Shrimp is America’s favorite seafood, widely available in a dizzying variety of choices: fresh, frozen, jumbo, small. How do you know which to choose? To sharpen your shopping skills, here’s a quick review.

Fresh vs. frozen
Shrimp is highly perishable, so it’s usually frozen when caught or soon thereafter. So-called "fresh shrimp" is typically frozen shrimp that has been thawed, though coastal markets may sell true fresh shrimp. For best quality, buy raw shrimp frozen. Cooked shrimp is sold frozen, thawed or freshly cooked (that is, thawed and then cooked), and it’s best tossed into salads or cooked sauces at the last minute.

As a rule, the closer shrimp is to its natural state, the juicier and fresher-tasting it is. With each step of convenience (as in cooked, preservative treated, shelled and thawed), you lose quality.

Peeled or unpeeled
Raw and cooked shrimp are sold unpeeled, peeled, and peeled with tails left on. Raw easy-peel shrimp are deveined (see below) with a split along the back so that the shells slip off easily. In sauced and mixed dishes (like casseroles), and when using smaller-sized shrimp, peeled shrimp work best.

Deveining
The dark thread running down the back of the shrimp is the intestinal vein. It’s harmless, but it can be unsightly or gritty, so cooks often remove it (called "deveining"). Miniature and small shrimp are typically not deveined. Shelled shrimp are sold with or without the vein.

Which size?
Shrimp are supposed to be labeled small, medium, large and so on, according to how many of them equal a pound. The larger the shrimp, the smaller the number per pound, or count. But a survey of reference books, cookbooks and stores turns up tremendous variations in labeling. If a recipe specifies the count (as in "21/30" or "21 to 30" shrimp per pound), follow it. Below is a general guide to sizes and average counts.