How to peel boiled shrimp. How to clean king prawns

Inhabitants of the deep sea have always been considered delicacies that are served on the table as a luxurious treat for guests.

Nutritionists recommend seafood products instead of meat for those who want to maintain their figure.

Shrimp is certainly considered one of the most popular and consumed shellfish.

There are many varieties on the market, they usually differ in size and color. How to properly clean shrimp? After all, for each dish you only need cleaned meat. Let's figure it out.

How to properly peel raw shrimp

Cleaning raw or cooked shrimp involves several steps. simple steps. Whatever type of shrimp you buy, cleaning them will not be difficult.

So, let's start in order:

1. Rinse the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a colander and wash them thoroughly cold water.

2. Inspect the shrimp and discard any that are slimy, dull or smell bad.

3. Cleaning raw shrimp should begin by tearing off the head (if there is one). To do this, squeeze your head between your index finger and thumb, only where the body already begins. Hold your body firmly on the other side. Start twisting your head clockwise until the head comes off.

4. Next, remove the shell, starting at the wide end and working towards the tail. The legs will come off with the shell. The tip of the tail can be left for a more presentable look. But if you still need to remove the tail, just press on it and squeeze it out of the meat.

5. Afterwards, the shrimp must be cut and the intestinal tract (dark vein along the body) removed. By using sharp knife or scissors, make a cut in the center of the outer curve, about a third with the body. This is how you can remove the intestinal tract of a shrimp. The easiest way to do this is with a toothpick. Cutting them creates a more attractive appearance as they curl slightly and come off when cooked.

Thanks to this, the shrimp dish should not be bitter. Next, you need to rinse the shrimp in cold water and dry on a paper towel. The shrimp is ready for cooking.

How to properly peel frozen shrimp

We've discussed how to properly clean shrimp. But some may wonder if there are any special features for cleaning frozen shrimp. Let's figure it out, because some features still exist.

Before you start cleaning frozen shrimp, the first thing you need to do is rinse them thoroughly under cool water. Then dry it a little on a napkin or towel. Place the dried but still frozen shrimp in a deep bowl and cover with coarse salt. We wait a couple of minutes and get started. Since in most cases, frozen shrimp are sold without the head, we will skip this step.

Rules for cleaning frozen shrimp:

1. Rinse the product under cold water until they completely melt.

2. Carefully, so as not to tear it off with the meat, we begin to remove the shell. To do this, you need to cut the shell and remove the plates. If the shrimp is large, do this carefully and slowly, as there is a high probability of tearing off the meat.

3. We remove the intestines in a way already known to us, but this must be done slowly (in thawed shrimp, the intestinal tract can easily rupture).

After all the procedures, wash the shrimp again under running water and dry with a towel. There is no need to wrinkle them when drying, just gently blot them with a dry towel or napkin.

How to properly clean shrimp? This question worries everyone who has encountered a similar product for the first time. Here we have it figured out. But how to choose the right shrimp is a very important question. After all, the taste and aroma of the prepared dish will depend on the quality.

Of course, it is best to buy them alive from a special aquarium, but this is not always and not always possible. The second option is frozen shrimp. When purchasing them, it is important to carefully consider the appearance of each individually. Properly processed shrimp should not be stuck together. The legs and tails are pressed to the body, and the head should be green or brown. There should be a minimum amount of ice on each carcass so that it appears as if the shrimp is enclosed in the thinnest coating. The presence of snow and pieces of ice in the bag is generally unacceptable.

How to use removed shrimp shells

And finally, one more piece of advice. After peeling raw shrimp, do not rush to throw away the shells. You can cook from them wonderful soup or exotic sauce. Place them in a saucepan. Pour in enough water to just cover the shells, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Afterwards, you need to remove the pan from the heat, strain the contents and start preparing the soup using broth from shrimp shells.

Seafood lovers often debate how to clean shrimp and when is the best time to do it. Some argue that it is correct to first boil the products, and then begin processing them. It’s hard to disagree with this, because with this approach the meat will turn out to be as juicy and tender as possible. On the other hand, some recipes call for raw but refined ingredients. It is best to familiarize yourself with all possible approaches and nuances, then you will definitely not have problems with how to peel shrimp in one case or another.

