Shrimp and prawns are delicious and good sources of protein. Buying them fresh or frozen with their shells on requires you to peel and possibly devein the shrimp/prawns before you can start preparing them.
Here again are the few steps needed to successfully peel a shrimp or prawn and remove its veins:
- Twist the head off with your thumb and index finger.
- With the prawn facing you, put your thumbs on both sides of the prawn between the shell and the meat.
- Peel down the shell from top to tail. Remove the tail or leave it on for decoration.
- Now you can either pull on the vein that should slightly stick out where the prawns head was (hold the prawn straight) or you slice the prawn's back with a sharp knife and get rid of the veins this way.
As you see, peeling shrimp or prawns is not as difficult as it sounds. If you need to do it very often, maybe the chef's third option of peeling and deveining is better suited for you as it is easier on your thumbs.
