Shrimp shells

[mamster]

I was looking at this recipe from today's NYT, which looks quite tasty:

Okra and Tomato Stew With Savannah White Shrimp and Sausage

And was struck by this instruction, of which you've no doubt seen the result hundreds of times:

"24 large Savannah white shrimp or other large shrimp (16 to 20 in a pound), peeled to last tail segment and deveined"

Why do people leave the shell on that last segment? It's no good to eat. It's hard to get it off without losing a bit of shrimp meat, and then you have to find a place to put it on your plate. Admittedly, it looks cute. Is that the only reason? Is that really worth it?

[viva]

I don't know why you'd want to leave the last segment on for a stew. I think of that last segment like a corn-on-the-cob holder - a slightly less messy way to eat shrimp with your fingers without it really looking like you're eating shrimp with your fingers.

[Susan in FL]

Well, it does look pretty. And, I do sometimes eat it when it's left on, unless it's too offensively hard or abrasive.

[Katherine]

I eat the tail nibs if they're deep-fried, 'cause that seems to crisp them up, but certainly not in a soup or stew.

I do recall my first kitchen job, where we were selling "baked stuffed shrimp", in the shell, prestuffed, and reheated from the walk-in. One woman liked them so much she ate them, shell and all, and ordered another plate. Each to his/her own.

[fifi]

To me, leaving that last segment on the tail in a soup, stew, pasta or whatever is an abomination. What that means is that I have to mess up my hands to get the last bit out and it is an awkward operation at best. In my mind, unless you are dealing with boiled shrimp, fried shrimp or whatever, peel the damned thing all the way or nothing. 99% of the dining population do not want to eat shrimp shells. The habit is just dumb. Cute is fine as long as it doesn't make my dining more difficult. After that, cute is just an aggravation.

[Pickles]

Why do people leave the shell on that last segment? It's no good to eat. It's hard to get it off without losing a bit of shrimp meat,

As I remember from my shrimp eatin' days...it's a handy-dandy built-on handle for grabbing a shrimp, dipping into any remaining lovely sauce, and sucking the hell out of it (in casual company, mind you) and ...yes...it looks pretty. Like leaving the "soft" curly ends on the green beans. My mother calls it "slopping cooking" and I call it "delicate and pretty."

[Mayhaw Man]

I eat the tail when the shrimp are baked , fried or broiled-not when they have been boiled or stewed-too chewy. I generally, but not always, pull the tail when they are going into soup.

In fact, I love fried shrimp tails. They are not as good as fried bream tails, but pretty close.

Edited to say that okra and shrimp go together like white and rice.

[Adam Balic]

I don't bother to peel shrimp at all that much unless there is a special request. I eat the shells anyway. More flavour too and out side of places that are lucky enough to have there own shrimp fisheries, those farmed tiger prawns/shrimp need all the flavour help they can get.

As for the last tail segment, well it looks much better and it's not such a big deal is it? It's just not that hard really, I'm mean leaving a shrimp tail on the side of a plate is hardly splitting the atom or trying to find an English word that rhymes with "orange".

[eunny jang]

In no-fingers situations, I don't mind the last segment if the dish is served on a plate (or soup bowl with a wide rim in the case of soups/stews etc) that one can easily maneuver with a knife and fork on. Then it's an easy case of two cuts (one to slit the shell segment and one to free the shrim, whole, from it), fork, and eat. What really bothers me is if the dish is served in a vessel impossible to perform this operation on, i.e. a giant martini glass or bowl with no rim or somesuch, but you're still supposed to keep your fingers out of it.

Otherwise, I figure if it's a venue and a group of people you feel okay eating with your hands in, then it's okay for me to eat it shell and all. In that case, the tail makes a handy little handle.

[GoodEater]

[ To me, leaving that last segment on the tail in a soup, stew, pasta or whatever is an abomination. What that means is that I have to mess up my hands to get the last bit out and it is an awkward operation at best. In my mind, unless you are dealing with boiled shrimp, fried shrimp or whatever, peel the damned thing all the way or nothing. 99% of the dining population do not want to eat shrimp shells. The habit is just dumb. Cute is fine as long as it doesn't make my dining more difficult. After that, cute is just an aggravation.]

Fifi- You said it perfectly. It is inevitable that this happens when you have on a white shirt and you are eating shrimp with a dark red sauce- How AGGRAVATING!!!

[Toliver]

Pickles is correct (leaving that last tail-end bit on acts like a handle) but I think the recipe is incorrect.

If the shrimp is to be eaten by hand, then the tail-end is left on and it's to be used as a handle. But when the shrimp is to be eaten by a utensil (in soups, stews, pastas, etc), all shell material should be completely removed for ease of consumption. Which is why I think the original recipe is incorrect in calling for the tails to be left on.

