Prawn vs Shrimps.   You say tomatoe and I say tomato.  You come to San Francisco for a visit from your hometown of Syracuse, New York or Tampa, Florida. You sit down for a seafood meal at Fisherman’s Wharf and see the word – Prawns on the menu.  You see Shrimp Meat but you don’t see the word Shrimps and that’s what you were dead set on ordering.  Daily tourists from across the world stop in to ask us what in the world are Prawns?  I only know Shrimps, they say!

Simply put – Prawns vs Shrimps is East Coast vs West Coast terminology.  Out here on the West Coast, the fishing industry, had to differentiate between the small salad size Shrimp Meat and the Prawns. We chose to refer to any larger size Shrimps as Prawns.  Are you confused yet?  Don’t be.  On the East Coast everything is called Shrimps since the salad size is not produced out there.  Our grandfather, Tom Lazio, was the one of the first in the fishing industry on the West Coast to introduce single drag nets to harvest bay Shrimp Meat from the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest.

Shrimp Meat sizes are 350/500, 250/350, 150/250. Prawns sizes ranges from 41/50 to 6/8 pieces to the pound.   We tend to use the Shrimp Meat for cocktails, salads, and sauces. The prawns are used in main entrees.

Technically, another way to understand prawns vs shrimps is to find out where they were harvested.   Do they come from the deep ocean or off the coast of Oregon and Washington?  Often the Shrimp Meat is described as sweet tasting, delicate, and firm texture.   Bay Shrimp come fully cleaned and cooked.  Although, some Prawns are cooked most need to be cooked.  We carry headless frozen Prawns in different sizes harvested in the USA and out of the country.  The Shrimp Meat is solely harvested in the USA.  When you come in or call us we will ask if you are looking for the Bay Shrimp, the pink Shrimp Meat from the Pacific Northwest Coast or the larger size Prawns.

I love to add a Shrimp Meat salad to our Sunday family dinners.  There will always be leftovers of the salad for a week day lunch.  The Prawns I usually marinate in our Uncle Sal’s Marinade of Apple Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, chopped Red Onion, Italian Herbs, chopped Garlic, Salt and Pepper.   Or one of my sons love Prawns in a Marinara Sauce,   Lately, since being on Pinterest I’m trying different recipes for the Prawns vs Shrimps.   I pin the ones I like to make for my family and friends.  Now that I’ve just finished thinking about Prawns vs Shrimps it’s time for me to get to the kitchen and whip up some . . .Prawns vs Shrimps!