How to properly peel fresh shrimp?

Not very appetizing-looking elements of a gray-green dirty color, with antennae and in a shell, fresh shrimp need careful processing. You should inspect the product to make sure that there are no questionable light spots, damage, or mucus on the shells. Despite the fact that such products are transported and stored on ice, they should not have even the thinnest ice crust on them.

The easiest way to clean them is this:

• We cut the shell with sharp thin scissors along the back and carefully remove it. Then we remove the chitinous plates, moving from the head of the shrimp to its tail.

Tip: Chilled shrimp are not found in our stores very often. If you are lucky enough to find such a product, before purchasing you should pay attention to the method of storing it. If the elements are laid out on crushed ice, which gradually melts, you can safely buy them. But the product laid out on dry ice was most likely frozen a few hours ago.

• Next, you should remove the intestinal vein, which looks like a brown thread. To do this correctly, you need to push the edges of the carcass on the back of the element. After which we remove the legs; they are not eaten.
• Some cooks finish by removing the head of the shrimp, but this is not recommended. Firstly, the aesthetic characteristics of the dish suffer from this approach. Secondly, this part of the carcass contains many nutritional components and useful substances. During heat treatment, they pass into the meat, saturating it.

After the products have been cleaned, they should be washed and immediately processed. Such elements cannot even be stored in the refrigerator. If it is not possible to immediately put the blanks into use, they will have to be frozen.

Rules for cleaning frozen shrimp

Of course, ideally, frozen shrimp should be boiled first and only then peeled. If the recipe requires a raw and purified component, you need to do the following:

• Large elements. First you need to defrost them properly. You should not place a bowl of food in the refrigerator or on the table, as this may lead to damage to the elements. It’s easier, faster and safer to rinse them under running water (cold or lukewarm). We make an incision on the abdomen or back with scissors, open it, and remove the intestinal vein. Usually seafood is frozen without the shell; if this rule has been violated, you will have to spend a little time removing it. Now we thoroughly wash the workpieces under running water, dry them with paper towels and use them for their intended purpose.

• It is better to clean small frozen shrimp in the same way as an already boiled product. Otherwise, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on manipulation. Besides, finished product will be severely damaged and will lose its appetizing appearance.

Frozen shrimp prepared from fresh product should be covered with a thin crust of ice. It’s good if they are not stuck together, otherwise there is a possibility of re-freezing or violation of the rules for processing the component. Boiled elements have an attractive pink color, which must be uniform. Any spots, stains and dark areas are an indicator of the low quality of the semi-finished product.

Many people are familiar with how to properly clean a finished boiled product. You just need to turn the product belly up, first of all remove the legs along with the caviar that may be on this part. Now we tear off the head and remove the thin shell. Thus, we only have a piece left in our hands juicy meat, attached to the ponytail. It can be separated or used together (for example, in seafood cocktails).

Gourmets from all over the world highly value dishes based on shrimp - a seafood rich in protein, calcium and fatty acids. Today, these tasty crustaceans are sold not only in coastal areas, but also in any city, and all year round. But if you run into a stale product, and also without knowing how to peel shrimp, you can not only ruin the delicacy, but also get seriously poisoned.

Cleaning fresh shrimp

It is not always possible to find fresh shrimp - a typical gray-green color, with a shell and antennae - in Russian stores. Usually freezers supermarkets are littered with pre-cleaned (cooked, frozen) semi-finished products. Nevertheless, some people prefer not to deal with products that have been frozen and hidden in packaging, where, on top of everything else, an unscrupulous manufacturer puts a fair amount of ice.

Of course, shrimp are tasty on their own, but they are often used as an ingredient in some dish, so it is important to know how to properly clean raw seafood in order to preserve it beneficial features and a unique aroma.

