How to peel fresh and frozen shrimp
Seafood is an invertebrate animal found in the oceans. They are considered delicacies that serve on the table as an independent dish, or as an additional ingredient. One of these products is shrimp, which nutritionists recommend eating instead of animal meat.
Before cooking, you need to learn how to properly clean the shrimp, because they are frozen, raw, boiled.
Fresh shrimp step-by-step plan
For fresh or boiled shrimp, the cleaning process consists of several stages.
- Rinse the shrimp with water, place in a colander and rinse thoroughly with running cold water.
- Inspect and exclude those that have mucus, a dull shade, or an unpleasant odor.
- Cleansing begins with the head (if any), which comes off (on some heads are absent). You will need to hold your head in the place where the torso begins, between the thumb and forefinger. With the other hand, hold the body from the back, and turn the head until it separates from the body.
- We proceed to the removal of the shell. Remove it starting from a wide edge, slowly moving towards the tail. Legs come off together with the shell. For exotic, you can leave a tail. But it is up to you. If you want to get rid of it, just push your fingers.
- The next is the removal of the intestinal tract, which looks like a vessel of dark color and is located along the body. Using a knife or scissors, an incision is made in the central part of the bend and cut into a third of the body. If necessary, you can use toothpicks. Thanks to the cut, during cooking the carcass curls a little and opens, which makes the dish more attractive.
- If the intestinal tract is removed, there will be no bitterness. Peeled seafood is washed with running water and spread on napkins for drying.
How to quickly peel frozen shrimp
How to clean fresh shrimp we have made out. Many people have a question, what to do with frozen ones, how to clean them properly, are there any differences or not?
Frozen shrimp must be washed well in cold water. Dry with a napkin or paper towel. They are also put in a deep container, covered with salt and left for several minutes. Most of the frozen product is sold without a head, so we will skip this step.
Step-by-step cleaning plan:
- Rinse with running water until the ice melts.
- Remove the shell carefully so as not to damage the meat. It is incised and the plates removed. If the shrimp is large (king), remove the plates slowly.
- The intestinal tract is removed in the same way as in fresh ones. The difference is that the frozen inside can be damaged, so do it carefully.
When all points are completed, the shrimp are washed with cold water and dried with napkins. It’s not worth pushing, just get wet slightly.
What to cook with shrimp - 3 popular recipes
Shrimp is used in salads, soups, sauces or served as a separate dish. They are boiled, fried, steamed. I will review the 3 most popular home-made recipes.
Pasta in sauce
For the dish, frozen shrimp is suitable, which should thaw at room temperature. Pay attention to the shade of the shell, it should be bright, and ice - a minimum. It is not recommended to buy bleached goods. This suggests that seafood was frozen and thawed more than once. Any paste is used to your taste. I will consider the stages of preparation for 4 servings.
Ingredients:- 0.4 g of shrimp;
- 300 g of pasta;
- 300 g cream (better than 15% fat content);
- 1 leek;
- 100 g butter;
- 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil;
- salt to taste;
- ground black pepper to taste;
- Parmesan;
- greenery.
- We take a deep container, pour water into it, salt to taste. Add 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil. Cook the pasta for no more than 6-7 minutes, otherwise it will fall apart. Thanks to butter, pasta does not stick together.
- We clean the shrimp, rinse with running water, and dry. Add butter to the pan and melt. Peel and fry in a hot pan for about 2 minutes.
- Finely chop the onion, put in a pan for seafood. Fry for another minute. Then add cream, salt and pepper to taste. Cook the sauce for about 3 minutes.
- We fill the pasta, mix thoroughly, cook for another 1 minute over low heat.
- Put the finished dish on a plate. If desired, garnish with greens and grated Parmesan top.
Shrimp and Cucumber Salad
Cooking a salad takes about 30 minutes. A total of 4 servings.
Ingredients:- 900 g of frozen shrimp;
- 300 g of fresh cucumbers;
- 6 pieces of eggs;
- 2 bunches of fresh dill;
- 8 tablespoons of mayonnaise;
- salt, pepper to taste.
- Frozen shrimps are placed in a container, filled with water, and after boiling, cook for about 1 minute. If you want more flavor, add greens, peppercorns, bay leaves to the water.
- We drain the water, cool and remove the shell, leave for 35 minutes under the lid.
- Cut fresh cucumber into small strips. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes and after cleaning finely chop into cubes. Finely chop the greens.
- We place all the ingredients in one container, mix thoroughly, pour mayonnaise and salt and pepper into the salad to taste.
- Serve on the table in portions. If desired, you can decorate with branches of greenery.
Cheese Prawns
Ingredients:- 400 g of shrimp;
- 2 eggs;
- 100 g of hard cheese;
- 6 tablespoons of flour (preferably corn);
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- half a lemon;
- 6 branches of dill;
- salt, pepper to taste.
- Shrimps will turn out gentle, juicy and tasty, if properly cleaned. To do this, remove the head, shell, tail, intestinal tract. If desired, the tail can not be touched.
- Marinate the shrimp. For the marinade, take the juice of half a lemon, chopped garlic, dill and add black ground pepper and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients.
- Place the seafood evenly in the sauce and leave for 40 minutes.
- While the meat is marinated, prepare a batter and breading for the cheese crust. To do this, beat the eggs with salt until smooth. As a breading, use flour and grated cheese. Dip the meat in turn in a batter, roll in a breading and send to a hot frying pan. Fry on both sides until a golden crust appears. Shrimp immerse in oil until the middle.
- Place on paper towels to remove excess fat. Then put on a dish, add sauce if desired. Seafood combines perfectly with cranberry sauce.
Helpful information
How to choose shrimp
How to effectively cleanse seafood excites many, especially if you come across this for the first time. Do not forget that their choice is also an important point. The quality of the product determines the taste of the finished dish.
Fresh shrimp is recommended. Unfortunately, not everyone has this opportunity. The most popular option in the middle lane is frozen. Inspect the seafood in advance. If they are of high quality, then the carcasses are separate from each other, do not stick together. The legs and tail are pressed to the body, the color of the head is greenish or brown.
Beneficial features
If you plan to eat right and stay healthy, pay attention to the products obtained at sea.
Be sure to include shrimp in your diet, which contains a large amount of pure protein, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamins, phosphorus, sodium, iodine, calcium and much more.
What to do with the shell
After cleaning, the carapace remains, which everyone throws away. But it can be used wisely - to prepare a delicious sauce or soup. Fold the product in a container, fill with water so that it covers the shell. Put the container on fire and cook for 30 minutes after boiling. Strain the contents and make soup based on the broth.