# Question regarding shrimp



## dergyll (Nov 30, 2006)

Hey guys

I can't help but notice the annoyance of picking the black-spine thing out of fresh shrimp everytime and it's getting annoying using knives and picking them out one by one...

Anybody know a better way? I don't usually buy frozen shrimps...

Thanks
Derg


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## Robo410 (Nov 30, 2006)

I use a small skewer, go in just under it and lift it out without the whole knife cut


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## Andy M. (Nov 30, 2006)

What part of the USA do you live in that fresh shrimp is regularly available?


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## auntdot (Nov 30, 2006)

I guess what you are talking about is the so-called vein, which is actually the intestine, and the black stuff is.... well, what you would expect in intestine.

No I thought of about 15 creative ways to refer to the stuff but this is a family cooking site, and besides auntdot is polite.  Sometimes.  When she is sober.  OK, enough about me.

I have purchased a number of those different tools for removing the vein and really don't like them very much.  Prefer just using a knife, slitting the back, and removing it under running water.  

But this can get very tedious with three or four lbs of even large shrimp so will often sigh, dig out one of those reamers, and let fly.

Would kill, OK, auntdot will not kill but would think about it, for fresh shrimp.  But do find the vein filled even in frozen shrimp.  Seems to vary from batch to batch.

Where I am going on this I have no idea, so will close. Take care, y'all.


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## shpj4 (Nov 30, 2006)

Regarding the vein on the shrimp which is actually the intestine which is black I would split the whole thing open and then run it under water.


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## Hopz (Nov 30, 2006)

I have lived in Florida and then near the coast of Texas for over 30 years. I used to have shrimp traps in my yard. I love them.

The absolute best way to deal with the "vein" is the plastic shrimp de-veiner. Costs about $2.00. Look in the seafood department of the grocery store. It is usually red. Overall length is maybe 10 inches. The skinny end is curved down and is pointy on the last few inches.

Hold the de-headed, raw shrimp in one hand and slide the de-veiner under the skin and push it in. As the tool gets wider it fulcrums off the skin and the vein in one easy motion.

The result is one clean shrimp.

Now, if you should be lucky enough to get heads on shrimp... hold the body in one hand the head in the other... twist and pull- headless.

Use the heads and or skins/veins to boil in water with onion, celery salt, pepper maybe a few carrots- makes a great seafood stock/base.


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## Gretchen (Nov 30, 2006)

Hopz has it exactly right. These are the shrimp shellers that the seafood markets along the SE coast use for massive amounts of shrimp cleaning.
They are probably a dollar!  They don't tear up the shrimp.
Brown the shrimp shells a bit, add some water and simmer for a stock.


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## dergyll (Nov 30, 2006)

Actually I dont get fresh shrimp regularly, it's just when I get them I get ALOT of them and I'm usually the one "de-veining" them. It get's to be such as hassel that when ever I look at the huge bowl-full of shrimps I just want to puke ...But they still taste good, better than frozen ones anyway. I live in CT

Thanks about that little gadget, I'll pick one up this weekend.
Derg


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## PBear42 (Nov 30, 2006)

Here's a little trick that usually works for me. With larger shrimp, at least (30/lb and up), just grab the vein where it used to be attached to the head and pull. Almost always the whole thing pulls right out intact. If not, I operate. But, generally, the work goes quickly and painlessly.


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## Corinne (Nov 30, 2006)

Derg,

I'm also in CT. What is it about frozen shrimp that you don't like? Where do you get the fresh ones? 

I typically have 4-10 lbs of frozen shrimp in my freezer so I'm ready to make Bang Bang Shrimp whenever I get a request for it! 

Got a new recipe from Top Secret Recipes this week for Ruby Tuesday's Thai Phoon Shrimp that I'm anxious to try.

Corinne


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## kungfueats (Nov 30, 2006)

How I despise deveining shrimp.  If you get shrimp small enough you shouldn't have to worry about deveining right?

Are there any tricks if the shrimp are still alive?  I seem to remember that at least with shellfish you should soak them in a mixture of cornstarch and water to remove the sand from them, not exactly the same thing, but would something like this work for shrimp?


