Sea fish and other edible inhabitants of the ocean depths have always been considered delicacies, which were put on the table as a luxurious treat for dear guests. They were sent as a gift by the rulers of the coastal countries to their friendly neighbors far from the sea. They are also advised by nutritionists instead of meat to those who wish to keep their figure and health in excellent condition until old age. And it's good if you were born and raised on the coast, but if not? It's okay, nowadays you can find seafood, at least the same shrimp, in any city store. So it will not be difficult for an ordinary housewife to buy and cook them on holiday dinner for your family or expecting guests. You just need to know how to properly clean fresh or frozen, raw or boiled shrimp. Recommendations in this regard are provided by this article.
How to properly and quickly peel shrimp, chef's advice
To find out how to clean shrimp of any kind and variety correctly and easily, it is best to ask a professional about it. And today, this issue for lovely ladies is covered by a connoisseur of culinary arts in Italy, China and India, a high-class chef of one of the leading restaurants in the world, Francois Lurie. Here's how, according to the master, you should clean fresh raw royal or Tiger chrimp, as well as shrimp of any other variety:
"Take the shrimp by the abdomen in your left hand, sharp scissors in your right hand, and cut the shell along the back. Then, moving from head to tail, carefully remove all the chitinous plates one by one. After that, carefully push the carcass from the side of the back and remove the intestinal vein, cutting it off on both sides with scissors. Many housewives are in a hurry to remove the head, but Francois does not advise doing this. Firstly, the shrimp looks more interesting with the head. And secondly, it is in the head that it accumulates all the most delicious and aromatic substances, which, when cooked, significantly enrich the broth and give it a unique taste. It is important to remember this when preparing first courses and sauces. Well, of course, you should not ignore the legs. They must be carefully removed from the abdomen and set aside. After all, they may contain caviar - a real and exquisite delicacy!"
As you can see, cleaning shrimp according to the Francois Lurie method is completely simple and accessible to any, even a beginner, housewife.
How to clean frozen raw or boiled shrimp?
The method described above is universal. Using it, you can also clean frozen raw shrimp, having previously thawed them under running water, and ready-made boiled foods. However, some housewives prefer to cut the shrimp not along the back, but along the abdomen. Actually, it doesn't really matter. You can act according to the method of Francois Lurie, and according to the method of ordinary housewives. The main thing that final result pleased those who sit at the table and the cook herself.
And one more small, but very significant moment, in order for the planned dish to turn out really tasty and appetizing, you need to skillfully choose its main ingredient, that is, shrimp. Of course, it is best to acquire them alive from a special aquarium, but this is not always and not always possible. The second option is frozen and packaged shrimp. When buying them, it is important to carefully study appearance product. Properly processed shrimp should be whole and not stuck together. The legs and tails are pressed to the body, and the head is green or brown. 
There should be enough ice on each individual carcass so that it seems enclosed in the thinnest glaze, and the presence of snow and ice fragments in the package is generally unacceptable.
And finally, one more piece of advice. After you clean raw shrimp, take your time to throw away chitinous shells. From them you can cook an excellent broth for a light soup or an exotic sauce. Put them in a saucepan. Pour in water so that it only slightly covers them, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat, strain its contents, discard the shells, and use the decoction for its intended purpose. Enjoy your meal!
Shrimp have ceased to be a curiosity for a long time. Today you can find them in almost every supermarket. The cost of shrimp is also quite acceptable, so anyone can buy them. The only burning question associated with eating shrimp is how to clean raw shrimp, as well as how to properly clean an already cooked product?
How to choose?
There are about 2000 varieties of shrimp in the world. Don't worry, memorizing these species and their names is optional. It will be enough to understand that there are warm-blooded shrimp that live in the warm sea, and cold-blooded shrimp, which in turn prefer to live in cold seas. The largest varieties, which include tiger and king prawns, are warm-blooded. Such seafood comes from Asia, Thailand, Indonesia and China.
Smaller product is brought from Norway, Denmark and Estonia. By the way, the price will also depend on the size of the shrimp, that is, the larger the seafood, the more expensive it is. In European countries, seafood is subject to special sanitary control The same cannot be said for Asia.
Important! Small individuals are much more useful than large ones.
By the way, for some reason, most shrimp lovers believe that it is much more profitable to buy an already peeled product. That's just not the case. If you know how to properly clean unpeeled shrimp, there will be less waste. At the same time, self-peeled and cooked shrimp will turn out to be much healthier, and even tastier.
When choosing this product, you should pay attention to several nuances.
- Information provided by the manufacturer. It must contain complete information about the contact details and phone numbers of the manufacturer.
- To help you navigate the size of the product will help such a parameter as caliber. For example, if 1 kg is indicated on the package - 120/150, therefore, in one kilogram of seafood there are only 120-150 pieces. When a product is offered for purchase without a head, the manufacturer usually indicates the caliber at 450 g of weight.