I'm with Brooks...I don't mind eating the tail. Hey, I need all the roughage I can get!

[rickmartin]

It's hard to get it off without losing a bit of shrimp meat,

When eating shrimp meant to be finger food, simply squeeze the tail section while biting and all of the meat will pop right out. But I agree, a dish that requires a utensile should never have the tails on. I personally like as much shell as possible for flavor reasons but I am a freak. I like to get dirty when I eat.

RM

[fifi]

When eating shrimp meant to be finger food, simply squeeze the tail section while biting and all of the meat will pop right out.

Uuummm... Not always.

[fyfas]

Agree with Fifi about getting that last section out by sucking on the tail section... not always; if only.

And, I agree with the general "gist" of the thread, shrimp with tails left on in a stew/pasta dish is a visual affectation I think; no real purpose to do it.

That said, I just leave the last section of each shrimp on the plate and later, after dishes are cleared, all the tails are gathered and that last bit of shrimp is manually removed to a saucer for the eagerly waiting and already purring feline. Not a big deal and if it makes for a happy cat, well...

Edited July 29, 2004 by fyfas (log)

[Hest88]

Yep, I hate it when the tail is left on in stews, soups, even saucy pastas. If I'm in restaurant, that just guarantees I'll have to cut off and waste that last bit so I don't look uncouth smearing my fingers in sauce!

[bleachboy]

Uuummm... Not always.

Whoah, great link! Must have been before my time.

I, too, like to eat the shells, especially on the small deep-fried shrimp in New Orleans. Even on big shrimp, I like to chew on the shells, although I usually spit them out. Of course, this is an act which should be confined to close friends or solitary, at-home dining only. Spitting stuff out ain't too genteel, y'know. Kinda like gnawing on bones.

[scott123]

I think the tail is an abomination, period. It "makes a good handle"? And the segment just before it doesn't? It's "pretty"? I find it hairy and insect-like.

And the worst part of all, if you do take the time to get the extra piece of meat, 1 out 10 will have the 'vein' intact. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of shrimp shit.

[Milt]

I realize that the above comments have all been about shrimp tails, but what about when the shrimp is served in its shell with or without the head? Yesterday my wife and I stopped at So Kong Dong in Doraville (suburban Atlanta) and ordered a bowl of seafood soup and a seafood pancake. The soup had unshelled shrimp with the head on in the soup - four large shrimp. The seafood pancake had much smaller shrimp which had been shelled - no tail.

My understanding is that the shell is left on to provide additional flavor. I am a very neat eater. I have an aversion to bbq ribs, unshelled shrimp, chicken with the skin on, mussels, etc. on my dinner plate. Just the same, I more and more am deciding to get messy and have a more tasty meal. Some time back I read a local review of a Nicaraguan restaurant whose seafood soup was superb. I went and ordered it, only to find unshelled shrimp in the bowl - as well as a whole crab. I must have used forty napkins trying to keep my hands dry, clean, etc. The table was a mess when we left. It was one of the most delicious meals I have ever consumed. Next time I go, I will wear a short sleeve shirt because juice was literally dripping off my elbows. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I am convinced that the shrimp and crab shells were partially responsible for the tremendous flavor of that soup.

Edited July 30, 2004 by Milt (log)

[Suzanne F]

I eat shrimp tail shells. Hell, I eat shrimp shells much of the time (especially from Mosca's bbq shrimp, for which they are gently poached in oil and nice and soft). Great roughage.

I love to get head-on shrimp -- I feel much more assured of their quality then. And it's so much fun to suck out the good stuff.

But if I need to remove the shell from shrimp, I find that it's much easier to remove that last bit of tail shell, without tearing off any of the flesh, from raw shrimp than from cooked.

[CtznCane]

I've never tried eating the shrimp shells though when having sushi I love having the shirmp heads fried. I hadn't thought of it till this post but the view point of if the tail shell is on it is okay to use your hands makes sense. Personally, when I cook shrimp I remove all of the shell reserving it for stock.

The dilemma restaurant wise, as I see it, is a dish when the tail is on for appearance and pesentation. To me the feelings are mixed, it looks nice but now I have to go through the hassle of taking the tail off which I don't like. Perhaps that is why I will seldom order shirmp dishes in a restaurant. I am going to have to try eating the shells though before making a final judgment.

[mamster]

I run into this problem most often with stir-fried dishes in Chinese restaurants, and both stir-fries and curries at Thai restaurants. I have absolutely no problem picking up a shrimp with my hands and slurping the meat out of the tail, but I don't want to reach into a curry to do so. Also, I do eat shrimp shells under certain circumstances (i.e., if it seems tasty in a particular context, I eat it).

It's time for phase two, the international education and enforcement campaign.