Shrimp is a very tasty and healthy product. It is quite possible to cook it at home, but for this it is worth following a few simple cooking rules. Ready shrimp meat will delight you with its softness, tenderness and juiciness.
Shrimp is a very tasty product, which in our usual society is considered a delicacy. This is because the cost of shrimp is too high and sometimes exceeds all permitted standards. The higher the quality of the shrimp, the more expensive their cost will be.
It is worth noting that there are two types of shrimp:
Cold-water shrimps are those shrimps that are commonly called "Atlantic" for us. They are not large and they are cheaper in cost. More elite types of shrimp are considered warm water: Tiger and Royal. This shrimp is much larger than the Atlantic shrimp, it has more meat, and its meat is tastier.
Shrimp is a product that definitely needs to be cooked in order to avoid poisoning. In addition, the taste of cooked shrimp meat is aromatic and delicate, while raw meat is practically tasteless, with a fishy flavor.
The best way to cook shrimp is to boil them. But this is not so easy either. The fact is that cooking shrimp requires a certain amount of time.
It should be observed very precisely. If you overcook the shrimp for just a minute, the meat will become rubbery and not tasty. And if you do everything right, then the shrimp will literally "melt in your mouth."
Atlantic shrimp king prawn
Tiger shrimp
Now that you have accurately identified the type of your product, you should start cooking them. It is important to know that you do not need to peel the shrimp before cooking, you risk tearing off the extra pieces of meat.
However, if you have any personal beliefs and aversion to shrimp heads, you can do this painstaking work and chop off each head with a knife. But with the same success, you can do it with the finished product, without harm to the meat.
Cooking shrimp:
Boiled shrimp can be immediately placed on ice to cool and maintain their tenderness. But this is far from fundamental. You can immediately place them on a paper towel to absorb excess water, or on a serving dish.
In most cases, the customer buys frozen shrimp from the store instead of freshly caught. This is the most common way to deliver shrimp anywhere in the world for consumption. But these shrimps have one caveat. As a rule, the product that is frozen is already half-finished.
Probably, some have already paid attention to the fact that fresh shrimp has an unpleasant grayish color, and packed and frozen in a store - an appetizing orange. Semi-cooked shrimp is purposely boiled lightly and frozen for ease of use.
This shrimp should be boiled a little less in time than fresh. It is important to know that it should not be thawed. If you notice that there is too much ice on one shrimp, this is the consequence of several re-freezing and the unfair attitude of sellers to the products.
It is best not to buy such shrimp. Avoid frozen shrimp by weight and purchase one that is sealed.
If there is a lot of ice on the shrimp, you can try breaking it before cooking. Cover the shrimp with a towel and tap it with a rolling pin.
Cooking frozen shrimp:
Cooking frozen shrimp depends only on what size they are. A small shrimp can take thirty seconds, while a tiger one takes a whole minute.
Some gourmets are sure that no cooking for frozen shrimp is worth doing. In principle, this opinion is true. But for hygienic purposes and in order to eat a warm dish, there is one non-tricky way of preparing a dish.
How much to cook frozen shrimp:
In a modern store, you can find three types of shrimp for food:
The difference between peeled and unrefined is that some have a shell, while the other do not. If you see shrimp meat on sale, you should know that this is a ready-to-eat product that only requires defrosting. Shrimps that have a shell have a natural shell and eggs (depending on gender).
Shrimp meat in any form is more expensive than unpeeled shrimp because most of the work has already been done. The existing shell does not affect the taste of the product. While you boil water, fresh shrimp should be boiled in the usual way:
The cooled boiled shrimp in the shell is convenient to eat. You tear off the tail (it is prickly and not edible), as well as the head. Spread the legs of the shrimp and take out the meat. Everything is very simple.
Cooking king prawns:
Sometimes you can find green shrimps on store shelves. This suggests that you are presented with a freshly caught, but immediately frozen product. These shrimps should be cooked in a slightly different way:
Argentine shrimp is distinguished by the fact that it is not grown artificially. Argentine shrimp is one that has grown in its natural environment and is caught in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a common product in modern supermarkets, which is sometimes even several times cheaper.
Cooking Argentine Shrimp:
The Azov shrimp is very small and practically the same as the Atlantic one. It does not require a long cooking time:
Modern kitchen technology allows you to cook shrimp not only in a saucepan, but also in a microwave oven:
You can also cook shrimp in a multicooker. To do this, you should use the "steamer" mode:
How and how long to cook frozen and king prawns: rules and recommendations from the magazine website
A product such as boiled shrimp has excellent taste characteristics and exceptional health benefits. Due to this, they have found wide application in cooking, often being an integral part of spectacular "sea" salads and snacks. They are also often used in many hot dishes. Properly cooked shrimp can become an incredibly tasty independent dish that goes well with alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks: wine, beer, cocktails, juices.