Procedure for peeling raw shrimp:

1. The first thing to do is put fresh produce in a colander and then rinse with cold water.
2. Then sort through thoroughly. Having discovered suspicious individuals (with mucus appearing on the shell, tarnished surface and unpleasant smell), send them to the trash bin.
3. Raw shrimp begin to be peeled by tearing off the head. Squeezing it with two fingers at the base of the body and holding the specimen on the other side, separate the head from the body.
4. Now you need to remove the shell. Remove it, moving from the wide part to the tail. At the same time as the shell, the paws are also separated. It is not at all necessary to tear off the tip of the tail, but if necessary, it can be removed by lightly pressing and squeezing it out.
5. Next, cut the shrimp and remove the intestines. It is a dark thread running along the body. You will need a well-sharpened knife or kitchen scissors. The outer bend is cut. The intestines are removed using a toothpick.
6. Cleaned crustaceans are washed with cold water and dried with paper towels.

Frozen product processing

Not only do you need to avoid making mistakes in choosing valuable seafood, you also need to know how to peel shrimp. Frozen and unpeeled crustaceans are usually light pink in color. Subject to storage conditions, the integrity of the seafood product should not be compromised. If the shrimp have white spots on the shell, are covered with a thick layer of ice and are difficult to separate, then you should think about their quality. It is quite possible that such products were subjected to repeated freezing. It’s clearly not worth buying, much less cleaning, such shrimp.

Of course, many housewives will say that it is better to boil frozen seafood first and only then clean it. However, when implementing a specific culinary idea, sometimes you cannot do without a raw and refined component.

To figure out how to peel frozen shrimp, you need to read the following instructions:

1. Large elements. It’s not hard to guess that the first thing you need to do is defrost them. It is better not to leave frozen seafood in the refrigerator or place it on the table, as this may result in spoilage of the product. It is much easier and faster to rinse the shrimp under running warm water. By cutting the abdomen or back, the intestine is removed from the body of the individual. It is customary to freeze seafood without the shell, but when these conditions are not met, you will have to tinker a little with removing it. The workpieces are thoroughly washed with water and dried with napkins.
2. Small elements. According to experienced chefs, it is better to clean small crustaceans following the same procedure as in the case of a boiled product, otherwise the whole process will take a very long time. In addition, when cleaning it is easy to damage the product, which will lead to the loss of its appetizing appearance.

Cleaning boiled seafood

Those who like to pamper themselves delicious delicacies seafood, you've probably thought more than once about how to clean king prawns so that they reveal their maximum taste qualities V ready dish. Experts believe that boiled crustaceans retain nutrients better in their shells, and their meat remains juicier and more flavorful. It is unlikely that anyone will argue with the fact that cooked product is much easier to clean.

Principles for cleaning boiled shrimp:

1. If the cleansing of raw seafood starts from the back, then the boiled seafood is cleaned starting from the belly. The individual is taken by the head and placed belly up.
2. First, cut the shell using sharp scissors and being careful not to damage the meat. An incision is made, moving from the head to the tail, and the plates are carefully removed. It is important not to confuse them with the fleshy part, since they have the same color.
3. When working with boiled seafood, you need to prepare a bowl with warm water. This measure will allow you to immediately wash off the legs, scales, intestinal veins and other interfering elements that stick to your fingers.
4. They begin to remove the intestinal vein. If you are careful, it will not tear or fall apart. Since the intestinal thread in miniature crustaceans is very fragile, it is better to cut it out. From large ones they simply pull it out.
5. The head, if the recipe allows, can be left, because it contains great amount valuable substances that, during cooking, make meat more nutritious and tender.

Clean the shrimp before heat treatment or after it, depends on the preference of the cook or on what kind of dish is planned. By following basic rules, you can cope with cleaning seafood even a novice cook.

Attention, TODAY only!

Shrimp is a seafood product that is distinguished not only by its special unique taste, but also by its benefits, which are primarily manifested due to the high iodine content in the crustaceans. Shrimp can serve as a main dish or complement any other dish. They are used to prepare first courses, salads, casseroles, roasts and much more. When you start preparing a dish using these seafood, it is important to know how to peel shrimp, because if you do something wrong in this process, you can ruin the entire taste of the dish by adding an unusual taste to it.

How to choose

Choosing the right product is an important step on the path to cooking. delicious dish. Most often, already boiled and frozen crustaceans appear on store shelves. This product is faster to prepare, but if possible, preference should be given to chilled seafood. Unfortunately, shrimp in this version can be found in coastal cities; other regions have to be content with frozen products.

