August 8, 2013

How to Devein Shrimp

Shrimp- so delicious, so tender and succulent… such a pain in the rear to devein. Why do we need to devein them? Because- look away if you are squeamish- it’s not actually a vein, it’s their little poop chute! If you don’t find a vein, don’t worry about it- it’s only the dark ones we need to remove.

Here are a few ways to deal with deveining them. Of course first you will need to peel the shell off in most cases- leave the tail on if you prefer:

1. There’s a little flap of skin near the top of the shrimp- peel it away and it will expose the part that you don’t want. Holding the shrimp under water, rub it away, using the water to clean your hand and the shrimp, then place the cleaned shrimp in another bowl.

2. If you don’t like getting so close up and personal, try this technique: With a sharp paring knife or filleting knife, cut a slit along the back about 1/4 inch deep. Lay the shrimp down on your board, and scrape the offending item away. Rinse the shrimp briefly and put into a clean bowl.

3. Use a shrimp-cleaning tool like this:

For this method, there’s no need to peel the shrimp. This little shrimp cleaning tool does that for you at the same time as it de-veins. Place the point of the tool where you see a dark dot at the top of the shrimp where the head used to be. Slowly slide the tool along the track, straightening the shrimp as you go. The peel and vein will slip out as one. Rinse the shrimp well and put into a clean bowl. Do this slowly at first until you get the hang of it, then you’ll get faster. (A two-tined fork will also work this way)

So there are three different ways to devein and clean shrimp. Now you can enjoy them in many recipes! Bubba: ‘Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it. ‘

If you don’t want to go to the trouble, then MagicKitchen.com makes several delicious shrimp dishes delivered!