Recipes in which shrimp are the main ingredient usually include spices, herbs and natural additives - lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic. The purpose of these products is only to emphasize and complement the exquisite taste of seafood without interrupting them. In order for the taste of the whole dish to be harmonious and harmonious, you need to know how to cook shrimp.
First you need to decide on the choice of seafood. They can be purchased fresh or frozen. Most supermarkets and other retail outlets today offer shoppers the latter option. Moreover, shrimps are frozen mainly by boiling them beforehand, which is easy to understand by their pink color. Thus, the buyer, in principle, acquires a product that is completely ready for use.
Boiled-frozen shrimps are: peeled (without shell, heads), unpeeled. This significantly affects the cooking method and the required amount of product.
Frozen shrimps that are pink in color, that is, already boiled in production, can be cooked in three ways:
Recipe 1. Simple defrosting without heat treatment. This method is good because it does not require a lot of time and additional ingredients. However, it is not recommended to use a simple defrost for pure shrimp. Shrimp are usually frozen without salt and spices, so they will taste rustic. Thawed seafood without additives is good for further frying or use in salads, where you need to salt the whole dish at the end of cooking. You can defrost boiled frozen shrimp as follows:
Recipe 2. Cooking in salted water with or without spices is a fairly common way to cook shrimp in any form: frozen, raw, regular and royal, peeled or not. Shrimp is prepared like this:
Together with them, you can put chopped dill in the broth - then the ready-made shrimp will be with herbs, or the whole dill, so that only its aroma is felt in the seafood.
Recipe 3. Boiling shrimp in a sauce is ideal for peeled and unpeeled seafood, which is a separate dish. The stewing process in the sauce looks like this:
Plain frozen shrimp is pretty easy to cook. They can not be defrosted beforehand, but simply placed in boiling water, in which they can then be boiled. It should be borne in mind that boiled-frozen shrimps, which are mainly found on store shelves, are boiled only to saturate them with salt and aromas, so the cooking time does not play a big role. Knowing how much to cook shrimp, you need to make them tough. Don't overcook seafood more than you need to.
How long to cook. So, boiled-frozen shrimps are boiled for 3-5 minutes, and fresh-frozen ones - for 8-10 minutes in a boiling broth. The latter are easily distinguished by their gray color.
There is another type of shrimp - king, which differ significantly from their counterparts in size. The very process of cooking this type is not much different from the preparation of ordinary shrimp. The only difference is the cooking time. It is for frozen king prawns - 10 minutes, and for fresh ones - 15 minutes from the moment of boiling. After cooking, these seafood should be cleaned not only of the shell and heads, but also of the black longitudinal streak on the tail. It's pretty easy to do it with a regular knife. It is recommended to serve king prawns with lemon or lime wedges, or simply sprinkle them with citrus juice. Also, these seafood go well with various sauces: garlic, creamy, tomato, which are served separately.
Natural shrimp is an extremely healthy product. They are rich in substances necessary for the harmonious, correct development of the body. Like other seafood, shrimp boasts a high iodine content, which is extremely beneficial for the thyroid gland. A sufficient amount of this element included in the diet will help maintain endocrine health. Shrimp are rich in protein, the building blocks of cells throughout the body.
In order for boiled shrimp to bring only benefits, you should carefully consider the choice of this product, giving preference to proven manufacturing companies, with all documents and quality certificates.
If you bought shrimp and do not know how to cook them, then this post is for you. In it I will tell you how to make them tender and tasty. The most common, simple and healthy way is cooking. But this simple method has its own subtleties. The main thing here is not to overcook the shrimp, otherwise you can get tough rubber meat. In most cases, shrimp are sold in plastic bags, which indicate the method and time of shrimp preparation. But what if you bought them by weight in a large supermarket, choosing the most beautiful ones for yourself? Then we read this article carefully and cook with pleasure!