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## buckytom (Dec 1, 2006)

Hopz said:
			
		

> I used to have shrimp traps in my yard. I love them.


 
lol, amphibious shrimp? (j/k)

i've found a knife under running water works better than those curved deveiner thingies. yes, it's tedious using a knife, but the deveiners tend to mangle the shrimp if not done correctly, especially when you start getting bored doing a large batch.

i've found most markets by me sell their shrimp previously deveined, shell split but still mostly attached. makes life a whole lot easier. 

usually, you can ask the fish mongers to clean the shrimp for you, if they're not busy. dergyll, check out stew leonard's. they have excellent customer service, and oblige many requests such as that.


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## karadekoolaid (Dec 1, 2006)

If you buy shrimp with the shell on ( as I always do), make a small cut in the top of the shrimp, poke a knife point in there and gently pull out the vein. 
Most times? I don't even bother. 
If you're squeamish, just think about what pigs eat 
Or those multiple microbes on that lettuce leaf


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## dergyll (Dec 1, 2006)

Ha! That reminds me of that dish I had in China with the pig intestines, they said it was clean and it tasted really good... 

I do it with the knife under water, but I'm gonna try a de-veiner.

Derg


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

PBear42 said:
			
		

> Here's a little trick that usually works for me. With larger shrimp, at least (30/lb and up), just grab the vein where it used to be attached to the head and pull. Almost always the whole thing pulls right out intact. If not, I operate. But, generally, the work goes quickly and painlessly.


Works for me to but I better clear one thing first, shrimp as in salt water shrimp, what we call prawns??
Forgive me but I can't get used to calling prawns, shrimp.
There are female prawns and male prawns, the female have a heavier vein than the male and this is mostly mistaken for the sand vein when in fact it is the egg sack. The sand vein is the same size in both, a very small tube. The best prawn to see this in is a tiger prawn, say U10, which has a dark egg sack and you will easily see the difference between female and male.
Pinch the top of the head between thumb and forefinger and lift up and away, do the same with the legs and pull down. You should be left with a small black and pink ball connected to the sand vein, that is the stomach. Grab that and pull, at the same time pinching the tail to break the rear end connection and the lot should come out leaving the egg sack behind. Don't worry about that because it cooks pink like a crab roe.
It takes a bit of practise but after doing a few hundred KG you should get good at it.


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## XeniA (Dec 1, 2006)

buckytom said:
			
		

> ... usually, you can ask the fish mongers to clean the shrimp for you, if they're not busy ...


 
Where do you _live _buckytom?!

I just love comments like yours. You and Jamie Oliver, casually suggesting that the butcher _lives_ to French trim. Maybe there, maybe for Jamie. Here in Athens I'll tell you what they'll offer to French trim, and it ain't got much to do with "if they're not busy"!

As for that offending vein, anyone who's had an aquarium knows all too well what it is since the dear little fishies love to put it on display, usually when you're exhibiting your prize fish to visitors. There must be a subsection of Murphy's Law about animals which insist upon Putting On Their Best Company Manners. Nothing like having the boss over and having your cat dislodging a hairball, your dog visiting his leg, and your fish spewing intestines.

Get it out with a little, sharp knife. It's there, fresh, frozen, shell on, shell off, unless by luck the little darling had just ... well, you figure it out. To many of us, it's gross.


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

You been dissecting the English cricket team Clive


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## Gretchen (Dec 1, 2006)

_found a knife under running water works better than those curved deveiner thingies. _

There are definitely some shrimp deveiners that DO mangle the shrimp but the one with the simple curve of thin plastic does not. You just insert it in the larger end of the shrimp at the vein and push it to the bottom--it breaks the shell and loosens the vein which will either fall out or can be rinsed out.  The shrimp is entirely intact without shell and the place where the vein was is splayed open. AND some shrimp are so dirty (and especially large ones) that you would never want to leave the vein.

_i've found most markets by me sell their shrimp previously deveined, shell split but still mostly attached. makes life a whole lot easier._ 

These are usually a specific kind of shrimp--here, usually "tiger shrimp" and are called EZpeel.


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## buckytom (Dec 1, 2006)

ayrton, i'll try to be nice. gretchen, it's proper when quoting a person to include
 their name.

i guess i'm being fooled by giant signs behind the fish counter in almost every non-ethnic supermarket that says "we will clean and steam/broil your fish for free". 
AND when the fish monger asks you if you'd like your shrimp or other fish cleaned. that goes for any type of shrimp.

most of the time it has been done already to the shrimp, during the slower times at the fish counter.

the reason why i suggested that you should ask when they're not busy is to be polite. 

maybe they don't live for doing this, but here, it's their job.


