Should you boil shrimp in hot or cold water?

Boiling shrimp is of course not difficult, it can even be said that this is one of the easiest dishes to make. However, not everyone knows how to keep the shrimp from smelling fishy and keep it sweet, chewy, and firm after boiling.

Should you boil shrimp in hot or cold water?

Many people complain that boiling shrimp is very simple but the finished dish is dry, fishy, ​​the meat is not as sweet and not as good as in restaurants.

Some people use cold water with salt to boil shrimp, others use hot water. According to experienced chefs, using the right water and temperature to boil shrimp greatly affects the quality of the dish. So should you use hot or cold water to boil shrimp?

The answer is that both of the above methods are not optimal and do not bring out the best flavor of the shrimp. If you boil shrimp in cold water, the temperature of the water will slowly increase until it boils. This process takes too long. Shrimp meat is inherently soft and sweet, but if cooked for too long, it will become dry, mushy, and even have a fishy smell.

In case of using hot water, shrimp will easily shrink quickly and the taste will not be good. The best way is to boil water over high heat but do not wait until it boils completely. When you see bubbles at the bottom, put the shrimp in (the water temperature at this time is about 85-90 degrees Celsius). Stir to cook the shrimp evenly.

Boiling time for shrimp is about 2-3 minutes for small shrimp, 5 minutes for large shrimp, when the color of shrimp turns red, you can take it out. If left too long, the shrimp will dry out and lose its original soft and delicious taste.

Notes on boiled shrimp

To boil shrimp well, in addition to water temperature, you also need to pay attention to some other factors.

Choose fresh and delicious shrimp

You must choose good shrimp for the boiled dish to be delicious. The most basic thing when buying shrimp is to choose fresh, healthy shrimp.

First look at the shrimp shell. High quality sea shrimp are usually blue-white, male shrimp are light yellow.

Fresh shrimp have bright and clear shells; the head is tightly and firmly attached to the body.

Look at the joint between the head and body of the shrimp. If it is black and not tight, and feels like the head is about to fall off, then the shrimp is no longer fresh.

When buying shrimp, you should also pay attention to the smell. Fresh shrimp will have a distinctive smell. Frozen shrimp will have a light seafood smell and no other smell.

With frozen shrimp, you will see some that are curved and some that are straight. If possible, choose the curved ones because they were alive before freezing. If you buy frozen shrimp, you should try pressing on the body of the shrimp, if the body is firm, it means it was alive before freezing. Shrimp with straight bodies were all dead before being stored.

Boil shrimp properly

Fresh shrimps are cut off and washed. Many people carefully remove the shrimp's veins because they think this will help the shrimp not smell fishy. But with boiled shrimp, it is best not to remove the veins. Because peeling the shrimp before boiling will make the shrimp lose its sweetness during the cooking process.

Add water and bring to a boil. You don't need much water because the shrimp will release water when boiled. Adding too much water will make the shrimp taste bland.

Then add some cooking oil, lemongrass, ginger and green onions to the pot of water. Green onions, lemongrass and ginger help remove the fishy smell of seafood. Oil can ensure the bright color of the shrimp, and a little salt in the water can help the shrimp become more tender.

Heat over high heat but do not let the water boil, when you see foam at the bottom, add the shrimp and boil as instructed above.

If you buy frozen shrimp in the supermarket, you must defrost it at room temperature first, then add some green onions and ginger to the water, heat it up, then add wine and salt. Put the defrosted shrimp in the water, boil for about 3 minutes, when the shrimp turns pink-red, it is done.