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krmarchese

Fried Shrimp ahead of time?

krmarchese
5 years ago

Is it possible to fry shrimp and refrigerate it for 24 hours before serving? We are hosting Christmas for my DH's family and fried shrimp is a tradition. We will have a full house of overnight guests and I am wondering if we can do the fried shrimp ahead of time.

Comments (92)

  • pandtkendall
    5 years ago

    You can't ever go wrong with Ina! Maybe many in DH's family would enjoy a new tradition from your house!

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago

    I looked at the oven roasted shrimp recipe and it looks terrific. I'll try it sometime soon, thanks.

  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    I know the OP has made a final decision. Just wanted to say I also love Ina's roasted shrimp.

  • lshack17
    5 years ago
    Try Ina's baked Shrimp Scampi also. A great make ahead dish that can be served as an appetizer or a main dish over pasta.
  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    Ishack, I agree that's another good one from her. Also, her Roasted Shrimp With Feta. A couple nights ago we had her Linguine With Shrimp Scampi. So simple and tasty.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I know some like it but there are those who don't find fish and cheese (of any kind, of any kind) to be a good combo. I'm one of them. It's like drinking wine while eating something sweet, it tends to unhinge my taste buds and make me want to smack my lips out of discomfort. Wine and cheese = fantastic. Fish and cheese= no.

  • happy2b…gw
    5 years ago

    i may have missed this suggestion, but why not oven fry the shrimp? Oven fried chicken is good and many people fry breaded eggplant in the oven too. I think it is worth a test run before Christmas. I also would not make any announcement about not frying in oil. It is very nice of you to volunteer to take the pressure off your MIL.


  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    "Fish and cheese= no."


    I would say "no" to fish...period. Not a big fan. However, I do like shrimp and love good Feta, especially French Feta.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Oh, maybe not clear. We love saltwater fish and seafood and eat a lot of it. We love cheese, especially strong Italian and French cheeses, and always have a good selection in the fridge. But not fish and cheese together, not even in the same meal. Cheese and fruit with wine makes a great dessert, but not following a meal that included anything that once lived underwater.

    (Feta originated in Greece, not France. It's now made elsewhere too but in Europe the name's use is a protected origin for Greek-only cheese. Like Roquefort which is from one French region and hundreds of other examples, same thing.)

  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    No problem, I knew what you meant. It's all about individual taste. I will eat grilled salmon, depending on how it's prepped. Most other fish, no. I buy Feta often and am familiar with different varieties...Greek, Bulgarian, French, American. French just happens to be my favorite since it's a bit creamier and less briny.



  • foodonastump
    5 years ago

    Just thinking about this fish and cheese thing. Normally I’d think no. But there’s parm in my flounder francaise. And plenty of mozz and parm on my shrimp parm. But other than that I’m thinking no. BUT I’d also think of feta as tasting so different from other cheeses that I don’t think I’d apply cheese rules to it.

  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    "...I don't think I'd apply cheese rules to it."


    Right...it does tend to stand on its own. It just seems to work for me with grilled or roasted shrimp when lemon and garlic are involved. Even if just Feta's involved.

  • foodonastump
    5 years ago

    Just remembering a great Greek shrimp and feta recipe I got from Shambo; she ever around anymore?

    (Elmer - just musing here, not challenging. Surely no fish and cheese is a common “thing”!)

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I don't know if it's common or not but it's a constant for me.

    We have a close friend who has spent about a quarter of her adult life living in Italy. We were in a restaurant not too long ago and while looking at the menu, she came upon two cheese and seafood main courses listed. She never has a problem expressing her views - when the waiter came, she started off on him good-naturedly with "doesn't the chef know not to combine seafood and cheese? They don't go". The waiter smirked and said - "Let me go ask him". He came back a few minutes later and said "He agrees with you but he makes these because people seem to like them". Just two more opinions/data points. We all had a good chuckle.

    I myself would have been happy enough just not ordering either but she needed more info.

  • foodonastump
    5 years ago

    I had never given it a thought until someone was criticized on an episode of Chopped, or a similar cooking competition show, for putting cheese in a fish dish. I looked it up at the time. You’re not alone. :)

  • plllog
    5 years ago

    Individual tastes are totally up to the individuals, and I'm not challenging anyone's stance on their own judgments. OTHO, I keep hearing TV chefs saying no fish and cheese, then I keep seeing all kinds of much loved traditional dishes that have fish and cheese! I'm allergic to fish with a few narrow exceptions (though I can eat shellfish), so I'm no judge of it personally, but I figure if there are so many beloved fish and cheese recipes it might really not be a rule about swimmy vs. dairy but about which fish and which cheese. Like a little parmesan crust might go with a certain kind of baked fish, but gooey mozzarella seems way over the edge. But I'm only guessing here.

