Popcorn shrimp

{{Short description|Shrimp fritter finger food}}

File:2016-07-07. Red Lobster. (27653546223).jpg

Popcorn shrimp is the name of several small shrimp fritter dishes,{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Shrimp and Prawns|encyclopedia=The Oxford encyclopedia of food and drink in America|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_c7e6/page/488/mode/1up|access-date=2021-08-18|url-access=registration|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=Andrew F.|edition=1|volume=1|page=488|language=en|isbn=0195175514|lccn=2003024873}} so called because they are finger foods eaten like popcorn.

In 1974, the American restaurant chain Red Lobster introduced a menu item called "popcorn shrimp",{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/9-things-you-didn-t-know-about-red-lobster-0|title=9 Things You Didn't Know About Red Lobster|date=2015-07-01|access-date=2021-08-18|website=The Daily Meal|last=Myers|first=Dan|at=It’s Where Popcorn Shrimp Was Invented|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.redlobster.com/our-story/our-heritage|title=The story of Red Lobster|access-date=2021-08-18|website=Red Lobster|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811235158/https://www.redlobster.com/our-story/our-heritage|archive-date=2021-08-11|url-status=live|at=1974|language=en}} a fritter of small shrimp meat, which they still offer {{As of|2021|lc=y}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.redlobster.com/menu/kids/popcorn-shrimp|title=Popcorn Shrimp|access-date=2021-08-18|website=Red Lobster|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128085352/https://www.redlobster.com/menu/kids/popcorn-shrimp|archive-date=2021-01-28|url-status=live}}

Other restaurants were also serving menu items named "popcorn shrimp" as early as 1975.{{Cite journal|title=(advertisement) PIER 5|journal=Technician|url=https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/technician-v55n53-1975-02-05#?c=&m=&s=&cv=2&xywh=-265%2C3332%2C3250%2C3936|date=1975-02-05|volume=55|via=North Carolina State University|publisher=NC State Student Media|issue=53[50]|page=3|quote=Popcorn Shrimp $1.99}}

In 1986, General Mills, the owner of Red Lobster at the time, applied to register the trademark "popcorn shrimp" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, stating they had been using it since 1977. It took two years to be granted, but then General Mills cancelled it the following year.{{Cite web|url=https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73600012&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch|title=US Registration Number: 1480922 POPCORN SHRIMP|access-date=2021-08-18|website=USPTO}}

Some sources suggest that popcorn shrimp originated as a Louisiana cuisine, and chef Paul Prudhomme made it famous.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/popcorn-shrimp-20121104-28rpt.html|title=Popcorn shrimp|date=2012-11-06|access-date=2021-08-18|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|last=Dupleix|first=Jill|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818175124/https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/popcorn-shrimp-20121104-28rpt.html|archive-date=2021-08-18|url-status=live}} However, at least for the name, what Prudhomme invented was Cajun popcorn, which he put on the menu of the restaurant he worked, sometime later than 1975.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/food--cooking/paul-prudhomme-famed-cajun-chef-dies/sxWghVa0a5iccUDT8cJn9L/|title=Paul Prudhomme, famed Cajun chef, dies at 75|date=2015-10-13|access-date=2021-08-18|website=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|last=Grimes|first=William|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818180342/https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/food--cooking/paul-prudhomme-famed-cajun-chef-dies/sxWghVa0a5iccUDT8cJn9L/|archive-date=2021-08-18|url-status=live}} Prudhomme published a recipe of Cajun popcorn in his cookbook in 1984. It is fritter of crayfish, made by dipping peeled crayfish tails in a batter of eggs, milk, corn flour, wheat flour, and spices, then deep-fryed, and served with sherry wine sauce.{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Cajun popcorn with sherry wine sauce|encyclopedia=Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen|last=Prudhomme|first=Paul|year=1984|publisher=William Morrow and Company|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/chefpaulprudhomm00prud_2/page/281/mode/1up|access-date=2021-08-16|author-link=Paul Prudhomme|pages=281–283|language=en|isbn=0-688-02847-0}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/04/17/Louisiana-chefs-Cajun-popcorn-is-really-batter-fried-crawfish/5179451026000/|title=Louisiana chef's Cajun 'popcorn' is really batter-fried crawfish|date=1984-04-17|access-date=2021-08-18|website=UPI}}

• A copy of the recipe in Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen but fraction numbers were lost in OCR, so some measurements are blank or wrong.

He added that shrimp can be used as a substitute for crayfish. Eventually, "popcorn shrimp" became associated with Prudhomme. Apart from names, neither Red Lobster's home page nor Prudhomme's book mention the origin of their dishes.

Today {{As of|2021|lc=y}} in the US, the words "popcorn shrimp" has no live trademark registration for foods,{{Cite web|url=https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4809:pvvuqj.1.1|title=Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)|access-date=2021-08-18|website=USPTO}}

• in "Search Term:" enter "popcorn shrimp" and submit query. Examine each results' Live/dead indicator, Disclaimer (whether it covers the words themselves or only graphic designs), Goods and services and over 20 companies sell packaged foods by that name.{{Cite web|url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=popcorn%20shrimp|title=(search) popcorn shrimp|access-date=2021-08-16|website=FoodData Central|publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}}
• Search by string "popcorn shrimp". Click "Branded Foods" tab. As of 2021, 34 results from 21 owners were found.
• Raw data can be obtained at [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/download-datasets.html Download FoodData Central Data]

Variations of popcorn shrimp span from heavily breaded styles,{{Cite web|url=https://food.ndtv.com/recipe-popcorn-shrimp-501362|title=Popcorn Shrimp Recipe|access-date=2021-08-18|website=NDTV}} to light tempura-style.