Basic shrimp stock

[Rajun Gardener]

I made a simple stock to use in other dishes, don't waste those shells!! Yes, we have people that ride around selling fresh shrimp off the boat, the guy I buy from has been selling for years and always has a good price on shrimp and sometimes crabs.

I'll drop a shrimp stew video as soon as I'm done editing it using the stock.

[Labradors]

Looks great, but my dogs wouldn't be very pleased if I did that as they always get the shirmp skins. They eat them like potato chips .

Linda

[Growing Coastal]

Interesting.
How would you use the stock?

Someone who had spent some time in the southern US told me that he had eaten shrimp there that had been fried so that the shells were crunchy and edible. I have never seen them done that way here, or anywhere, but they sound really good. I used to enjoy the crunchy fish fins and tails when mom would fry fresh caught fish, coated in egg and flour.

[pepperhead212]

I always freeze the shells, then use a bunch of them to make a concentrated stock, when I make those Thai shrimp soups. Mmmmm...I'm getting hungry now!

[Rajun Gardener]

Interesting.
How would you use the stock?

It can be used in soups, stews, chowder, gumbo, risotto, paella or any other dish that calls for seafood.

[imp]

Way back when, we would make shrimp stock and reduce down pretty strong, cool it and take off any fats that (maybe) would float to the surface and add that to some butter in a pan. Using that to make a loose blond roux, adding shrimp stock and making a shrimp flavored "gravy". Just a touch of garlic and S&P. We'd have shrimp cooked and peeled, hot and ready to go and add them to the gravy, serve right then over buttered & toasted good crusty bread ( for us it was San Francisco sourdough). Rich, but so good made you scrape your plate. Mom would sometimes add thin white fish fillets to the gravy and barely poach them just done, that was also good.

We always saved the crab shells to make stock too.

[bower]

I have a bag of shell on shrimp in the freezer I've been wondering what to do with. Now I know. Thanks for making it worth the mess and trouble of peeling... I will use the stock to make paella since I don't have any shell on mussels as I usually use, haven't had a paella for ages. It is not worth making paella without shells in it, the flavor is gone! But a shell stock will do it.