- A shrimp with a tucked tail, even and smooth color is considered an ideal product. An old product can be recognized by a dry shell, dark spots and dots located on the paws. The staleness of the product also gives away the yellowish color of the meat. If you see a shrimp with an uncurled tail, most likely it was already frozen dead.
- There should be no snow or ice inside the bag itself. If there is still ice or snow in the package with shrimp, this only says one thing - the seafood has been repeatedly frozen.
You also need to pay attention to the shade of the head. Brown-headed shrimp are the healthiest because they are pregnant. Gray heads are also not bad - these are ordinary individuals. Green heads indicate that the shrimp ate only one kind of plankton. It is strictly forbidden to buy and even more so to eat black-headed shrimp, since such individuals were prone to some serious diseases.
Important! The best choice would be small frozen gray-brown shrimp with bent tails.
Cleaning methods
A purchased delicacy can be purified in several ways. Whichever variety you choose, you need a knife to clean the seafood, and you should also prepare scissors, a bowl for peeled shrimp and for cleaning
Step by step guide for the manual method
Peeling shrimp by hand is considered the classic way. It is worth adhering to the algorithm described below.
- Before cleaning, seafood must be boiled and then cooled. Now you can remove the heads, legs, which are collected in a bundle, and then gently and evenly pulled out. You don't need to delete parts.
- Next, proceed to the separation of meat from the shell. You need to do this towards the tail, starting from the head. By the way, it is not necessary to remove the tails, you can leave them. For example, if rolls are being prepared, this is considered the most popular decoration. In this way, you can decorate other dishes, because it looks very original.
- In cleaning shrimp, the most difficult task is to remove the intestinal vein. When it bursts, an unpleasant aroma and bitterness appears. You need to pull out the intestinal vein slowly with your fingers in order to remove it whole, and not in parts. If you do everything carefully, do not rush, the result will be juicy pulp.
- The legs and heads of the shrimp are cut off, an incision is made on the top of the back, right in the middle, moving slowly down, you need to continue to cut the shell to the end. Both parts of the shell are removed from the tails, along with which the hard peritoneum should be removed. When the intestinal vein cannot be seen, a small incision is made on the back. The vein can be located at a depth of 0.5 cm
Important! In large individuals, there are two such intestinal wreaths - on the back and on the peritoneum.
Starting from the lowest segment, the shell is separated. Here it is desirable to turn the shrimp, but very carefully to remove the whole thing. At the very end, the tail is removed, it must be torn off in the same way as the head. We must not forget about the intestines with the ventricle. The wreath is hooked with a knife and carefully pulled out. For easier removal from a small specimen, an incision can be made along the entire back without damaging it. Such skill can be mastered after several independent cleanings. Then there will be no more problems.
For information on how to properly clean shrimp, see the video below.
Shrimps are one of the most common and loved by all seafood. They are used to prepare various Chinese and mediterranean cuisine Or just eat it boiled. At the same time, many are interested in the question of how to clean shrimp so that this activity brings a minimum of discomfort and takes a little time. The answer to it largely depends on the form in which the shrimp came to you, and what they will be used for in the future. For example, if they were purchased boiled-frozen, then before cleaning the shrimp, they must be brought to room temperature, defrosting gradually in the refrigerator, using hot water, microwave or simply cook in boiling water with spices for 1-2 minutes. The last option will be the most successful for serving simply with beer as an appetizer. In this way, small shrimp are usually used, and each one cleans them for himself, tearing off his head with his fingers and carefully removing the shell. At the same time, it is advisable to serve small bowls with flavored water with them. lemon juice or with slices of this. Dipping your hands into it, you can get rid of the remnants of chitin, juice, as well as the smell inherent in all seafood.
How to peel king prawns?
These larger arthropods are typically used for cooking various dishes, snacks or soups. For convenient use of shrimp, their tails are usually not torn off. Before cleaning the shrimp, they can be boiled (in some cases, the procedure is also done with raw ones). First, they tear off (cut off) the head, then carefully remove the shell and remove the legs. Next, you need to take a knife with a sharp end and make an incision along the entire back to remove the digestive tract from there. When it comes to smaller individuals, it can not be removed, since the procedure will be tedious and almost unnecessary (it is too small to be felt when consumed). As for the major king prawns, this must be done without fail, since the sand and the remains of plankton, which these animals feed on, can pretty much ruin your appetite.
How to clean shrimp for salads and main courses?
If a given ingredient used as one of the components for soup, the presence of a shell and even a head is allowed. Of course, eating such a dish may not be very convenient, but it will look attractive. If the chef cares about the comfort of connoisseurs of his skill, it would be better to remove everything unnecessary. For salads, shrimp are cleaned completely, leaving nothing extra. Unless a few pieces can be used entirely as decoration.