  • wildchild2x2
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I think people who really like/love fresh seafood are similar to people who really like/love good steak. If something is enjoyed because of the way it tastes we don't want to do anything to diminish it, mask it or change it.

    Vinegar on fish and chips yes. Ruining fresh caught seafood with a blanket of cheese or heavily flavored sauce no. Lemon,butter, capers or even a salsa on more mild tasting fish that could use the enhancement is acceptable but no cheese please.

    Shrimp is truly the chicken of the sea. It's mild enough in flavor to be used in all sorts of saucy and non saucy ways. Just leave the coconut out please. I like coconut. But never on shrimp.

  • arcy_gw
    5 years ago

    So I take it none of the posters here have purchased breaded shrimp and baked them??? I would bake them, still last minute but not the mess.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    5 years ago

    arcy, those of us who live or have lived in a coastal region where fresh seafood abounds, will probably refuse the frozen breaded shrimp. Heck, unless I'm making something where it doesn't matter so much (shrimp burgers, casseroles, spreads, etc.), I won't even buy frozen shrimp that's been cooked and peeled.

    Breaded shrimp is a favorite of mine, but the quality of the shrimp and the ingredients of the coating are extremely important. Back in the Lowcountry, where I lived for nearly thirty years, fried shrimp was an essential restaurant item, but most of us preferred to pull together a Lowcountry boil or Frogmore Stew for large gatherings at our own homes.

    But even that isn't cooked ahead of time. Reheating turns shrimp into rubber, especially breaded fried shrimp. My husband isn't as fussy as I am and will order shrimp at local restaurants without complaint and has also brought home Costco fried shrimp to cook in the air fryer. There was a hard nugget inside that breading that tasted a bit like shrimp.....was that really shrimp??




  • Islay Corbel
    5 years ago

    Lobster thermidor is a fish and cheese classic! Most of the recipes ask for cheese to be sprinkled in top.


  • foodonastump
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Was looking around, and seems most popular seafood recipes with cheese are shellfish or crustaceans, of “flavor fish” like anchovies or sardines. Most, not all.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago

    Sure, and shrimp and grits has cheese too (like so many Southern dishes) . That doesn't mean these two don't jar the taste buds of those who prefer eating seafood and cheese in separate meals.

  • foodonastump
    5 years ago

    Yep just pondering general trends not individual tastes...

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    5 years ago

    I am a huge fan of linguini with white clam sauce - just made some the other day - and that has both shredded parmesan in the sauce as well as a garnish over the finished pasta. It would not taste the same without it!! I also make a seafood strata that includes gruyere or swiss cheese. That would also not have the same taste or appeal omitting the cheese.

    But I can't think of many other fish centered dishes that call for cheese.

  • lisaw2015 (ME)
    5 years ago

    I don't often comment on posts such as these because I honestly don't consider myself an expert cook, or even close, but I have to speak up now.

    I have access year round to the best seafood in the world, IMO of course, and I would never, ever add such flavor or even attempt to "enhance" it as covering up with any kind of cheese. The biggest sin is lobster mac and cheese...ugh! If you think that is good, you are not eating good lobster to start with.


  • chloebud
    5 years ago

    gardengal, my husband would agree with you regarding linguine with clam sauce...lots of Parm. The other night I made linguine with shrimp scampi and he piled on the Parm. Definitely the same with linguine and clam sauce. He simply likes it that way.

  • Sherry
    5 years ago

    I love shrimp and grits.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    But I can't think of many other fish centered dishes that call for cheese.

    Hmm, coquilles st. jacques, for one. I've had it made with carrot velouté as a topping instead of gruyere, and trust me, you want the cheese.

    But I totally agree about the lobster. Melted butter only.

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    5 years ago

    OK now I want Coquille St. Jacques! Love it! Have not had it in years.

  • shambo
    5 years ago

    Foodonastump, I remember those episodes of Chopped. Constant complaining about red onions and cheese with seafood. I haven't watched that show in years, though.

    Yes, I'm still around, and thanks for remembering me. The Shrimp baked in tomato sauce and sprinkled with feta is a traditional dish made everywhere in Greece. It really is quite tasty. Similar to fish plaki but with the added kick of feta sprinkles.

  • User
    5 years ago

    Cheese on linguine & clams must be regional, I've been eating it since I was a small child (at Italian restaurants) and I've never seen it served with cheese.

