites such as Butterfly Shrimp, Grilled White Fish and Shrimp Skewers, and Popcorn Shrimp.
Shrimp is one of the most popular items on the menu at Ocean Prime, too, in all 11 of the seafood chain’s markets. Ian Rough, one of Ocean Prime’s regional chefs, attributes that popularity to shrimp’s diversity, affordability and visual appeal. Rough capitalizes on the drama of shrimp in the restaurant’s Smoking Shellfish Tower, which features a vertical feast of seafood amid dry ice vapor with plump, red-tailed shrimp dangling over the side of a bowl.
At Select Oyster Bar in Boston, chef and partner Michael Serpa focuses on the simplicity of the Northeast’s seafood, including shrimp. One of his signature dishes is Stoughton Prawns á la Plancha with Espelette pepper, olive oil and lemon. Serpa says the spices and acidity help enhance the natural flavor of the shrimp, which are prepared and served shell-on. Serpa also takes a straightforward approach in his preparation of shrimp cocktail, honoring the main ingredient by simply poaching it in Champagne.
At Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer and Black Tap Meatpacking in New York City, chef and co-owner Joe Isidori is planning to add shrimp cakes and shrimp burgers to the menu in November. Isidori will purée shrimp and then combine it with flavors such as cilantro, Sriracha and chile flakes, then pan-sear the patties until crisp and serve them with iceberg lettuce on a potato roll.
“Shrimp is popular because it has an ocean umami flavor,” Isidori said.
Ground shrimp is also on the menu at The Union Kitchen in Houston. The three-unit concept recently began offering shrimp meatballs, made with minced Gulf shrimp, Parmesan cheese, panko breadcrumbs, Italian parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, Old Bay seasoning and mayonnaise.
For Jonathan Levine, owner and executive chef of Jonathan’s The Rub in Houston, shrimp is a go-to seafood option that appears all over his menu. Among the latest ways Levine is featuring the versatile protein include Curried Shrimp and Shrimp Menage à Trois, with pan-seared shrimp prepared three different ways.
“As a chef who enjoys blending flavor profiles of various cultures, shrimp is an ideal addition because it is a universally, worldwide accepted flavor profile,” Levine said.
Indeed, shrimp works easily with many cuisines, as is evidenced from menus at Bodega Negra in New York City, where executive chef Michael Armstrong puts a Mexican spin on a classic Southern dish in Shrimp and Masa Grits that are finished with spicy sofrito and crispy zucchini; at Presidio Social Club in San Francisco, where executive chef Wes Shaw grills Gulf shrimp with Creole sauce and serves it atop thick slices of bread; and at George Martin's Grillfire in Syosset, N.Y., where corporate executive chef Frank Greco offers up Chile Pop Shrimp, an appetizer of baby shrimp in a Thai chile sauce.