How To Cook Shrimp: Recipes, Subtleties And Life Hacks

Shrimp is a favorite delicacy of many and a very healthy product that should be consumed regularly. They are prepared in different ways, most often boiled.

Shrimp is a favorite delicacy of many and a very healthy product that should be consumed regularly. They are prepared in different ways, most often boiled.

Let's talk about how to choose and cook shrimp correctly so that they turn out juicy, tender and tasty.

 

What kind of shrimp should you take?

If you are not the lucky one who hears the sound of the surf from the window of a house or apartment and sees the ocean, then it is best to buy frozen rather than chilled seafood. Alas, in many supermarkets they resort to an impartial trick: under the guise of chilled shrimp, they slip defrosted ones.

It is best to buy shrimp in shell, as it will be easier to see if they are spoiled. In no case should you buy seafood, which emits a slight smell of ammonia. This indicates that the shrimp no longer have a place in the refrigerator, it's time to throw them away.

 

Cooking crustaceans

You need to defrost shrimp just before you decide to cook them. If you skip this step by throwing frozen seafood into the water, the shrimp will cook unevenly.

To defrost the crustaceans as quickly as possible, just put them in a bowl and send a stream of cold water there. Do not defrost in warm or room water, because after cooking the meat will become bitter.

 

You need to remove the intestines very carefully, with a sharp knife, and preferably with scissors. To do this, the shell is slightly incised along the back, after which a black vein is drawn out. You need to pick up one end of it with a knife, and then manually pull out everything else.

It is best to cook shrimp with the head and in the shell - this way they turn out to be more tender and juicy. By the way, such a move will save seafood from possible salting.

If, nevertheless, you cleaned the crustaceans before throwing them into the water, you do not need to throw away the heads with shells. By boiling them with salt, you get a wonderful taste, and also a very healthy broth for shrimp soup.

How to cook shrimp correctly

The degree of readiness of crustaceans is determined very easily. If the crustaceans are in the water in a straight position, this means that they are raw. In the case when they are twisted into a ring, in the form of the letter O, the product is overcooked. The optimal degree of doneness of the shrimp means that each crustacean is curled up in the form of the letter C.

 

Shrimp Cooking Rules:

water needs to be taken in volume twice as much as seafood; crustaceans are boiled in salted water, for 1 liter you need to take about 1 teaspoon of salt; to spice the meat, you can add a bunch of dill, allspice, cloves, bay leaves or garlic cloves to the water; as soon as the water boils, you need to throw shrimp into it; as soon as the shrimp shells turned pink, and the crustaceans themselves surfaced, you need to turn off the fire and remove the pan from the stove; it is impossible to immediately pull the cooked product out of the water; you need to let the meat cook, then the shrimp will be tender and soft; after holding for several minutes in boiling water, the shrimp should be thrown into a colander, drained and put in a bowl, sprinkled with ice cubes - this will stop cooking.

Medium-sized shrimp take about 2 minutes to cook, king and tiger shrimp take 5-7 minutes.

 

In stores you can see boiled frozen shrimp. To cook these, it will take no more than 2 minutes, since they have already been cooked before. You can not even boil them, but simply pour very hot, freshly boiled water.

Shrimps are a gourmet delicacy, but also a real storehouse of usefulness, so learning how to cook them properly and regularly make them part of the meal is an excellent idea in every sense.