  • Sherry
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    To the question from the OP, peel and devein ahead of time, you can even prebread (not dip in batter). Whatever is the traditional way. In other words, have everything ready. If using batter, you can premeasure the dry and mix just before needed. Then fry. If you can fix a place outside, that is the best. I love to fry fish and seafood outside. The oil can go where it wants. Shrimp only takes a few minutes to fry. Use a thermometer at 375*.

    If you get everything staged, the actual cooking is quick. It really doesn't take that much time. Have plenty of pIatters with paper towels to drain. It is just the prep. PLEASE don't buy the peeled and deveined frozen shrimp. Go for the real thing. Flash frozen shrimp in the shell is fine. It tastes good. They freeze it so quick, it might as well be fresh. Look for USA shrimp. DO NOT BUY farm raised shrimp!

  • marilyn_c
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I am picky about how shrimp are fried, and I have had them every way. In cornmeal...gritty and like rocks. Cracker meal....a little better. Most batters, unless they are like for tempura....too soft unless fried too long. Double dipped...too much crust for my tastes. The way I fry shrimp, devein and wash. Dry them a little but not completely. Break a couple of eggs in with the shrimp and mix around with your hand. Dip in self rinsing flour with some Tony Chachere's mixed in. I add a tad more baking powder to the flour and if you don't have self rinsing flour, add more.

    Shake off excess and deep fry in peanut oil. The shrimp are lightly breaded.....or I should say "slightly " and the coating is very light and crunchy. Serve with homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

  • LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Marilyn - you had me until you got to the tartar sauce! Fried shrimp requires home made cocktail sauce using home grown horseradish and home canned ketchup with a squirt of lemon juice.

    I do like your frying method though!

  • Sherry
    5 years ago

    If you really like shrimp and eat a lot of it, that is why I said to use the normal breading or the normal batter. You wont like a different breading or batter. The prep is the same,

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Having a set up to get the oily frying splatter outside instead of inside is clever. Even better is to not fry anything, there are more healthy ways to cook.

    Battered and fried anything tastes like battered and fried everything to me, the item's taste gets buried. I prefer other approaches so that the flavor can be more prominent. Especially with most fish and seafood that often tend to have light and subtle flavors.

  • catticusmockingbird
    5 years ago

    Mr. Fudd, why would the OP be interested in your opinion of fried food? She said this was a family tradition.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    5 years ago

    Cheese doesn't belong on shrimp and grits, either. It sure won't be on mine when I make it. I don't put cheese in grits, either.

  • catticusmockingbird
    5 years ago

    Y'all are missing some good eats.


    Shrimp and Grits

    Six Gulf Shrimp, Tasso Cream Sauce, Papa Toms Grits with Smoked Gouda


    Crab & Brie Bisque


    Barbecue Shrimp and Grits

    Gulf of Mexico Jumbo Shrimp, Smoked Gouda Grits, Abita Amber BBQ Sauce



  • marilyn_c
    5 years ago

    Some people don't know how to fry anything. Temperature is the utmost importance and it shouldn't taste oily or greasy. However, if you don't like fried food....don't eat it. Who cares? I don't think fried food once in awhile is going to hurt most people, and if you think it does....don't eat it. Simple as that.

  • plllog
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Um.... While reheating shrimp is fraught with the possibility that it may turn to rubber, I will repeat that I have had good success with it, starting with fried shrimp that was meant to be reheated (i.e., undercooked) and still mostly frozen when it went in the oven. Overcooked shrimp is rubber whether it's heated once or twice.

    Re lobster mac and cheese, who would put fine lobster in it? It's a mac and cheese dish, not a lobster dish, and it's supposed to be made with the shreds and scraps left after making a beautiful lobster dish, or sometimes just the shells are used in the preparation (then removed), not made with the beautiful lobster!

    Laughing about the anchovies. We call that (inferior) bait, but if you can put anchovies on mozzarella (i.e., pizza) why not cheese on anchovies? What about the famous tuna melt? Yeah, canned fish, not a beautiful, fresh (but hopefully flash frozen to kill the parasites) ahi steak.

    I think FOAS is right about flavor intensities. Fish sauce or hard pungent cheese is added to all kinds of dishes to amp up the umami, salt and flavor intensity. In combining, a deep flavor like anchovy goes with ultra mild mozzarella on the pizza. The rich saltiness of parm goes with the mild clam sauce. But wouldn't anchovies and parm be too much of too much together, leaving aside the battle of swim vs. moo?

    Most preparations we've been talking about, other than straight up boiled, are more than the bestest, freshest seafood wants. They're not about the very best. You wouldn't make a hamburger out of prime kobe sirloin either, though a sirloin burger from garden variety beef is excellent. And you wouldn't make tacos out of sirloin at all. What a waste that would be! But more people get to eat tacos more often than get to eat lovely sirloins in any preparation. There has to be food for the rest of the world.

