We’ve done an amazing job creating an all-sustainable fish counter (the first in Brooklyn or New York City?). And one of our featured creatures, laughing bird shrimp, made the NY Times food section yesterday. Incredibly flavorful, sweet and succulent little white shrimp from the Caribbean, they are unlike many farmed shrimp and represent the future of aquaculture. Located a few miles inland from the Laughing Bird Key off the coast of Belize, the farm that produces laughing bird shrimp lets them swim in filtered sea water, feeds them a vegetarian diet, doesn’t use additives or sulfites and brings us the shrimp fresh and hand-peeled within 24 hours of harvest. We devein them for you so the shrimp you get at the fish counter are ready to cook.

Laughing bird shrimp can be used in any recipe as a substitute for rock shrimp, can be used to make gambas al ajillo, or can just be sauteed with butter or olive oil, salt and pepper for a few minutes each side. The key to cooking shrimp is to take them off the flame before they’re done and let them finish cooking in the pan.