FOOD & DRINK

Gulf shrimp still the star on South Padre plates

Fewer shrimpers can compete with shrimp farms.

By Helen Anders
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — Order shrimp in a restaurant here and you know exactly what you're going to get: fresh shrimp that came out of the Gulf of Mexico.

"We use exclusively wild-caught Gulf shrimp," says Zeke Garrett, manager of popular Blackbeard's restaurant on the island, where favorites include Shrimp Three Ways — three each fried, grilled and blackened.

"You know, there's a saying here: Friends don't let friends eat imported shrimp," he says.

I'm a friend of Zeke's, and he's a mighty convincing guy. But I don't need any persuading to stick with Gulf shrimp. I like the way they taste — a bit briney and iodiney. Their flavor stands up well to the myriad sauces (citrus, barbecue, cheese) and coatings (from Parmesan to pecan) applied to them.

Each American ate an average of 4.4 pounds of shrimp last year, and what that tells me is that some of you aren't holding up your end of the stick, because I'm sure I'm personally responsible for at least 10 pounds.

About 90 percent of the shrimp Americans consume is imported farm-raised shrimp. But you won't find them on South Padre Island plates.

Gulf shrimp recipes dominate most menus here and in Port Isabel, on the mainland across the causeway. Shrimp Haus Restaurant on the island, for example, serves 27 shrimp entrées.

Moored shrimp boats dot the inlets in Port Isabel, which once called itself the shrimping capital of the world. Many have been idled by competition from foreign imported shrimp. The cost of diesel fuel and competition for labor also have discouraged shrimpers.

The shrimpers who think it's worthwhile this summer are back out in Texas waters again as of last week after a state-mandated two-month hiatus to allow the shrimp to grow.

"Shrimp is the mainstay of this area, and selling it is a privilege," says Lee Roy Summerlin, whose Cap'n Roy's serves shrimp in ceviche, tacos and other dishes. "In this area, farm-raised is kind of a no-no."

Summerlin is careful not to disparage farm-raised shrimp, though; he knows that if the supply of Gulf shrimp diminishes, he could wind up serving the alternative.

Not that there aren't plenty of shrimp in the sea. Shrimp abound in the Gulf of Mexico, and so far supply has kept up with demand. But fewer boats are going out every year because of the diminishing returns.

"I don't know how we're going to compete" with the imported shrimp, says Sammy Snodgrass, whose family runs seven shrimp boats out of the Port of Brownsville near the Mexico border.

The competition is not Texas farm-raised shrimp. In 2006, Texas farms — also dogged by fuel prices and competition — produced only 5 million pounds of shrimp; 41.6 million pounds were harvested from Texas Gulf waters.

But both those figures pale in comparison with the influx of shrimp imported from Asia. About 1.7 billion pounds were imported into the U.S. in 2006. (Nobody knows how much of it wound up in Texas.) By contrast, shrimp boats in U.S. waters pulled in 182.3 million pounds that year.

But in comparison to the shrimping heyday around 1960, when more than 5,000 shrimp boats trawled Texas waters, only 956 are currently licensed, and Snodgrass says a lot of those don't even go out anymore.

In fact, there's so little competition that Snodgrass, who says his typical harvest is 50,000 to 60,000 pounds a year, raked in more than 150,000 pounds this past year. But he's only getting about $3 a pound off the boat, compared with about $5 in 2000. Gulf shrimp earlier this summer were selling in some supermarkets for as little as $4.99 a pound with heads on. Heads off, large Gulf shrimp usually go for $10 to $17 a pound in stores.

To stay in business, Snodgrass buys fuel in Mexico, where it costs about half the U.S. price.

Snodgrass, other shrimpers and some consumer organizations such as Public Citizen and Food and Water Watch claim that imported shrimp is unhealthy to eat, primarily because of antibiotics used in its production. The U.S. Food and Drug administration disagrees.

Regardless, Snodgrass says Gulf shrimp taste better because their lives were happier, spent scampering around the bottom of the sea.

And with that cheerful thought, I offer some favorite recipes for Texas Gulf shrimp.

handers@statesman.com; 912-2590

Shrimp Scampi

This is a recipe from B&A Seafood, a longtime family-owned seafood retailer in Port Isabel. It's good and garlicky. My personal tweak is to substitute a local Rio Grande Valley lime (they're tart and juicy) for the lemon. And sometimes I cut the sauté time short, add a little grated mozzarella and broil the whole thing briefly.

2 tsp. olive oil

11/2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Sauvignon blanc

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. feshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in wine, salt and pepper; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 30 seconds. Add parsley and juice; toss well to coat. Cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done (opaque and pink). Yield: 4 servings of about 7 shrimp each.

— B&A Seafood

Parmesan Crusted and Pepper Jack Cheese Stuffed Shrimp

Here's a delicious long-titled dish from Shrimp Haus on South Padre Island. That old rule about never mixing seafood and cheese? It doesn't apply to shrimp. Try this and see.

6 large butterflied shrimp

6 slices pepper jack cheese

2 jalapeños divided into 12 slices

Flour seasoned with white pepper, salt and paprika

Egg wash (2 eggs combined with 1 cup flour)

Mix of half Parmesan cheese and half Italian or regular bread crumbs

Butterfly the shrimp, but leave the tails on. Lay the cheese and a couple of strips of jalapeño on the shrimp and mold the shrimp around the stuffing. Dredge in seasoned flour, then egg wash, and roll in bread crumb mix. Fry 6 to 8 minutes until golden brown. Serve with sauce.

Sauce: In hot sauté pan with olive oil, sauté two cloves garlic and one minced jalapeño. Add a little chicken or shrimp stock (a bottle of clam juice works fine if you don't have stock handy), a pinch of sea salt and white pepper, then a splash of white wine. Burn off the wine, add 1 cup heavy cream and reduce by half. Add 3 oz. butter and 2 oz. Parmesan cheese; finish with chopped parsley.

— Shrimp Haus

Coconut Shrimp

Every restaurant on South Padre Island has its own recipe for this popular dish. This one's from Shrimp Haus.

5 large shrimp, deveined and butterflied

Seasoned flour (recipe below)

Tempura batter (recipe below)

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Orange dipping sauce (recipe below)

For the seasoned flour:

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. chili powder

dash salt

dash paprika

For the tempura batter:

1 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 can of Shiner Bock beer

1/2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt and pepper

For the dipping sauce:

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1 tsp. Grand Marnier liqueur

1 tsp. chopped cilantro

Lightly coat shrimp in seasoned flour and dust off excess. Coat in tempura batter and press into coconut mixture. Deep fry at 335 degrees for 6 minutes. Mix ingredients of dipping sauce and serve with the shrimp.

— Shrimp Haus

Tequila Shrimp

This Central Market recipe is delicious made with Rio Grande Valley limes. It's a good cocktail party nosh, a step beyond the usual boiled shrimp.

11/2 Tbsp. tequila

2 Tbsp. seeded chopped jalapeño

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

1 lb. shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked (large shrimp usually boil nicely in about 3 minutes; they're done when they're pink and opaque)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Marinate in refrigerator for two hours. Drain and serve over ice.

— Central Market