Let’s be honest: Shrimp are great when you don’t actually have to deal with them in their raw glory. All those little legs and shells and veins — who wants to mess with that slippery stuff?
Fortunately, cleaning fresh shrimp is a lot easier than most of us make it. This week we’re going to teach you the quickest method to do it, and explore how to safely store shrimp if you aren’t cooking them right away.
Forget painstakingly peeling off shells by hand and carefully running a paring knife down the shrimp’s back to pluck out the vein — technically the shrimp’s digestive tract and not a vein at all — in a process that can take forever if you’ve got more than a pound to prepare.
The easiest and quickest method to peel and devein a shrimp in one swift movement is as simple as grabbing a fork from your utensil drawer. There’s no need to buy specialty tools or sharpen your knives.
Here’s how it works: Hold the shrimp — this only works if the heads are already removed, as most fresh shrimp are sold in stores — in one hand with the back of the shrimp facing away from your hand. With your other hand, place the bottom tine of the fork under the shell right at the spot the vein appears.
Fresh shrimp are easy to peel and devein with the help of a fork.
Nora Carol Photography, Contributor / Getty ImagesNow, just gently push the shrimp along the fork, which will simultaneously clear out the vein and pop the shells off, leaving a quickly cleaned shrimp ready for the skillet, gumbo pot or however you’re using them. There may be a few spots of the vein left, but they’ll be easy to pick out or rinse away under cold water.
There’s good reason to clean shrimp yourself. For starters, you’ll save a dollar or two per pound if you’re willing to do the work. Also, the leftover shells can be simmered into a hugely flavorful shrimp stock perfect for a batch of paella, risotto, fideo, seafood stew or just about anything else where you’d want an intense taste of the sea.
Fresh shrimp are highly perishable and need some special attention if you’re not going to cook them right away. For starters, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s only safe to keep them refrigerated for two days at the most, and they have to be in a refrigerator set at 40 degrees or cooler.
Fresh shrimp should be stores on ice in the refrigerator for no more than two days.
Staff photographer file photoTo be safe, fill a colander with ice and set that inside a large bowl. Place the shrimp on top of the ice and cover it loosely with wax or parchment paper and set the bowl in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Be sure to periodically drain the melted ice out of the bowl as you don’t want the shrimp sitting in the water as it melts. Shrimp can be stored in the freezer, but at a cost. Even when well-packed inside plastic bags, they’ll lose some moisture and their texture will suffer once thawed out.
pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen
May 31, 2021 at 04:05PM
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How to quickly shell and devein fresh shrimp, and store them safely - San Antonio Express-News
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