Pan-frying shrimp is a quick and versatile cooking method that can be used to prepare a range of delicious meals. Enjoy pan-fried shrimp with cheesy grits, tossed in an herbaceous chimichurri, or smothered in a garlic butter sauce.
This step-by-step method for pan-frying shrimp will work with either sidestriped shrimp or spot prawns, which are two different types of wild shrimp species that can be found in Alaska. Sidestriped shrimp is a smaller species than spot prawns, so you can generally expect larger spot prawns to require an extra minute or two of cook time.
Before pan-frying the shrimp, we typically recommend peeling them for ease of enjoyment once they're cooked. We highly recommend reserving the shells to make into a simple shrimp stock. If desired though, you can leave the shells on the shrimp — they may just require an extra minute or two of cook time.