Shrimp. It’s America’s favorite shellfish and, by some accounts, the country’s best selling seafood. Most Americans can rattle off at least one beloved shrimp recipe. Along with shrimp cocktail, the dish most often mentioned to me is shrimp scampi. By definition scampi is not a culinary preparation but instead a small lobster—about 10 inches in length—found from Iceland to Morocco. In French it’s known as langoustine. The Italians refer to it as scampi. Others call it a Norway lobster or Dublin prawn. Yet, in North America, scampi has come to mean sautéing medium- to large-sized shrimp alongside garlic, butter and white wine and then serving the resulting dish over pasta. Go figure! I’ve mentioned previously how you should purchase frozen shrimp and defrost the shellfish shortly before cooking. That way, you’re not buying already-defrosted-and-languishing-in-a-supermarket-seafood-case shrimp that you’re forced to cook right away. To defrost the shrimp, place the frozen bag in your refrigerator and allow the contents to thaw overnight. If you’re pressed for time, you can place the shrimp in a bowl filled with …

Another week into the new year and I’m still fixated on lighter fare. Although Asian cuisine continues to dominate my dinner menus, right now it’s not so much a specific dish as it is a spice, Szechuan pepper, that I crave. With its mildly hot, slightly piquant tang Szechuan pepper brings a clean, wholesome warmth to my winter cooking. Contrary to its name, Szechuan pepper doesn’t belong to the peppercorn family or even grow on vines as peppercorns do. Instead these reddish-brown berries come from prickly ash trees. Originating in the Szechuan province of China, they also appear in parts of Japan, India, Tibet and Indonesia. Dried, the aromatic berries are sold whole and in powdered form. With a little searching I can find both whole and ground Szechuan pepper at Asian markets and well-stocked spice shops such as Kalustyan’s. Cooks often use Szechuan pepper to dress up spare ribs, pork loin or duck. Because I’m not a pork or beef eater, I add it to my favorite protein source, seafood. When tossed together with …

They’re Americans’ favorite shellfish and, after canned tuna, their preferred seafood. Yet, until the 20th century, shrimp were not readily available to diners. Unless you lived in the South, where shrimp were sold live, you missed out on these flavorful, little crustaceans. By the early 1900’s, though, advances in fishing trawler refrigeration allowed the mass marketing of and subsequent nationwide craze for shrimp. Over 300 species exist worldwide but I tend to find six or seven in our markets. Gulf White, Pink and Brown, Ecuadoran or Mexican White, Chinese White, Black Tiger and Rock are the types that I see. As the names suggest, Gulf shrimp hail from the Gulf Coast, Chinese and Black Tiger come from Asia, etc. Of these Black Tiger is the largest, growing up to one-foot in length. It’s also one of the more expensive. As a general rule, the larger the shrimp, the higher the cost. Buy shrimp and you buy according to number per pound or count. The smaller the number in the count, the larger the shrimp will …