How to separate the gut of an Argentine shrimp. How to Peel Raw, Frozen and Boiled Shrimp

Shrimp - primary processing,
cooking technology

Shrimp- belongs to the order of crustaceans, on tables
Russian consumers appeared relatively recently
and until recently remained a delicacy.

The length of the shrimp, depending on the type, ranges from 2 to 30
centimeters.

Shrimp are either warm-water or cold-water.:

Warm water- are considered the largest. To them
include - King prawns that reach up to 20
centimeters; Tiger prawns grow to
30 centimeters, despite their size, these species
shrimps cannot boast of their taste
qualities compared to cold-water shrimp.

Cold water- the smallest shrimp, but it is considered
more tasty, healthy and nutritious. than warm water
although they are cheaper and small in size.

Primary processing of shrimp:

To enterprises catering shrimps
come in live, raw-frozen, boiled
ice cream, dried or canned.

The method of primary processing will depend on
thermal or culinary use shrimp.

Raw-frozen uncut shrimps -
defrost in a running cold water or in the air
at room temperature. Butchering
defrost shrimp by hand, remove the cephalothorax
at the place of articulation with the neck. To get a clean
Remove the shell from the neck meat.

Watch the video

When manually cutting raw shrimp we get: yield
raw meat 20-40%; cephalothorax 35-45%; shell15-25%.

Shrimp meat is rich in easily digestible protein,
vitamins and minerals such as:
calcium, phosphorus, iron, iodine.

One of the main ways to cook shrimp
is - cooking. You can peel shrimp from their shells as follows:
before cooking and after.

Boiling raw shrimp in shell- per liter of water
take forty grams of salt. For one kilogram of shrimp
take four liters of salted water. We cook no more
five minutes from the moment of boiling.

Boiling raw shrimp without shell- per liter of water
take twenty grams of salt. For one kilogram of shrimp
take three liters of water. Cook for no more than three minutes
boiling point.

Large king or tiger prawns, cook in
salted water until it appears on the abdomen
coagulated protein.

Boiled frozen shrimp cook in salted water
more than two minutes. Shrimp with boiled meat should
float to the surface.

If after cooking the shrimps are lowered for 2-3 minutes in
cold water, the shrimp will be easier to peel.

Shrimp cooking technology

To enhance the taste and aroma of the dish,
We cook the shrimp together with the shell and head. If in
the dish contains peeled shrimp, shells and heads not
throw it away. We fry them in olive oil,
add a little boiling water and cook for another 15 minutes.
We use shrimp broth for soups or sauces.

When cleaning large shrimp, the tails can be left on.
they give an aesthetic, attractive look to the finished product
dish, and can be easily removed during eating.

The black veins that are found on the back of the shrimp can be
remove both before and after cooking shrimp.

Boiled shrimp:

Add salt and a little lemon to a saucepan with water
juice, bay leaf, dill. Bring to a boil and
put the shrimp, put the shrimp in boiling water, you can immediately turn off the heat and keep the shrimp in hot
water for half an hour, during which time the shrimp will reach
ready and saturated with the aroma of spices.

Fried shrimp:

Wash thawed raw shrimp in cold
water, then you need to blot the shrimp with paper
cloth to remove moisture. In a deep frying pan
needs to be melted butter with a little
adding olive oil. Into hot oil
lay out the prepared shrimps, add
black pepper, salt and fry for five to seven minutes, until
purchasing pink shrimp.

Deep fried shrimp- in a deep frying pan
pour vegetable oil to a height of several
centimeters and heat it up. Peeled shrimp with
bread the remaining tails in flour and place in
hot oil, fry the shrimp for three
minutes, place the fried shrimp on paper
towel to remove excess oil.

Grilled shrimp:

A popular method today is
cooking large shrimp on the grill.

Small shrimps after primary processing, marinated in
marinade for one hour.

Marinade: for one kilogram of shrimp we will need:
25 milliliters of olive oil, 20 milliliters of vinegar, preferably wine, 15 grams of garlic, 100 milliliters
tomato sauce, salt, basil, red pepper.

We string the prepared small shrimps onto
wooden skewers and place on the grill. Fry according to
one and a half minutes on each side.

Prepared large shrimp in marinade
let it stand for one and a half to two hours and put it on the grill.
Fry for two minutes on each side.

In the article we looked at primary processing of shrimp,
basic cooking methods. If the article is for you
you liked it or found it useful, leave yours

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 properties 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 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 purified 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 shrimp under running water. 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

Lovers of pampering themselves with delicious seafood delicacies have probably thought more than once about how to clean king prawns so that they maximize their taste in ready dish. Experts believe that cooked crustaceans are better preserved in their shells. useful substances, and their meat remains more juicy and 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 peeling raw seafood starts from the back, then 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. If the recipe allows, you can leave the head, because it contains a huge amount of valuable substances that, during cooking, make the 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!

Before peeling shrimp, experts advise boiling them uncleaned. This will eliminate the possibility of microbes, dust particles and third-party components entering the meat during transportation and packaging (there is no guarantee that everything was done in compliance with all required standards).