When choosing fresh frozen shrimp, it is important to pay attention to the fact that they have a gray-green tint to the shell. The ice crust on crustaceans should be transparent and uniform; excessive ice indicates improper temperature conditions storage and possible defrosting. The smell of the seafood should be pleasant; it is also important to pay attention to the heads of the crustaceans; if they are black, then such shrimps should not be taken. It is not recommended to choose crustaceans that are not rolled into a ring, as this indicates that the product that was frozen is no longer fresh.

Advice! When choosing shrimp, you should not be afraid of individuals with a brown head, this signals that she is pregnant, and accordingly has even greater benefits.

When choosing between simple and large crustaceans, gourmets are advised to prefer small specimens. King prawns are the same type of crustacean, only larger, found in warm waters and are believed to have a less intense flavor.

How to clean

How to properly peel shrimp that have not been pre-cooked, but were simply frozen fresh.

1. 1. First of all, you should rinse the crustaceans in running water and free them from ice. They should be washed briefly and carefully so as not to damage the product.

• Then, with sharp scissors, you should cut the shell of the shrimp from the back, very carefully so as not to tear the tender carcass. Then remove the shell plates in the direction from head to tail.

• Be sure to remove the intestinal vein. This is a thin brown thread present in the carcass; to remove it, you need to make an incision along the back. You also need to remove the legs.

• The head of the shrimp is removed if necessary. It contains many useful substances, so it is better not to tear it off, but if there is a fundamental desire to get rid of it, then you can remove it.

This is usually how seafood is prepared before frying, because this method of cooking requires cleaning the product. It is recommended to cook shrimp without removing the shell, and to peel them after cooking.

If you need to clean boiled frozen seafood, then the process is no different; you still need to rinse the product, cut the shell and remove it, removing the intestinal thread. The difference between these two types of product is only in the duration of preparation; pre-processed shrimp practically do not require cooking.

Cleaning boiled

Most gourmets advise peeling shrimp only after cooking. Why? Boiled crustaceans in the shell retain more benefits and vitamins, and their meat is then more juicy and aromatic. It’s also much easier to clean them boiled. The main thing is not to overcook the product, otherwise the meat will turn out tough and rubbery.

If you start cleaning raw seafood from the back, then you should start from the belly for boiled seafood. The crustacean is taken by the head and turned belly up. The paws are removed, it is worth paying attention to the fact that they may contain caviar, it is very tasty and healthy. After this, they tear off the head and pull the shell off the shrimp, holding it by the tail. As a result, a piece will be peeled flavorful meat shrimp, with a tail that is very convenient to hold. By the way, some dishes require the presence of this particular tail for ease of eating.

Cleaning seafood before or after cooking depends on the desire of the housewife or on what dishes it is used for. Many novice cooks do not cook with this product because they have no idea how to clean the yoke properly, and once they took up this task, they only ruined the meat. By following the tips given, anyone, even the most inexperienced cook, can handle cleaning.

Shrimp are representatives of crustaceans that live in the seas and oceans. Their meat, tender and sweet in taste, is highly valued by gourmets all over the world. The cooking features of this seafood depend on its size and pre-treatment.

• shallow and deep water;
• gray, pink, striped;
• brindle;
• royal;
• serrated;
• carabineras and many others.

Externally, they differ in size and color. It is believed that the smaller the crustacean and the colder water its habitat, the tastier it is. However, many gourmets are delighted with large royal or tiger shrimp, fleshy and presentable in appearance. On Russian shelves, crustaceans most often presented are caught in the Far East, as well as in the countries of Southeast Asia and Thailand.
Frozen shrimp coated with ice glaze

Regardless of the place of catch and type, most often shrimp are calibrated by size and packaged in packages marked with two numbers: 50/70, 35/40, etc. This indicator indicates the number of individuals per 1 kg, and not their size , as many consumers believe. The smallest specimens may number 90–120 pieces. 1 kg, and the heaviest ones - only 2 pieces.

Depending on the degree of pre-treatment of shrimp (or lack thereof), the following types of shrimp are distinguished:

• alive;
• chilled;
• fresh frozen;
• boiled and frozen.

