Are You Ready to try Crispy Fried Shrimp Legs?

It is shrimp. Battered in seasoned flour. Fried golden brown and delicious. It looks something like fried shrimp.

Except there are tiny shrimp legs sticking out of it.

Meet the tastiest secret shrimp recipe you never heard of.

So, where do shrimp legs come from?

Amelia Island is a mecca for seafood lovers. Local fishing boats offer wild-caught shrimp netted just a few miles from the beaches. It is the best-tasting shrimp around. Our shrimp is so fresh it comes with the head still attached.

Most people discard the shrimp heads and eat the tails. What a waste! A food this special deserves to be treated with reverence.

I use every part of the shrimp. I cook the tails in traditional ways. I make shrimp stock with the shells.

Then we have the lowly shrimp head.

There is this part in the shrimp head – under the shell, behind the eyes, and in front of the tail. Anatomically, it is the same part of the crustacean you eat in blue crab. A tender bit of shrimp meat with legs attached.

Once you know how to extract this piece, all you need is breading and hot oil. Ta-da! Crispy fried shrimp legs.

Fried shrimp legs are nothing new in the food world. They are called “sea spiders” or “sea scorpions” in Louisiana and other regions. They are common in Asian cuisines.

However, unless a person is in on the joke, they are not going to order something called “sea spiders” from a menu. A little re-branding never hurts. If we call them fried shrimp legs, there is a chance folks will try them.

Indeed, fried shrimp legs taste like fried shrimp. There is this nugget of tender shrimp meat. The legs get super crispy and essentially shatter when you bite into them. It is akin to eating the crisp tail on a whole fried fish. They are truly magical. The question is: are you brave enough to try them?