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## XeniA (Dec 1, 2006)

buckytom said:
			
		

> ayrton, i'll try to be nice. gretchen, it's proper when quoting a person to include
> their name.
> 
> i guess i'm being fooled by giant signs behind the fish counter in almost every non-ethnic supermarket that says "we will clean and steam/broil your fish for free".
> ...


Oh no, BuckyTom, once again I must say that no offense meant! I am struck by your comment indeed because it simply would NOT happen where I live (so much so that the idea is ludicrous) however, I doubt you're being fooled nor are you foolish to ask. Just please don't try it here!

Let me switch the example on you: can you where you live go into a furniture store and say "gosh, I like this bed but I'd prefer it to have a couple of drawers underneath and be about 6 inches taller and 5 inches longer" and not get laughed out of the store? If you're in the States, I think you'd have zero chance of getting that modification unless it just happened to be an existing model. However, here in Greece you can still get all your furniture custom built (for reasonable prices), lampshades made, and the like. BUT, you will not get a fishmonger to devein your shrimp, certainly not for free and I doubt at all! My point is that different markets have different pro's and con's.

I wish it were otherwise here, BuckyTom. What you hear is envy, not ridicule!


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## Constance (Dec 1, 2006)

Tom, the shrimp to which you refer, with the shell split and the vein removed, are called "easy-peel", and I love them.

Aunt Dot, the polite name for the intestine is "sand vein". 

My mother, a school teacher, was always big on using "proper terminology". I guess it rubbed off on me.


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## jennyema (Dec 1, 2006)

I think what Andy M. was getting at a while back is that almost all shrimp sold in most parts of the US has been previously frozen.  

The "fresh" shrimp you see sitting on the ice is almost assuredly thawed frozen shrimp, unless you live in a part of the world where shrimp is caught and shipped to the store right away.

Thus, you are generally better off buying hard frozen shrimp, rather than shrimp that has been hard frozen and then thawed and sitting out for who-knows-how-long.

You can buy frozen shrimp already deveined. Admittedly, sometimes they aren't exactly gentle in the mechanical deveining process, but it depends on how picky you are about that.  If you are, buy them as is and use a sharp knife.


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## Hopz (Dec 1, 2006)

What I mean about traps in my yard is that I lived on a canal off the intercoastal waterway in Florida. My boat dock and seawall were my back yard. I made traps like most of my neighbors and everyday, before going to work, I would go back there and empty the traps. Some days I would get one or two. Most days 2 or 3 pounds. Big days I woud get 5+pounds, and all these shrimp were very large... about 20-25/lb.

We called then three-biters... three bites per shrimp.
As for dealing with alive shrimp- I just drained off the salt water- and pourde in a few pounds of ice- enough to cover them. They passed away peacefully and were ready to be de-headed.
Fresh shrimp are sweeter, more tender, less rubberry and altogether better than those poor things frozen in Thailand and air freighted to the west coast.

Anyone who lives near the Florida/Gulf Coast/Texas etc, can find a shrimper that will sell fresh. Just let your nose be your guide. Sniff them and you will know. If it does not smell like sea water- go to the next guy.

Enjoy them bugs....  If you insist, I will pass along the  family secret for boiled shrimp; just ask.


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## boufa06 (Dec 1, 2006)

In the Far East, prawns (big shrimps) are available fresh in local markets.  They come in various sizes.  "Large" prawns are usually around 4-5 inches long.  Medium-size prawns (2-4 inches long) are the most economical and popular.  Prawns are easily deveined when fresh because their flesh is firm.  Very large prawns are also available at prices that escalate very rapidly with size.  Despite the exorbitant prices of such prawns, no fishmonger I know would ever peel and devein for the customer.

If ever fresh prawns/shrimps are available in your area, it's good to buy them with the shell on if the price is right as you can easily use the shells to boil and use the stock to flavour a variety of dishes.  Also IMO, fresh prawns are tastier than frozen shelled prawns which might have been parboiled to make peeling easier.  Most likely this is the reason that frozen shelled prawns appeared reddish, ie. the colour of cooked prawns, rather than greyish/greenish/bluish or whatever the natural colour of a given prawn variety may be.