The most delicious and healthy shrimp, definitely freshly caught. If you do not live in a fishing region, then it is unlikely that you will be able to buy live or fresh chilled shrimp. The fact is that crustaceans spoil very quickly in fresh. The supposedly chilled product in the hypermarket was most likely simply defrosted. If the shrimp are still alive in the store’s aquarium, then they are definitely fresh.
Shrimps - perishable product, so it’s better to buy them live or frozen

The best option for residents of central Russia is frozen crustaceans. They can be frozen immediately after catching or after express cooking. Both options are considered relatively safe.

When choosing shrimp, pay attention to external signs:

• the shell should be colored evenly, without light or dark spots;
• the shrimp's head may be greenish (due to feeding on plankton) - this is not a sign of spoilage;
• It is better to refuse shrimp with black head, they may turn out to be tasteless or spoiled;
• fresh shrimp are usually gray in color, translucent, boiled - pink or orange;
• defrosted or chilled shrimp has a faint fishy smell; if the seafood smells unpleasant, it may be spoiled.

Preparing to cook

It is enough to rinse live and chilled shrimp under running water before cooking. If you have fresh frozen crustaceans, you need to defrost them by placing them in a pan of cold water. Use the microwave, soak in warm water or defrost for a long time room temperature not necessary - this may negatively affect the taste of the product. Boiled and frozen crustaceans can be thawed at room temperature.
After defrosting, the weight of shrimp may decrease significantly.

Some chefs prefer to clean large shrimp before cooking, removing the shell and intestines. If this is not done on preparatory stage, perhaps the cooked product will be bitter. Do not throw away raw legs and shells - you can cook broth from them. Small shrimp are usually cleaned after boiling, and boiled-frozen ones can be sold already peeled.

How to cook properly

Shrimp do not tolerate prolonged heat treatment. If you cook them for too long, they will lose their flavor and the meat will become tough. For this reason, shrimp are cooked in boiling water for several minutes. The duration of cooking directly depends on the size of the crustaceans.
The best seasoning for boiled shrimp is fresh lemon juice.

Shrimp go well with lemon, it gives them juiciness and piquancy. Lemon juice You can add it to the cooking water and/or pour over the juice of already boiled crustaceans.

Live and chilled shrimp

Crayfish that have not been cooked are usually grey, greenish or brownish in color.
Fresh shrimp are grey, brownish or greenish in color

To cook them correctly, proceed as follows:

1. Boil water in a saucepan (take about 2 liters of water for 1 kg of shrimp).
2. Add spices - salt, Bay leaf, pepper, juice of half a lemon to taste.
3. Place shrimp in a saucepan and bring water to a boil.
4. Cook for about 3 minutes (large shrimp - 5-6 minutes).
5. Readiness is determined by appearance- crustaceans become pink or matte.

Fresh frozen

If the shrimp were frozen fresh, after defrosting they will have the same color as live ones. The cooking method is no different from cooking live and chilled crustaceans.

Boiled-frozen

These crustaceans are already ready to eat; you just need to defrost them and keep them in boiling water for a very short time to heat them evenly.
Small boiled and frozen peeled shrimp are called salad shrimp.

Prolonged cooking will make the meat “rubbery” and almost tasteless. Proceed as follows:

1. Place the defrosted shrimp in boiling salted water (spices to taste).
2. Leave for no more than 1–2 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and immediately remove the shrimp from the water with a slotted spoon.

How to peel shrimp

The crustaceans are easy to clean after cooking. This can be done immediately before use (peel one at a time and eat immediately) or in advance (to add to other dishes). The method for cleaning small shrimp is simple:

1. Take the shrimp by the head and turn it belly up.
2. Carefully tear off the legs.
3. Separate the head from the body.
4. Grasp the shell and pull it, easily removing it from the entire surface of the back.

For large shrimp, it is also necessary to remove the intestines, which are located inside the crustacean and look like a dark thread. Clean them as follows:

You can use the same method to peel large shrimp before cooking.

Video: secrets of cutting shrimp

To make the shrimp tasty and tender, it is important to choose a high-quality product, process it correctly and not overcook it in boiling water. Prepared shrimp can be a stand-alone snack or an ingredient in a wide variety of dishes.