Properly cooked shrimp should melt in the mouth. More often on sale there are boiled - frozen shrimps (they can be distinguished from fresh frozen ones by their reddish color), it makes no sense to cook them for a long time. Shrimps that have been frozen without being cooked are best washed. You need to take twice as much water for cooking as the shrimp themselves. When cooking, the shrimp are immersed in boiling water. The set of spices for cooking shrimp can be different. Someone prefers to cook them in salted water with lemon juice, someone with peppercorns, and I like to cook shrimp like , with dried dill or fresh sprigs of dill or parsley. For spice lovers, it is advisable to add 4 shrimp to boiling water before loading. cloves, bay leaf, 2-3 peas of black and allspice, if desired, paprika, lemon wedges, several whole cloves of garlic.
Shrimps with boiled meat float to the surface. The smaller the shrimp, the less they cook. I will give an approximate
Boiled - frozen shrimp cook for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on size.
Fresh frozen shrimps are cooked for 7-10 minutes. Again, I'll make a reservation, focus on the size. Small shrimps are cooked for less time. Indeed, in fact, shrimp meat is a protein, it is prepared approximately like the protein of a chicken egg.
This time counts down when the shrimp boil.
Tiger prawns are generally sold fresh frozen, with or without head.
I'll tell you how I boil tiger prawns. Rinse them with running water before cooking.
We put a saucepan with water, twice the volume of the shrimps themselves, on the stove. Question: how much salt should I put when cooking shrimp? The fact is that shrimp can be peeled both before boiling and after boiling. If we cook shrimp in a shell, then we make a 4% salt solution (40 g of salt per 1 liter of water, this is about 2 tablespoons). Boil shrimp without shell in 2% salt solution. This applies to all shrimp, not only tiger and king. Add the seasonings and spices of your choice to the saline solution. When the water boils, load the tiger prawns.
I also add a bunch of parsley (or dill, whatever happens at hand).
We are waiting for our shrimps to boil, we turn down the heat and set the time.
Boiled - cook frozen tiger prawns for 5 minutes, freshly frozen - 7 minutes. We drain the water. In order for tiger prawns to be better cleaned and their intestines can be easily removed, they can be doused with cold water immediately after boiling.
For the same recipe, you can cook king prawns. Royal shrimps differ from other shrimps by their large head size and sweetish meat.
I hope this article is helpful to you.
Regards, Anyuta 🙂
The next post will focus on the original shrimp salad.
Shrimp is a popular and fairly widespread product, not only because it is an excellent beer snack, but also because of its composition, undoubted benefits for the body and low calorie content.
Shrimps are used for making soups, salads, main courses, snacks, pies.
The most important thing is to be able to cook them correctly.
Some, having tasted boiled shrimp for the first time, are completely delighted and firmly introduce this healthy seafood into their diet, while others claim that there is nothing tasty in shrimps - they are supposedly rubbery and tasteless.
As you probably already guessed the whole point in their preparation. So how to cook shrimp so that the meat is soft, and the taste and aroma are tender?
To cook delicious shrimp, you need to choose the right one:
First of all, be guided by the size of the sea creatures, which ones you need to cook a particular dish. There are two types of shrimp sold in stores: small Atlantic and large king. Their main difference is their size. The package indicates the caliber of crustaceans: small - 50/70, 70/90, 90/120; large - 30/40, and even 2/4. These numbers represent the approximate number of shrimp per kilogram of weight. A good product has a caliber of no more than 120. If there are no numbers on the package, it means that the package contains all sorts of trifles and misgrades.
Purchase the product in clear containers so you can see the appearance of the shrimp. Crustaceans should be covered with a thin transparent layer of ice - after catching seafood is subjected to instant freezing. A thick snow or ice cover indicates that the product has been re-frozen, which means that it is already of poor quality. Such shrimps will not benefit the body and will not convey the pleasant delicate taste of seafood.
Some more qualities that indicate that the product is of poor quality and should not be purchased. Snow in the package indicates that the product has been thawed and re-frozen several times; faded or yellow shrimps - frozen, old; a straight tail indicates that the shrimp was dead long before being frozen; black spots on the body and head speak of diseases of the individual.
So, how much to cook shrimp so that the meat turns out to be tender and tasty, and not tough and stringy? Shrimp is a protein, low-calorie, but nutritious product at the same time. It takes a few minutes to cook it, and if you buy shrimp already peeled from the shell, then it will take no more than two minutes to cook them. Let's take a closer look at the most popular varieties of shrimp sold.
How to cook frozen unpeeled shrimp? Before cooking, they are defrosted, washed and placed in boiling water for three minutes, after which they are thrown into a colander.
How to cook cooked frozen unpeeled shrimp? Such shrimps have already been cooked before freezing, which means that one or two minutes in boiling water or brine are enough to cook them.
