Aries’ Noodle & Dumpling in Waltham got a new real menu and one picture caught my eye. This dish was on the old takeout menu and was simply called Cold Water Shrimp ($12.95). It looked like the shrimp we ate growing up in Sweden.
This is, in fact, the long-missed Swedish shrimp. I never thought that I would encounter these guys over here. The texture was off a tad, but not by much, considering that these are previously frozen. These guys are tasty! The dipping sauce was also really delicious. The waiter tried to translate where they come from, and his phone said the North Pole, and that’s pretty close. The North Sea would have been more accurate.
I used to eat these. Readily available and are one of the 2 common types of prawns/shrimp round these parts (North Sea/North Atlantic).
But I like North Sea shrimp (Crangon crangon) more and only eat them when I want shrimp or prawns, mostly as a snack, very regularly. They have a different taste, intensely flavourful, due to high iodine content.
Those are so much work to peel - when we lived in the Netherlands I never bothered. And here in New England, tiny Maine shrimp are equally as delicious and equally as labor intensive. I only have them in restaurants.
During spawning season most of these shrimp are loaded with roe. The absolute best time to feast on them. First you suck all the roe and process as above.
Yes, they are also called “brown shrimp” (“grey” in one language). But “North Sea shrimp” is most recognisable as most of them are caught there, unless you are in the UK (Morecambe Bay shrimp) or Ireland where they have another name.
Not sure if anyone exports NS shrimp to the US. We have the biggest shrimp fleet round these parts.
There’s another type, small like North Sea ones but are very mild and don’t have the iodine taste. Common to see them drenched in cream as part of Smorgasbord or in a salad.
