Seafood is able to turn any everyday dish into a refined, festive one. But this is provided that they are cooked correctly. Crustaceans, including shrimp, are simple to cook, but just as easy to spoil. With improper cooking, seafood becomes rubber, they lose all taste and aroma. In this article, we will talk in detail about how to cook shrimp tasty at home. The recipes illustrated in the photographs are presented below.
It should be said that shrimps are used as an independent dish, as a snack for beer, as well as in soups, salads, paella, pasta, pizza, etc. Depending on this, you need to choose different shrimps. Size is critical. After all, it depends on how much shrimp is cooked. Huge, brush-sized crustaceans are best cooked in grilled oil.
Choosing seafood
How to cook shrimp tasty? Recipes often contain recommendations for using a particular type of crustacean. In city stores far from the oceans, this product is sold frozen. But here, the buyer has a huge choice. You can buy just frozen shrimp, boiled, with heads and legs, completely peeled or "cocktail", with a tail. On sale there are very tiny Black Sea crustaceans. They can be prepared as a simple appetizer for beer. In a grocery product, the size of the shrimp is indicated on packs. Ideally suited for cooking are those on the packaging which say “70-90” or “90-120”. Crustaceans of this size boil well and evenly, retain their taste and aroma.
It is also important to buy a fresh product. A good shrimp should have a shiny shell, uniform color and a tail bent down. However, the latter indicator is not decisive. The larger the view, the less twisted the ponytails. No need to pay for ice. By the way, it testifies that the crustaceans were stored in poor conditions. We buy shrimp that have passed the shock freeze. We carefully read the label. There are shrimps cooked and frozen. Such seafood requires a special cooking method.
The easiest recipe with a photo
Cooking shrimp is pretty easy. Thaw them lightly. There is no need to rush in this matter. Of course, you can sprinkle shrimp with boiling water or put them in the microwave. But it’s better to open the pack and put the crustaceans in a colander so that they drain. Then you should wash the shrimp under cold running water, washing away any dirt. When cooking seafood, you can not use the method of cooking pasta, that is, throw them in boiling water. So the crustaceans “seize” and become tough. Pre salt water can not be for the same reason.
How does a shrimp recipe offer us?
- Pour raw seafood with cold water so that the liquid completely covers the crustaceans.
- We put the pan on medium heat.
- When the water boils, salt. It will take about a tablespoon of this seasoning per kilogram of shrimp.
- After 2-3 minutes, the crustaceans will turn pink.
- Quickly remove the pan from the heat and discard the contents into a colander.
- To stop the process of cooking with internal heat, douse seafood with cold water.
Cooking peeled shrimp
It is much easier to remove the shell from boiled crustaceans than from raw ones. But there is a product on sale that has already undergone preliminary processing. It costs more than unpeeled shrimp, but, firstly, you do not have to work, and secondly, you do not pay for inedible parts of the body of the crustacean. But you need to cook such seafood in a special way. How to cook shrimp? The recipe does not require us to defrost crustaceans. After all, the manufacturer, having freed them from shells, heads and paws, has already washed krill meat.
- We transfer the shrimp from the packaging to the pan, pour cold water.
- We wash a little lime, cut into four parts, a little crumple in our hands, so that the juice begins to stand out, add to seafood.
- We put the pan on medium heat.
- When the liquid boils, reduce the flame.
- We cook small cocktail shrimps one and a half to two minutes. No longer, otherwise the crustaceans will become "rubber". After all, seafood is pure protein. We need to cook it "soft-boiled" in order to maintain softness and taste.
Cooking king or tiger prawns
Crustaceans, whose body length from the neck to the tail of the tail is more than three centimeters, must be prepared according to a special recipe. You can cook tiger or king prawns according to the same principle as cocktail. That is, they must be poured with cold water, and after boiling, reduce the fire. But since we are dealing with large crustaceans, with dense meat, they need to be cooked longer.
Cocktail shrimps are salted at the very end of the culinary process, and king and tiger shrimps - at the beginning. Be sure to add lime or lemon to the water. Citrus acid will soften large crustacean meat a little. Cook large shrimp for three minutes. As in the case of small crustaceans, it is necessary to stop the process of heat treatment with internal heat and cold water.
