Does size really matter?

Maybe size doesn't matter (all the time) right? But when it comes to prawns, we're pretty sure we can all agree size is VERY IMPORTANT!

Whether you want a large, grilled prawn for a gourmet dinner or small, flavourful prawns for your paella or curry, Chapman's Seafood Company has always got the right size to suit your needs! (No pun intended)

When interacting with our consumers we've discovered many folk find shopping for seafood quite overwhelming actually (especially prawns). They're not sure where to look for the size on the box and when they do see the size, they're even more baffled!

Not only does one have to choose a size, but you also have to differentiate between things such as head-on prawns, prawn meat and prawn tails. Some seafood suppliers even size their prawns as "Prince, King and Queen" prawns. Even just typing all of that was quite overwhelming! We can totally understand why anyone (Unless you're a seafood pro by now) would be lost in this equation! 

This conundrum was our motivation for this particular blog! We're always here to help you be the seafood pro you're meant to be!

Let's start with choosing the right product:

1. Curries and Paellas - Prawn Meats, Prawn Tails and smaller head-on prawns are always best for these dishes. Prawn Tails are a "convenience" option as no cleaning is needed and they are easy peel!

2. Gourmet grilled dishes / braais - Your larger head-on prawns are perfect for these dishes! Even when the product shrinks a little while grilling, it will still be large and presentable to the eye!

 

Now let's move on to how to differentiate between sizes. Prawns are usually sized as follows:

16/20 700g or 800g

21/25 700g or 800g

26/30 700g or 800g

31/40 700g or 800g

41/50 700g or 800g

These sizes are explained quite easily. All it means is that when you buy a box of 16/20 prawns, there will be on average between 16 and 20 prawn per 700g or 800g box. Likewise when you buy 21/25 prawns there will be an average of 21 to 25 prawns per 700g or 800g box purchased. The same applies to the rest of the sizes.

It's not rocket science to see that the less prawns there are per 700g or 800g, the bigger the prawns are in the box!

Lastly, when prawns are named by "royalty titles" they translate as follows:

King = 16/20

Queen = 26/30

Prince = 31/40 

We hope this blog cleared things up for all of you and trust now you'll enjoy your prawn purchases with confidence!

Please see our diagram in title photo of this blog just for a little further clarity! 

 

Until next time,

Your Seafood Specialists