Klein Krebs
Klein Krebs as made for Christmas Dinner 2023
Fried Shrimp
Source: This shrimp recipe was found in Ein New Kochbuch by Marx Rumpolt, a 16th century collection of German recipes
Original Recipe:
Wenn die Krebs klein seind/ so dreh das fo:erder am Schwantz herausz/ nim{m} die Oberschalen davon hinweg/ lasz die Schalen am Schwantz hengen/ pfeffers/ Saltzs vnd Mehls wol/ backs ausz der heiszen Butter/ gibs trucken also warm auff ein Tisch/ bestra:ew es mit einem Jngwer/ so ist es gut vnd wolgeschmack..
Translation: (Translated by M. Grasse as 400 year old shrimp)
If the crawfish are small/ so twist the front away from the tail/ take the shells away/ (but) leave the shell attached at the tail/ pepper/ salt and flour (them) well/ bake (fry) them in the hot butter/ give dry and warm to a table/ sprinkle it with ginger/ so it is good and well tasting.
My Interpretation:
1 lb. raw shrimp
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. salt
½ cup butter
1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
Combine flour, pepper and salt in medium size bowl. Dredge shrimp in flour mixture. Leave shrimp in flour until flour coating shrimp becomes moist (about 20 minutes). Place skillet over medium heat, add butter until butter is melted. Remove excess flour from shrimp and put in hot skillet. Cook until all shrimp meat has turned from gray to pink and the flour coating is a light golden brown. Toss with freshly grated ginger, then serve.
Notes:
The original recipe calls for crabs that look like the zodiac sign for Cancer. Crawfish would be a fresh water "crab" which would have this appearance. Since Shrimp are easily available in most grocery stores, Shrimp was substituted for the crawfish.
The original recipe does not specify if fresh or dried ginger is used. Though it is more likely dried ginger was used, I really like the brightness the fresh ginger imparts to this recipe. I use a microplane to grate the fresh ginger over the shrimp.
References:
Rumpolt, Marx. "Ein new Kochbuch", Transliteration by Thomas Gloning, http://www.uni-giessen.de/gloning/kobu.htm
Rumpolt Marx Ein New Kochbuch [Online] // Ein New Kochbuch / ed. Grasse M.. - 2002. - February 5, 2009. - http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_Rumpolt1.htm. - This is a translation of the book first published in 1581 by Marx Rumpolt. It has nearly 1000 recipes.
"Manuscriptorium." Manuscriptorium. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://www.manuscriptorium.com/index.php>.The Manuscriptorium's mission is to Build a Virtual Research Environment for the Sphere of Historical Resources. A facsimile of Ein New Kochbuch is available in the Digital Library (Document # 95.107)
Please check out the Golden Dragons Tavern video of making this recipe