Cooking with Seafood: How to Cook Shrimp

Learning how to cook shrimp is easier than you think. The secret is to start with fresh shrimp. It gives the best flavor and beats out frozen shrimp any day. But first, you must peel and devein the shrimp. To start, grab a paring knife and make a shallow slit along the back of your shrimp. Peel the shell back and away. You can leave the tail on for a nice handle if you??re eating the shrimp individually. Next comes the tricky part. Look for the black vein that runs along the center of the back, you don??t wanna eat this part. So use the tip of your knife to remove and discard the vein. If it helps, place the shrimp under running water while you do this. That can help remove the vein as well. Don??t worry if it takes a couple of tries to get the whole vein removed. Now, you??re ready to cook your shrimp. Get some butter going in a hot skillet and flop your shrimp in the skillet. Be sure to evenly space them, giving them some room to swim otherwise, they??ll steam and not sautee, and we??re looking for a nice sautee. Cook for two to three minutes flipping once. You can tell your shrimps are done when they turn from a grayish color to in a pinkish color. They might even curl as little as they cook. So there you have it, the secret to cooking shrimp starts with fresh shrimp, involves a little cleaning and ends with a shrimply delicious dinner.