Black Tiger Shrimp Supplier: Head-On, Headless, Peeled and Cooked

Product overview

Black tiger shrimp is chosen when the shrimp itself is the centerpiece. Its dark, banded shell turns a vivid red and cream when cooked, the meat has a firmer bite and fuller flavor than whiteleg shrimp, and it grows large enough for head-on presentation on grills, platters and banquet tables. It usually costs more than vannamei shrimp at the same count, so buyers tend to use tiger where appearance and texture justify the difference and keep vannamei for volume dishes.

Penaeus monodon is native to the Indo-West Pacific and is the largest of the commonly farmed penaeid shrimps. Most supply now comes from ponds in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, much of it raised in extensive or improved-extensive systems at low stocking densities, including the mangrove-shrimp and rice-shrimp rotations of the Mekong Delta. Thailand moved most of its farms over to vannamei in the early 2000s, so Thai-farmed tiger appears only in smaller volumes. Wild-caught black tiger from Indo-Pacific coastal fisheries is offered separately and labeled as wild. Harvests in tidal pond systems follow the seasons and the tides, so volume and size mix shift through the year, and each offer confirms the origin, farming system and harvest window.

Head-on grades are counted in pieces per kilogram, commonly 4/6, 6/8, 8/12, 13/15, 16/20, 21/25 and 26/30, and the biggest of these overlap with the extra-large sizes covered on our large shrimp and prawns page. Headless shell-on tiger is usually graded per pound, from about U/10 down to 41/50, and the same pound counts carry over to EZ-peel, PD and PDTO cuts and to butterfly and nobashi shrimp. Head-on and headless tiger is often block-frozen in 1.8 kg (4 lb) or 2 kg blocks, with the shrimp laid in neat rows so that heads stay attached and shells stay unmarked, while peeled and cooked lines are IQF-frozen and glazed. Cooked tiger needs tight control of cooking time, because the large pieces are easy to overcook and toughen.

Inspection focuses on what the premium pays for: even shell color and banding across the carton, heads firmly attached in HOSO packs, no black spot at the shell joints or blackened gills, few soft or recently molted shells, and meat that stays firm and sweet after cooking. Shrimp from extensive ponds can vary more in size than intensively farmed vannamei, so a uniformity requirement in the specification earns its place here. Japan, the EU, the Middle East and East Asian restaurant buyers are long-standing outlets, and our frozen shrimp specifications guide describes the deglazing and counting routine that should accompany every arrival.