Seafood

To be able to spend some time at the beach, cooking and eating fresh seafood is a blessing. And luckily that was what I did last weekend. Arriving at the beach we stopped at the fishermen stands and bought the food provisions for the next days. That only is already a fun thing to do. There were so many options: squid, octopus, fishes, crabs, clams, mussels, shrimps and so on. My dog was exited too and when I got distracted I founded her liking the fish tails that were hanging out of the iced recipients, so she had to wait in the car. But it wasn’t for long, I knew what I wanted: sea bass, one of my favorite fishes, octopus, clams and very big shrimps. For the first meal I was doing something light: grilled shrimp with fresh herbs, ginger and oyster sauce to be served with a salad. What I love about seafood is that you can make a meal that is very tasteful, light and healthy at the same time. But some people aren’t so thrilled about some kinds of seafood, like shrimp, as they worry about its fat and cholesterol contents. So I decided to do some research and show you the facts before writing down my delicious shrimp recipe…
Shrimp is a good source of protein (23.7 gram in 4oz), very low in calories (112) and in total fat (less than 1 gram), but it really has high cholesterol (172 milligrams in 4 ounces). In the other hand, this is less than the cholesterol found in the same quantity of egg. And shrimps have omega-3 fatty acids, noted for their anti-inflammatory effects and ability to prevent the formation of blood clots. Plus shrimp is an excellent source of selenium, vitamin D and vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is one of the nutrients needed to keep low the levels of homocysteine, a molecule that can directly damage blood vessel walls and is considered a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
So, from what I read I conclude that people who don’t have health problems can eat as much shrimp as they want and people who have cholesterol problems but are allowed by their doctors to eat egg can (and should) sometimes substitute it for shrimp. For more information check those articles:
Shrimp
CNN

Grilled Shrimps, Asian style:

6 very large shrimps, deveined in shell
1 red chili pepper, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
Zest of 1 lime
2 inches of ginger grated
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoon of cilantro minced
Salt to taste
Olive oil, for brushing

Mix all the ingredients, but salt and olive oil. Season shrimps meat with salt, spread the mix of spices on the shrimp’s meat. Let it marinating for 15 minutes. Preheat griddle or grill pan over high heat. Brush shrimps with oil and grill about 2 minutes on each side, until shells are hot pink and shrimp is opaque.