Can you eat it after thawing? It turns out that Arctic sweet shrimp are cooked before landing!

Review expert: Ran Hao, a well-known popular science writer

The holiday is over and it’s time to go back to work. It’s the Great Cold season now. Have you guys who went home for the New Year had the hometown flavors you missed for a long time?

In the market in my hometown, it is already the season of "everything can be frozen". Frozen pears and frozen persimmons are not to be mentioned, and there are also ice cream and seafood all over the market... Just thinking about it makes me greedy!

Source: NetEase

In the winter in Northeast China, there are ice creams everywhere, which surprises many friends in the south. However, compared with the ice creams that often contain "assassins", there is a kind of seafood that I like very much, which is sweet shrimp. Although the temperature outside is more than ten degrees below zero, it is wonderful to stay in a warm house and have a plate of icy, fresh, glutinous, chewy and slightly sweet sweet shrimps.

When it comes to sweet shrimp, everyone is always a little confused. There are "sweet shrimp" in Japanese food restaurants, "sweet shrimp" in vegetable markets, and "sweet shrimp" in supermarkets. Which one is the real "sweet shrimp"? Let's talk about it today.

Arctic shrimp? Peony shrimp? They are all long-headed shrimps~

There are two types of sweet shrimps that we can usually see in our daily life. One type is sold in Japanese restaurants, with red shrimp shells, often with heads and tails, and only the shells on the abdomen are peeled off, and they are served as sashimi or as part of sashimi platters; the other type does not look as delicate as those in Japanese restaurants, and is mostly pink or orange in color, and is often sold in blue pocket boxes at seafood stalls in the market or in freezers in supermarkets.

Sweet Shrimp Sashimi Platter Source: Qiantu.com does not authorize reprinting

Friends who like Japanese food should know that the sweet shrimps in Japanese restaurants are usually called "Japanese sweet shrimps" or "Bodan shrimps" or "Toyama shrimps", while another kind of sweet shrimps are generally called "Arctic shrimps" or directly called "Ice shrimps" according to their frozen state.

Source of Arctic Shrimp丨A shopping website

Although the two look somewhat different, one is delicate and the other is slightly rough, from a taxonomic point of view, they are actually closely related relatives, both belonging to the Pandalidae family.

The sweet shrimps that are "better treated" in Japanese restaurants usually include Japanese long-headed shrimp (Pandalus nipponensis), high-back long-headed shrimp (P. hypsinotus) and broad-horned long-headed shrimp (P. platyceros), etc. Japanese long-headed shrimp and high-back long-headed shrimp are produced in the cold waters of the Sea of ​​Japan and the northwest Pacific Ocean, while broad-horned long-headed shrimp come from the west coast of North America, especially Canada. These three are generally not specially distinguished when they are served to you as Japanese sashimi, and most of them are called "Botan shrimp".

Source: aquablog.ca

Let’s take a look at the Arctic shrimp displayed in the supermarket. This sweet shrimp is usually the northern long-necked shrimp (Pandalus borealis), which is mainly produced in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Therefore, it is mostly imported from local countries, such as Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and other countries.

If you pay attention, you will find that, unlike the sweet shrimp in Japanese cuisine, "Arctic shrimp" is usually cooked . This is because the "Arctic shrimp" currently imported into China are mainly cooked frozen products, that is, they are cooked on the boat within one or two hours after being caught, and quickly frozen at a low temperature below -18℃ to ensure freshness.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to see such a northern long-fronted shrimp with a complete forehead sword in the "Arctic sweet shrimp"

Source: Wikipedia

It is precisely because of this that the Arctic shrimps we see often have their tentacles and legs broken. After being frozen and transported, it is almost impossible for their tentacles and appendages to remain intact.

However, a small amount of northern long-necked shrimp is imported in the form of fresh-frozen shrimp. If you see smaller "sweet shrimp" in a Japanese restaurant, they may be northern long-necked shrimp, or other types of long-necked shrimp.

Sweet shrimp? Why is it sweet?