How much to cook peeled shrimp? But it is not at all necessary to cook peeled individuals, it is enough to pour them with boiling water or brine for three to four minutes. But, if you are afraid of possible infections, boil the crustaceans in boiling water, but not more than one minute.
How to cook king prawns? In fact, this is not a separate type of shrimp, they are ordinary, just very large. Unpeeled frozen boil for up to 10 minutes, boiled-frozen for up to 5 minutes, peeled king prawns cook for about 3 minutes.
How much to cook tiger prawns? They, like other species, should not be overcooked, tiger prawns are cooked after boiling the liquid for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size. You can determine readiness by the changed color: they turn from gray to juicy orange.
It is not enough to know how much one or another shrimp should be cooked. It is not enough just to put seafood in boiling water. To give them a special taste and aroma, you need to prepare a delicious pickle.
Recipe 1. An easy way to cook shrimp
If before cooking you decide to defrost and peel the shrimp from the shell, take a teaspoon of salt per liter of water. If you are cleaning a ready-made seafood, take a flat tablespoon of salt. For soups and broths, place the shrimp in cold water and cook after boiling for as much as indicated in the general guidelines. If you are preparing shrimp for salads or main courses, place the seafood in boiling salted water.
Recipe 2. The classic way: shrimp for salads
Take a kilogram of seafood for three liters of water. In boiling water, first pour salt to taste, a few laurel leaves, black peppercorns. Arrange the shrimp and cook for 3 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.
Recipe 3. How to cook shrimp in a spicy brine
In boiling three liters of water, put two tablespoons of adjika, salt, a peeled onion, cut into two to four parts, laurel, ground red pepper. Simmer the brine over low heat for about three minutes, then add the shrimp. Cook for 2 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Provencal herbs before serving.
Recipe 4. How to cook boiled frozen unpeeled shrimp in beer brine
To cook seafood in a spicy brine, you will need a kilogram of shrimp size 70/90 or 90/120, half a liter of beer, two liters of water, one and a half tablespoons of salt, black and allspice peas to taste, laurel leaves.
Combine beer and water in a saucepan, add all the spices and salt, and bring the mixture to a boil. Place the shrimp, cook for two minutes. Throw in a colander, serve hot.
Recipe 5. How to cook peeled shrimp with lemon
Boil three liters of water, pour in the juice of half a lemon, put a few parsley leaves, two or three laurel leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the brine for a couple of minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, put the shrimp in the hot brine, soak them in the liquid for 3 minutes, then discard in a colander.
Recipe 6. How and how much to steam shrimp in a slow cooker
Take half a kilo of unpeeled shrimp and place them in a steaming bowl. Pour a liter of water into a multicooker bowl, add one and a half tablespoons of salt, bay leaves and spices to taste. Select the "Steam cooking" function with a time of 10 minutes.
As you have already seen, boiling shrimp is a matter of several minutes, and how many delicious things you can make from this delicacy is countless.
Ingredients:
300 grams of boiled peeled shrimp;
100 grams of lettuce leaves;
300 grams of cherry tomatoes;
Two cloves of garlic;
A small chilli pod;
80 ml olive oil;
50 grams of grated Parmesan;
Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar;
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cooking method:
1. Pour olive oil into a frying pan, heat it up. Place the peeled, halved garlic and chili rings. Fry both ingredients for 1-2 minutes until characteristic aroma.
2. Gently remove both garlic and chili, discard both ingredients. Put boiled shrimps in the aromatic oil itself, pepper them. Fry on all sides, stirring occasionally, for two minutes.
3. Rinse lettuce leaves and shake off excess liquid, put on a flat dish.
4. On top of the salad, place the halves of cherry tomatoes and shrimp in a random random order.
5. Sprinkle the ingredients to taste with salt, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
Ingredients:
250 grams of pasta (spaghetti is best);
One lemon;
A pound of boiled peeled large shrimps (50/70);
Three cloves of garlic;
Ground red and black pepper;
Half a glass of grated Mascarpone cheese;
A quarter glass of dry white wine;
30-40 grams of butter;
Two tablespoons of chopped chives.
Cooking method:
1. Cook the spaghetti following package directions, but underexpose slightly. This state of the paste is called al-dente, i.e. the pasta is slightly undercooked. Discard the spaghetti in a colander.
2. Put the shrimps in a large bowl, mix them with two tablespoons of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of the zest of the same lemon. Add a pinch of salt and some ground pepper.