Shrimp as a standalone dish
Seafood with a neutral taste is added to the salad. Therefore, they are prepared in ordinary water, acidified with lemon or lime. But for an independent dish, you need to try to make their aroma as saturated as possible. How to cook delicious shrimp at home? If you follow this recipe, you will get no less sophisticated dish than that served in expensive restaurants.
- We buy a kilogram of tiger, king or Argentinean (red) shrimp.
- We clean them, but we save the shells.
- Grind the onion, a clove of garlic and two stalks of celery.
- Pour 2 liters of water into the pan.
- Add prepared vegetables, two tablespoons of salt and white table wine, a pinch of grated ginger and shell.
- We put the container on medium heat. After boiling, cook for another 20 minutes.
- We filter the broth and cool it to room temperature.
- Put shrimp in it. Cook over low heat (without gurgling and keying!) For about four minutes.
- We express. The broth can be used as the basis for a delicious seafood soup.
We serve crustaceans with sauce as an independent dish.
How to cook shrimp with lemon: recipe step by step
Citrus fruits change the taste of seafood for the better. Lemon juice pickles crustacean meat, as it were, and prevents it from becoming hard and hard. In addition, he reveals the oceanic taste of seafood, enriches their aroma. To cook shrimp with lemon, the recipe tells us to pour two liters of water into the pan. The further procedure is as follows:
- Wash 2 medium lemons, cut them into halves or quarters.
- Add to the pan, put it on the fire.
- When the water boils, pour a kilogram of raw unpeeled shrimp.
- We do not reduce the flame. Let’s wait until the liquid boils again.
- We vigilantly follow the crustaceans, waiting for the moment when their shells turn pink.
- We immediately throw the shrimp into a colander, and we, in turn, put it in a bowl with ice.
How to make boiled shrimp ice cream
Manufacturers offer such a product to especially lazy seafood lovers. But you should not expect that just by defrosting it, you will get a culinary masterpiece. Seafood still needs to be "brought to mind." Let's see how to cook boiled-ice cream shrimp at home.
- We take a deep pan, pour a little vegetable oil.
- Fry three coarsely chopped garlic cloves.
- Zucchini clean, finely chop, add to the pan.
- Fry for 4 minutes.
- Pour a glass of vegetable broth.
- After boiling, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add 350 g of boiled-frozen shrimp.
- Salt and season to taste.
- We make the fire minimal.
- We cook seafood for 5 minutes. Use with vegetables for paella or pasta.
Beer Shrimp
Since small crustaceans are found in the Black and Azov Seas, residents of coastal territories like to use them as a snack for an amber drink. They are served as seeds, unpeeled. Beer shrimp should be more salted. But if you increase the amount of seasoning, the meat will come out tough and tasteless. How then to cook shrimp for beer? The recipe will help you achieve the perfect result. We fill the pan half with water. Add to it:
- onion
- a small bunch of dill,
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 peas of allspice,
- 1-2 cloves
- salt.
Bring the liquid to a boil, give the broth a little boil. Pour a kilogram of small Black Sea shrimp. We immediately turn off the fire and cover the pan. After 2 3 minutes, we discard the seafood in a colander.
Shrimp with spices and lemon.
According to gourmets, it is better to cook crustaceans with shells, because they will not allow to give all the aroma to water. To further improve the taste of the dish, we offer to cook shrimp according to the recipe below. In 2 liters of water, add:
- 2 tablespoons of sea salt,
- 3 bay leaves,
- a few peas of allspice and black pepper,
- spices "For fish",
- clove bud
- a handful of dried or chopped fresh dill,
- clove of garlic.
When the water with these seasonings boils, cut into slices one and a half lemons (or squeeze the juice), add to the water. After boiling again, we introduce a kilogram of shrimp. We are waiting for the seafood to emerge, and their shell will turn pink. We strain and put on a bowl with ice. If this is not at hand, just wash the seafood under a stream of cold water. Such shrimp can be served just like that. But it’s better to cook some sauce for them.