As the name suggests, sweet shrimp always has a sweet taste when you eat it, which is why it is called sweet shrimp. Although the fresh prawns we usually eat also have a "fresh and sweet" taste, it is not as obvious as sweet shrimp. So, where does the sweetness of sweet shrimp come from?

The reason why sweet shrimps are sweet is related to the environment they live in. In order to maintain life activities in the cold deep sea that is hundreds of meters deep, the enzymes in the bodies of sweet shrimps can maintain a certain activity even in low temperature environments.

Live northern long-necked shrimp Source: Wikipedia/Tomasz Sienicki

When sweet shrimp are caught and taken out of the water, as they die, the enzymes in their bodies lose control and begin to break down their own proteins. This process can continue for a period of time during refrigeration.

As the protein breaks down, free amino acids with sweet taste, such as glycine and proline, are released. The content of these amino acids is relatively high, which is the main source of the sweetness of sweet shrimp. In addition, the decomposition of the body by enzymes also triggers the autolysis of shrimp meat, which is the source of the soft and glutinous taste we feel when eating sweet shrimp sashimi.

Delicious shrimps in the market

In addition to sweet shrimps, we can also find many kinds of shrimps at the stalls in the vegetable market. Let’s take a look together.

Prawns are the most common edible marine shrimps. Let’s take a brief look at two of the most common types.

The first is the Vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), which has the largest production (no doubt about it). Please note that its Chinese name is divided into Vannamei/Litopenaeus, not Vannamei/Penaeus, so don’t read it wrong.

The Vannamei shrimp, also known as the South American white shrimp , is native to the Central and South America on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is the undisputed leader in China's farmed shrimps because of its easy farming, good meat quality, and the ability to be farmed in water with low salinity or even fresh water after desalination. Most of the live and frozen shrimps we see in the aquatic market are of this species.

Source of Penaeus vannamei丨sambadenglish.com

Marsupenaeus japonicus is also known as Penaeus japonicus. The genus Penaeus was originally a large genus, but now many of its species have been divided into new genera, and Marsupenaeus japonicus is one of them.

This type of shrimp has a very distinctive appearance, with brown spots on its body and yellow and blue embellishments on its tail. It is considered to be a very good-looking shrimp in the shrimp family. In addition to its appearance, the Japanese shrimp's meat quality and taste are also better than other shrimps, making it very popular in the aquatic market. However, the only drawback is that the production is small and the price is relatively high. The larger the shrimp, the more expensive it is. Compared with the cheap and good quality Vannamei shrimp, it feels more suitable for holiday banquets.

Source of Penaeus japonicus丨Hui Junbo

In addition to prawns and sweet shrimps, there is another kind of finger-length shrimp that is popular in the northern coastal areas of China. This is the drum shrimp (Alpheidae). Although it is small in size, it can use its specialized large claws to suddenly close and emit a high-speed jet of water to attack prey or defend against enemies.

Research has found that when the shrimp closes its claws, it triggers cavitation, creating a low-pressure bubble that emits a sound of up to 200 decibels when it bursts. It also produces sonoluminescence (bubbles explode inward in the water, generating light and high temperatures), which can stun and kill small animals around it. The shrimp got its name from the huge sound.

Common shrimps in the north include the long-finger shrimp (Alpheus digitalis, formerly known as the bright shrimp) and the Japanese shrimp (A. japonicus). People in coastal areas often catch them, clean them, add various seasonings and directly braise them to make a very delicious "raw mixed shrimp".

Japanese drum shrimps sold in Dalian market, mixed with long finger drum shrimps

Source: Hui Junbo

In the past, mantis shrimp were often fried or dried to make small dried shrimps and sold to mainland China for use as an ingredient in soups or as a side dish. But now, through the developed logistics industry, fresh mantis shrimp can be sent to all parts of the country, so that everyone can taste this fresh delicacy.

We have talked about so many shrimps today. What kind of shrimps do you like to eat the most? I am going to place an order to satisfy my appetite~