Sadly, over here, only small shrimps are available fresh mostly during the winter months.  Because of this, I usually stock my freezer with large quantities during this time of the year.  So you can imagine the amount of work involved in peeling for myself and mil since I am not as lucky as Buckytom to have prawn peeling services available in the neighbourhood. In a way, I would call myself a good prawn peeler save for the fact that in Singapore "prawn peeler" is a very derogatory term for ladies. As for large prawns, I buy them frozen with the shell on usually from importers/wholesalers.


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

"sand vein" Thank you constance, that is a much nicer term, I shall remember that.
I should have explained that, to us, shrimp live in fresh water. I don't know what you call them over there.
Buckytom also made mention of "steaming", I've also heard of steaming soft shell crabs,we never steam prawns nor crabs. Then, we never get soft shell crabs and we call it boiling, not broiling. It's a bit confusing for me.


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## boufa06 (Dec 1, 2006)

attie said:
			
		

> "sand vein" Thank you constance, that is a much nicer term, I shall remember that.
> I should have explained that, to us, shrimp live in fresh water. I don't know what you call them over there.
> Buckytom also made mention of "steaming", I've also heard of steaming soft shell crabs,we never steam prawns nor crabs. Then, we never get soft shell crabs and we call it boiling, not broiling. It's a bit confusing for me.



Fresh prawns and hard shell crabs can be steamed whole. They taste very sweet.  You can eat them plain or with sauces such as light soya, chilli, etc.  Soft shell crabs if they are small can be deep fried and eaten with the shell.  They can be served as an appetizer.


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## dergyll (Dec 1, 2006)

How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs? 

My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea... 

Derg

By the way, what the heck is this? I found it in my local Asian market, the old CHinese dude told me it's a type of shrimp...


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

boufa06 said:
			
		

> Fresh prawns and hard shell crabs can be steamed whole. They taste very sweet. You can eat them plain or with sauces such as light soya, chilli, etc. Soft shell crabs if they are small can be deep fried and eaten with the shell. They can be served as an appetizer.


Thanks for that, I add a little sugar to the salted water when boiling prawns or crabs and then shock them in ice water to cool them so I must give the steaming bit a go. Should I cool them in the ice water or just let them cool naturally


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

dergyll said:
			
		

> How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs?
> 
> My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea...
> 
> ...


We call them Mantis Shrimp or Prawn Eater, not very common here


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## boufa06 (Dec 1, 2006)

dergyll said:
			
		

> How do you actually cook soft-shelled crabs?
> 
> My family loves crabbing when I lived in NJ and we would occasionally scoop up these gooey-mess of a crab. Plain steaming works best for those blue crabs. I just eat the meat but my aunt eats the inside part, says they taste like the sea...
> 
> ...



Me too and prawn catching also but there is no place to go for that here.  I have not cooked soft shell crabs as it's difficult to get hold of them.  From  the ones served in restaurants, I think you need only to marinate them in a bit of salt, pepper, dust them with flour and deep fry them until crispy.  By the way, they go very well with a cold beer!  There are male and female crabs.  The female ones have a pouch attached to the shell. These ones have a lot of roe, so what your aunt is eating is the roe which is very tasty.

I do believe you have posted something but my computer cannot pick it up.  Is it some kind of scampi with big head?


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## boufa06 (Dec 1, 2006)

attie, you can eat the steamed crabs hot or room temperature.  Remember that the roe of the female ones are edible.


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## dergyll (Dec 1, 2006)

Well, I bought a batchfull of those mantis shrimps, and I didn't know how to cook them so I just steamed it. (They say most seafood can be steamed!) They turn out to be quite delicious! The meat in the back reminds of lobster meat (not as expensive though!) and is pretty tender. I recommend people to try it out!

Derg


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## attie (Dec 1, 2006)

boufa06 said:
			
		

> attie, you can eat the steamed crabs hot or room temperature. Remember that the roe of the female ones are edible.


It's been a long-long time since I've tasted crab roe. It is illegal to keep female crabs here and the minimum size must be more than 150mm [6"] across the shell.


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## dergyll (Dec 1, 2006)

It's also illegal here in CT to keep crabs less than 5 or 6 in. in length (I think) and during mating season and egg-diploying season where the female crabs are carrying pouches with those yellow-orange eggs. I haven't crabbed for years, there are no good crabbing spot in CT, you never get the good tasting blue crabs.

Derg


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