  • Sherry
    5 years ago

    Which is why I directed my comment to the OP. Not poor Mr. Fuddy Duddy.

  • HU-721786473
    5 years ago

    I don’t listen to Dr. Laura, but one time I heard her say that fish with cheese is against the Jewish religion? Is that true? Guess I could google it.

  • HU-721786473
    5 years ago

    I just did google it and it seems there is some truth that it is not kosher by some beliefs.

  • plllog
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    No, it's not true. Really. Fish is neither milk nor meat and can be eaten with either (though one guy said no fish with milk, but the extremists who follow that (which has no basis in Jewish law) allow fish with dairy, just not pure liquid milk). The classic '60's "dairy plate" which was designed for the kosher ladies who lunch is a scoop of egg salad, a scoop of tuna salad and a scoop of cottage cheese. Classic Ashkenazi Jewish brunch is a bagel with cream cheese and lox (smoked salmon). Cream cheese is usually thought of as a different thing than the "no cheese with fish" thing we've been talking about, which most seam to mean no hard cheese, but it's still dairy, and right smack there on the bagel with the fish. From a kosher point of view swiss cheese and cream cheese are both equally cheese, i.e., dairy products (but must not be made with cow's rennet if you're Orthodox, though other rabbis have ruled that the rennet is so far from the cow that it is a "new thing" and not meat). Or, for fish with dairy, see herring in onions and sour cream, which is certified by Orthodox Union (Vita brand, for example), the most widely accepted kosher certification in the USA.

    There is a rule which is from after the codification of what's kosher that says that "for health" one must not put fish on the same plate as meat. One explanation I've read for the separate plate thing is that there was a condiment in Roman times made of fermented fish guts. Imagine that in a Southern Mediterranean climate (even with the differences between now and then) and you'll appreciate why this might not be the most salubrious sauce. The story is that you can't just tell people not to eat it when they have a taste for it, but if you tell them that fish and meat can't go on the same plate, they're more likely to figure out that they can't eat it. Or something like that. I don't know if this is a true story, but most rabbinic rulings are that since it was deemed not kosher "for health" and there is plenty of proof that your properly prepared salmon and beef shoulder, surf and turf, isn't going to be bad for your health (in the short term--we're not talking about general healthy diets), their adherents don't have to follow it. At very orthodox functions they'll often provide a little paper cup or plate to go on your buffet plate if you want to separate them, just to make sure everybody feels comfortable, but it's not a thing for most people.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    5 years ago

    Not an expert; I understand that not all fish are kosher, and not all beef are kosher.

    And kosher salt is not kosher.

    dcarch


  • maifleur01
    5 years ago

    The real Italian restaurants in this area are mostly Sicilian ancestry and if you have clams on any pasta in some restaurants the cheese is removed from the table. I have had this done at two restaurants. At both the sauce such is very light and has no cream in it. If you have something like shrimp or seafood alfredo they ask if you want cheese if they are grating it fresh.

  • Elmer J Fudd
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    So as not to miss the forest through the trees....

    A friend of Jewish background once told me that it's a minority of Jews that follow the food rules. I don't know if that's true or not. He knew the rules but didn't follow them himself. For those who do, permitted "fish" must have scales and fins, for whatever reason. So, all shellfish - shrimp, lobster, scallops, clams, mussels, cockles, etc..... are not allowed in any form or preparation. The assessment of which fish do or don't qualify apparently is subject to some differences of opinion or practice among various groups, maybe as described above for cheese.

    Something else I learned on a similar topic was from a Muslim friend, something I found interesting. When travelling, he tries to find vegetarian restaurants (like Indian restaurants) or restaurants that hopefully don't fudge things when preparing vegetarian food, if Muslim (halal) places aren't to be found. His next choice is Jewish restaurants that follow the Jewish food rules because to him, the rules aren't that different and have common objectives. Again, I don't know if that is or isn't true and is or isn't a widely held view but interesting to me all the same.

  • plllog
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Dcarch, two out of three. Simplified: Fish have to have scales and can't be bottom feeders (no to catfish). Shellfish are not kosher, ever. I figure if I were meant to keep kosher I wouldn't have been made allergic to swimmy fish. To the best of my knowledge, all healthy beef on the hoof is potentially kosher (literally, fit to eat). It's the butchering that makes it kosher. Some of the highlights: A highly trained and certified kosher butcher says the proper blessings acknowledging taking a life and kills the beast with a special extremely sharp blade in one clean cut. I think it's to the jugular. In ancient times this was the most humane way they had. There has been some recent controversy about whether this is the most humane way now, and what it would take to change it.