3. Heat the butter in a large deep skillet or saucepan, toss in the peeled garlic, fry for one minute, remove.
4. Place the shrimp in the fragrant oil, pour over the wine and the remaining lemon juice. Once the wine boils, boil the seafood for one minute.
5. Transfer the spaghetti from the colander to the shrimp, mix thoroughly, season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Sprinkle all the food with cheese, keep the dish on the stove over the lowest heat for a couple of minutes.
7. Remove the frying pan from the stove, add the leftover lemon zest and chives to the finished shrimp paste, stir.
8. Serve hot.
Ingredients:
A pound of shrimp;
Half an onion;
Two stalks of celery;
Three cloves of garlic;
Two tablespoons of flour;
60 ml olive oil;
50 grams of tomato paste;
Three glasses of milk;
Two glasses of vegetable broth;
Salt, pepper, laurel - to taste;
Green onion feathers and basil leaves.
Cooking method:
1. Fry chopped onion, garlic and celery stalk in hot olive oil and cut into small pieces.
2. Add tomato paste and flour to vegetables. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about two minutes.
3. Pour in the milk, after mixing it with the broth, salt to taste. Add pepper and bay leaves, basil leaves, and chopped green onions.
4. Bring the milk broth to a boil, add the peeled shrimp to the soup.
5. Simmer for five minutes, then immediately pour into plates and serve.
Ingredients:
250 grams of large shrimp;
130 grams of smoked chorizo \u200b\u200bsausages;
A glass of frozen green peas;
Red bell pepper;
A glass of long grain rice;
30 ml olive oil;
Bulb;
3.5 cups fish broth;
Salt, pepper, parsley leaves;
A pinch of saffron.
Cooking method:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet, place thin onion rings and strips of red bell pepper in it. Saute the vegetables for about two minutes.
2. Add thoroughly washed rice, mix well.
3. Add the sausages, fry all the ingredients over high heat, stirring all the time, for a couple of minutes.
4. Pour in fish broth, sprinkle with saffron, bring liquid to a boil.
5. Cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat, without touching or interfering, for 10-12 minutes, until the rice becomes soft.
6. Add green peas, salt and pepper, peeled defrosted shrimp. Stir, soak under a closed lid for five minutes.
7. Serve the shrimp paella, sprinkled with chopped parsley leaves.
Do not cook shrimp for more than the indicated minutes, otherwise instead of appetizing tender meat you will end up with something tough and rubbery.
If you see that the head of a shrimp is brownish - do not be alarmed, the individual is not sick. The head is darker in pregnant shrimp. The meat of such an individual is much more nutritious and healthier.
Peeled shrimp are usually more expensive than unpeeled, but if you count, then a kilogram of peeled shrimp is equal to about three kilograms of shrimp in a shell. Therefore, it is more profitable to purchase already peeled seafood.
Many people make a mistake in the cooking process, not knowing exactly how long it takes. There are a few important rules to remember: you need to take twice the volume of shrimp in water. For each liter of water, if the shrimp is in the shell - 1.5 tbsp, if without the shell - 1 tbsp.
I think that not everyone also knows that small shrimp (cold water) is much healthier than large (warm water) and boil such shrimp faster.
I have frozen shrimp. I do not thaw them on purpose, I wash them slightly. If you bought shrimp on ice, you were told that they were not frozen - do not believe it.
Of course, if you live near the sea or ocean, then you are in luck - you have the freshest product, because after about two hours from the side of the tummy, they will begin to turn black. In remote places from the habitat of the shrimp - they were frozen or they were.
Therefore, we stop dwelling on this and if you do not suffer from high cholesterol (shrimp contain a large amount of proteins and vitamins, but also a huge amount of cholesterol), let's start cooking. The shrimps are very tender and melt in your mouth. If you overexpose them, they will be rubbery, which should not be allowed.
When choosing shrimp, pay attention to the fact that they should all be rolled into a ring - a sign that they were fresh. This only applies to small shrimp. Large (brindle are not always curled up in a ring).
Do not buy shrimp that is clearly snowing, as this indicates that the shrimp has not been properly frozen.
Total cooking time - 0 hours 10 minutes
Active cooking time - 0 hours 10 minutes
Cost - Average Cost
Calorie content per 100 g - 97 kcal
Servings Per Container - 4 Servings
Ingredients:
Shrimp - 1 kg (medium)
Dill - 50 g (preferably umbrellas, if not - you can ordinary)
Garlic - 3 teeth.
Water - 2 l
Salt - 3 tablespoons (no slide)