[shel]

This morning I paid a visit to the local Trader Joe's and wandered over to the frozen sea food case as I was thinking of getting some shrimp to put into a salad. Reading the labels, I saw that every package of frozen shrimp, cooked or raw, from Thailand or Vietnam, contained salt. WTF, thought I, is this something new? Is this a standard practice with frozen shrimp, or just TJ's frozen shrimp? Ore just shrimp from Thailand and Vietnam? Why does the frozen shrimp need salt, or does it? Is the salt there to enhance the poor flavor of farmed shrimp? Or perhaps to afford some "protection" to the shrimp if it starts to defrost on the journey to the freezer?

Do other brands include salt? If anyone has frozen shrimp in their freezer, would you be kind enough to check the ingredients and post what you find, including the brand and where you bought the frosty crustaceans?

Thanks,

scb

[even stephen]

I am sure BDL will chime in soon....I have always frozen my shrimp in salt water....family has as well....don't even wash them...I think block frozen shrimp hold up better.....you really don't want any air to get to them....they
come from the ocean, its salty....we usually use water right out of the intra-coastal. I am curious though...don't know if salted water freezes at a lower temp or not....have to google it now.....last year was the first time I went shrimpin' with a cast net....you find the sweet little holes they seem to hang in....duck tape the outside rim of your cast net, so it stays spread out as it falls through the water....pretty cool....