    There are other conditions as well, such as the calf may not be slaughtered in front of it mother. If it's not a single clean cut, it's not a kosher death and the carcass cannot be made fit to eat by Jews. It can be sold to other people, however, rather than wasted. First they inspect the lungs for disease. If are no marks or scars at all, if the lungs are completely smooth, the meat can be sold as "glatt kosher" (Ashkenazi "smooth kosher"), which is prized by some. It's not any more kosher than the ones with minor blemishes that are not signs of disease. It's just a more special special super duper, if it costs more (scarcer) it must be better.

    The blood must also be drained. Then the carcass has to be cut up correctly, if the rear half is to be used, rather than sold off, the sciatic nerve (I think that's the one) has to be removed in a certain way. Few kosher butchers even learn how to do this. It's a mess and ends up with the meat so cut up it's not very attractive. With neighbors valuing the rear half, it doesn't make economic sense to bother. Then the meat has to be salted to draw out the rest of the blood. Housewives used to do this. Nowadays, the packers do it for value added.

    "Kosher Salt" is a misnomer as it is the salt used to draw the blood from the meat. Rightly, it should be called "kashering salt". All clean, unadulterated, pure salt is kosher by nature and doesn't require a rabbinic imprimature. When you see one, it's usually to say that the processing plant and packaging equipment were clean and appropriate. Salt, the mineral, is kosher by nature. So kosher salt is kosher, but so is all pure salt.

    In most things Jewish, the practice of an entire community over time has sway. The birds that are kosher (and also have to be correctly slaughtered and prepped) are the ones that a community has been eating from way back. I read that a couple of graduate students in Jerusalem went around to the different communities from around the world and compiled lists. The rules for meat and fish are more standardized, but there will always be different rulings in different places about minutiae.

    Before halal meat was widely available, muslims would buy from the kosher butchers. That's true. As I heard it, they also require blessings to be said on the taking of a life, and these are similar enough to be acceptable where their own people are not available. I don't know where the differences are in how the animal is handled after that, but muslims are more likely to accept kosher than Jews are to accept halal. If there's no other food, one is allowed to eat whatever one can find and do the best one can to keep it as kosher as possible. So, in that case, I'd think the halal butcher would be a better bet than the ConAgra case at the discount food store, but I don't know what the rabbis would say other than you have to eat to sustain yourself.

    I also don't know how the halal rules work for other meats and vegetables (yes, while by nature vegetables are fit to eat, you do have to inspect them for certain bugs, and have a care about "hot" veg and questionable cutlery). I do think they have similar fish rules. Way back when, in post-revolution Iran, sturgeons were out. They're smooth skinned. But there were the embargoes, and things were tough. The ayatollahs met and discussed the caviar trade which was so lucrative but forbidden. They inspected the sturgeons. Carefully. And found a sufficient number of scales that it would be okay for them to trade in caviar. (I don't know if they also ate the fish, sold the fish, or whatever.) I seem to remember that they had to have at least seven scales.

    Re the number of Jews who keep kosher, most Jews are not practicing, period. Like your average American who identifies as "Christian", but whose practice is a Christmas tree and an Easter egg hunt, with the occasional church event for a rite of passage. Among those are are actively engaged in Jewish religious participation, a much higher percentage keep kosher. A lot of it depends on location. There is a tradition, still practiced by some, of only accepting milk and dairy products that have been overseen by Jews the whole way. This is so they don't get adulterated, like the Chinese milk scandal where people were putting melamine in the milk because it would register when tested as having more protein. Even very strictly practicing American Jews believe that the USDA does a good enough job, along with American cultural values, to create confidence that the milk supply is unadulterated. Some still prefer to pay more for "Jewish milk".

    Similarly, for all the public scandals about this or that outbreak, the American food supply is reliably fine. It's not necessary to keep kosher to be sure of food that won't kill you. So American Jews keep kosher, or have abbreviated practices of kosher origin (e.g., don't combine meat and milk, but don't worry about the provenance of either), as a matter of religious conscience, solidarity with their heritage, or habit, rather than a belief that it's important for temporal reasons.

    This is all very condensed and simplified. Thousands of years old ritual and practice creates thousands and thousands of pages of discussion and ruling and codification and reinterpretation. If someone wants to learn to keep kosher, the rabbis send them to learn from a friend who keeps kosher, because learning it from the Law would take a lifetime of study.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    5 years ago

    Thank you for a very detailed and interesting explanation. It fascinates me to learn about various cultures, traditions and religions. Of course, more excuses to cook and eat different kinds of food and cooking.


    dcarch


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