Sometimes these seafood are sold already peeled. Then they are completely ready to eat or use in soups, salads, etc. However, being long time without a shell, shrimp meat significantly loses taste qualities. For this reason, it is recommended to purchase them uncleaned. Of course, you will have to tinker a little (before cleaning the shrimp, you should be patient, especially if they are small), but the result will be much better than when using a semi-finished product.
You don't like shrimp? Yes, you just do not know how to cook them! In practice, by the way, it turns out that many people love shrimp by themselves and will not refuse to eat them, but the process of cleaning them discourages all hunting. And okay, if we are talking about friendly or family gatherings with shrimp and beer, in such cases you can take your time and somehow, let them slowly clean one after another. It is not for nothing that shrimp are compared with seeds - until you clean it, until you put it in your mouth, until you eat it - a whole process and ritual. But what if you need to clean shrimp for salad? And time is running out? What to do then? It’s not worth giving up the idea, all the more quickly you can clean the shrimp in the New Year’s emergency, when every minute counts.
Basic rules for cleaning shrimp
To begin with, you need to know that they are cleaning a shrimp that is already ready for use, and no (mostly) manipulations are made with the peeled ones. That is if you want to boil shrimp, fry or do something else with them - do it while they are in the shell. Peeled shrimp can be seasoned with oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, lemon, they can be marinated, added to soufflé, chopped. But frying and boiling is not recommended, as in this case their meat will become very dry and tough.
And by the way, most shrimp that are sold today in supermarkets and fish stores are already boiled. They went through this stage before freezing. That is, you no longer need to cook the shrimp for a long time, it will only harm it. Simply defrost them and, if desired, pour boiling water for a few minutes. If you are completely restless, then boil the sea reptiles with salt for 5-7 minutes, but no more, otherwise you will get dry boiled protein. Only large marine arthropods are supplied raw, and it is better to check their condition by reading the information on the price tag.
Also decide for what purposes you need shrimp. For salads, appetizers and many other dishes, the shrimp is cleaned entirely of the shell. But in some cases, when dishes are decorated with shrimp or they are served in such a way that they are not mixed with other products, the tips of the tail and head are left to the shrimp. The head remains for beauty, and the antennae on it and the tail itself are an indicator of the quality of the shrimp. An old, severely frozen shrimp will have the antennae and tail broken off, while a fresh, unfrozen shrimp will have long, elastic, and very thin antennae at the ends. So if you have a goal to emphasize the quality of the seafood served, do not clean it completely. The removed shell makes it possible to remove the head with one movement, take the shrimp by the tail and eat it with appetite.
To remove the shell and still leave the head and tail in place, you need to take an undigested dense shrimp by the head, pick up a scale at the base of a long shell and lift it up. The shell should open from below. If that doesn't work, then go the other way. Open the shell from below, between the legs. Just take the shrimp with both hands, with the back facing away from you. With two thumbs, gently press the shell to the sides, first picking up the middle with your fingernail, and then carefully remove it. If paws remain, remove them. Often, when cleaning shrimp, you can find caviar. If you have to clean a lot of shrimp, then you can collect it, and then use it to decorate dishes, such as rolls or sushi.
To clean a shrimp completely, and from the shell, and from the head, and from the tail, it’s enough just to tear off her head, as if breaking the shrimp in half, and then pick up the shell and unfold it like a candy wrapper. Sometimes it is enough to pull the meat inside and it comes out of the shell like a shell.
Unfortunately for many seafood lovers, eating these crustaceans as a whole will not work. Therefore, in order to quickly reach tender meat, it is important to be able to clean shrimp correctly. Then you will not come across bitter pieces, and your guests and household members will not have to spit when eating seafood risotto or paella.
Of course, you can buy already peeled, boiled and only after that frozen marine inhabitants. They just need to be warmed up and can be eaten with various sauces. But connoisseurs say that they lose much in taste to both fresh and even frozen brothers in shells. So knowing how to peel shrimp will not be superfluous.
This can be done both before cooking dishes from them, and after heat treatment. Although the same experts assure that it is right to clean boiled shrimp and not raw. In their opinion, the shell prevents the juice from flowing into the liquid during cooking. As a result, cooked shrimp become juicier. If they are small, do just that.
Method 1
On our page there is a video on how to peel shrimp, which also talks about the benefits of these seafood.
Method 2
If you plan to cook them with other ingredients, it is better to remove the chitinous cover from them in advance. This is not difficult to do, although the technology will be slightly different.
That's all, you don't need to do anything else, you can proceed to further cooking. So it will be convenient to clean and cook large-sized shrimp - tiger, royal. They are very good at fried or stewed in various sauces. Yes, and just boiled, with cheese, lemon and white wine, they will go just fine. The main thing is that you can enjoy the taste, and not go through the shells in your mouth.