Purchase unpeeled shrimp followed by processing them yourself is not only safer, but also tastier! Boiling them unpeeled makes it possible to preserve their flavor and beneficial components.

Before eating shrimp, you just need to remove the shell; this is not a difficult procedure, and many people even like it!

In this article we will tell you how to properly peel shrimp, regardless of whether they are peeled, raw or frozen.

How to peel raw shrimp

Shrimp are of course tasty on their own, but often they are an ingredient in some dish and require preliminary cleaning before cooking and you need to know how to properly clean raw shrimp so that they retain their qualities and naturally unique aroma.

Cleaning crustaceans, raw or boiled, involves several simple steps. Regardless of the type of shrimp, cleaning them is easy.

Let's describe the process step by step.


Video “How to clean raw ones”

How to peel shrimp if they are raw.

How to clean frozen ones

We've looked at how to properly peel raw shrimp. Now we have to look at how to clean frozen ones. There are some nuances here.


How to clean boiled

Many people know how to clean boiled shrimp, but even in such a simple task there are some subtleties and tricks.

You need to clean it in order.


You can clean shrimp using any of the methods we suggest, depending on the form in which you purchased them. Don’t worry if something doesn’t work out right away and you might ruin a few things. With a little practice, everything will start to work out as it should.

How to eat shrimp

After cleaning, the question may arise: how to eat shrimp? It all depends on your preferences. You can simply without any tricks, i.e. in its “pure” form. However, this is too banal for such a valuable and quite expensive product. It is better to cook them in some special way or even make a special dish.

For example, if you are a beer lover, then make an excellent flavorful snack out of shrimp. It is prepared quite simply.

When it turns golden, add shrimp to it.

Fry until done and place on a plate. You can decorate with dill or parsley, you can also sprinkle with lemon juice.

But if you prefer shrimp in pure form, then you can make a kind of assortment, namely, put it on the same dish with other seafood (for example, squid) or crayfish.

Bon appetit!

  • If you purchased boiled frozen shrimp, then in principle they are already ready and can be eaten. However, to achieve a more refined taste, we still recommend boiling them a little.
  • If the shrimp are cooked correctly, the cooked meat should be tender and soft, taste a little sweet, and have a pleasant aroma.
  • To avoid the hassle of peeling shrimp, buy peeled ones.
  • You can peel, that is, remove the shrimp from the shell before or after cooking.
  • It is better to buy large shrimp. Not only do they have more meat, but it’s also a little tastier.

This video shows how to properly peel shrimp if they are frozen.

What else should we know about shrimp varieties? The fact that shrimp are warm-blooded - from warm seas, and cold-blooded - naturally, from cold seas. They say that the latter have a richer taste, but it depends on what you like.

How large is the number of varieties of shrimp, so varied are they used in cooking. They are served as an independent dish, grilled, steamed, fried or boiled, breaded, and also as an ingredient for appetizers, salads, main courses or soups. Shrimp go well not only with vegetables, but also with fruits; they also “love” exotic sauces.

For those who are watching their weight, good news: shrimp is a low-calorie and dietary product. Their protein is somewhat more difficult to digest than fish protein, but it brings a feeling of fullness faster.

How to choose

Only in fishing grounds is there a chance to buy them alive. They most often arrive on our shelves fresh-frozen or boiled-frozen.

  • The freshness of shrimp can be determined by the head - the older the crustacean, the darker its head. In addition, the shrimp itself becomes softer and seems to shrink in its shell. You should not take shrimp with an icy glaze. It is unknown how many times the mollusk was frozen and thawed.
  • Carefully study the packaging, look at the manufacturer: in European countries, shrimp undergo strict quality control, but this cannot always be expected from Asian manufacturers. There are enough complaints about the quality of their products. So let's be more careful.
  • The shrimp's tail must be curved inward. A “straight” mollusk means that it died before freezing.
  • Do you see the shrimp with black heads? Throw them away immediately. These are sick individuals. But those with green heads should not be afraid, they were just eating special kind plankton and are quite edible and tasty.
  • Of course, the best shrimp are frozen brown-gray ones, and unboiled ones are pink ones. They retain much more beneficial properties.

How to cut a shrimp

To peel fresh or defrosted shrimp, press it between a large and index fingers. Light rotational movement Using light pressure, separate the head from the body. Remove the shell, starting from the top and moving towards the tail.

How to eat shrimp

  • It is customary to peel shrimp with your hands, but eat them with a fork. As a rule, when serving, a plate for shells and a cup with warm water and a slice of lemon are placed on the table for rinsing the fingers.
  • Fried shrimp, served headless and with the tail tip unpeeled, are handled by the tail and dipped in the sauce. They bite off the part without the shell, and put the remaining part on a separate plate.
  • Shrimp cocktail is usually eaten with a dessert fork or an oyster fork. The dishes in which this dish is usually served do not involve the use of a knife.
  • If the shrimp are peeled (they are also called cocktail shrimp) and served as an independent dish or found as an ingredient in a dish, then