"Medium rare" shrimp?

[Gary Fritz]

How thoroughly must shrimp be cooked?

I've always assumed, since they're bottom-feeders and all, that they
should be pretty well done. (I figured otherwise you were courting
danger with hepatitis or other nasty buggies.) When boiling, I boil them
for several minutes. When sauteeing or stir-frying I make sure they're
thoroughly opaque inside. They are much less juicy and succulent this way,
but I figured it was required for safety.

However, I've had a quick-stir-fry dish (several times) cooked by the
head chef at our Marriott cafeteria here. This guy has been a pro chef
for several decades, and knows his stuff. He just tosses the ingredients
in a pan, tosses them for a minute or two, and serves -- and the shrimp
are definitely less than what I would call "done." They taste a bit
fishier this way, but the texture and juiciness is a lot nicer.

So, experts, what's your opinion? Is is necessary to do shrimp "well,"
or is it safe to cook 'em "medium rare"?

Gary

[Andrew Lewis Tepper]

Excerpts from netnews.rec.food.cooking: 28-Jan-94 "Medium rare" shrimp?
by Gary Fr...@fc.hp.com

> So, experts, what's your opinion? Is is necessary to do shrimp "well,"
> or is it safe to cook 'em "medium rare"?
>

I've had small, so-called "sweet" shrimp raw (sushi) on many occasions.
All this really proves is that if shrimp are fresh enough, and carefully
inspected enough they are (fairly) safe to eat raw. I'm not sure if
sweet shrimp are a different variety of shrimp, or just small shrimp.
Sushi experts?

Andy

[sey...@acavax.lynchburg.edu]

In article <2iaf1t$1...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>, ric...@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Warren Rickert) writes:

> All I know, is that I've always tried to cook them minimally to be
> entirely cooked, and you dont need more than 2-3 minutes for medium
> shrimp. (the really large ones might take longer); every cookbook
> I have that discusses shrimp recommends the same, and I've never
> gotten sick on it. A lot of seafood does cook rather quickly;
> I do seem to recall from a biochem class that a lot of marine
> proteins denature at rather low temperatures (probably because
> ocean dwelling creatures dont usually have to worry about overheating
> at all, which may be why they and fish cook relatively quickly.
> However, how this relates to safety, I'm not quite sure.
>
> Keith
> --
> Keith Rickert | "That was only one of the many occasions on which
> ric...@cco.caltech.edu | I met my death - an experience I don't hesitate
> ke...@imppig.caltech.edu | strongly to recommend" - Baron von Munchchausen

What Keith says sounds good, andtThe safety problem should be relatively
nonexistent. Think sushi, for example. I have eaten raw shrimp with no ill
effects, but I think I'd be careful with respect to freshness and source.
If fresh and from known to be not too polluted waters -- and ALL seafood should
conform to this rule -- then lightly cooked, a la Keith, should pose no health
hazard. The latest gov. regs. on seafood will likely be beneficial to us all.

[Jeff Spirer]

In article 0hGPdqO00...@andrew.cmu.edu, Andrew Lewis Tepper

>I've had small, so-called "sweet" shrimp raw (sushi) on many occasions.
>All this really proves is that if shrimp are fresh enough, and carefully
>inspected enough they are (fairly) safe to eat raw. I'm not sure if
>sweet shrimp are a different variety of shrimp, or just small shrimp.
>Sushi experts?

I believe that these are fresh water shrimp, therefore living in a
totally different environment than salt water shrimp. As far as I
have experienced, both here and in Japan, salt water shrimp are
always cooked for sushi.

By the way, the raw shrimp taste somewhat different in Japan and even
appear somewhat different, but I believe that they are the same variety.

Jeff

[Bill Blum N9VLS]

In article <CKIpq...@ssf-sys.dhl.com>,
Jim Davis <jda...@ssf-sys.DHL.COM> wrote:
>In article <1994Jan28....@acavax.lynchburg.edu>,

>sey...@acavax.lynchburg.edu writes:
>|> In article <2iaf1t$1...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>, ric...@cco.caltech.edu
>(Keith Warren Rickert) writes:
>|> > In <CKBDE...@fc.hp.com> fr...@fc.hp.com (Gary Fritz) writes:
>|> >
>|> >>How thoroughly must shrimp be cooked?
>|> >

>|(rest of note deleted)
>
>I've always thought that you could tell when shrimp was under-cooked by
>a soapy taste. Am I all wet or is there anything to this? I've certainly
>detected the soapy taste before and if thats true I can't imagine why anyone
>would want to eat them less than fully cooked. Now someones gonna tell me
>I've been eating shrimp cooked in soapy water or something, right? ((-:

Well, I work with shrimp everyday, so here are some tips.
(Admittdly, it's a very narrow range of tips, but hey, I only work at Long
John Silvers. :) )

If you are deep frying the shrimp, take care to devein the shrimp, and
make sure that the batter is thick enough to coat the entire shrimp.
(For large butterfly shrimp, 2 minutes in 350 degree oil is a good
starting point. lower temperatures just don't produce the results, IMHO)

As delivered, our shrimp is a light grey color... and when cooked, the
shrimp meat is white throughout, with hints of pink.

And when thawing shrimp: do it in a refrigerator.
If you are in a hurry, use cold water. Hot water baths do NOTHING for
the quality of deepfried shrimp.
(of course, some recipes may call for boiling shrimp. I dunno.)

Of course, these are based on my ever-so-limited experience as a cook for
LJS.
--
Bill "don't eat the hushpuppies " Blum
--
Bill Blum n9...@mcs.com West Lafayette, IN
(Elkhart IN after July 94)

[Ellen Brox]

In article <2ijeir$n...@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> Jeff Spirer,

jsp...@spider.Corp.Sun.COM writes:
>In article 0hGPdqO00...@andrew.cmu.edu, Andrew Lewis Tepper

>>I've had small, so-called "sweet" shrimp raw (sushi) on many occasions.
>>All this really proves is that if shrimp are fresh enough, and carefully
>>inspected enough they are (fairly) safe to eat raw. I'm not sure if
>>sweet shrimp are a different variety of shrimp, or just small shrimp.
>>Sushi experts?
>

>I believe that these are fresh water shrimp, therefore living in a
>totally different environment than salt water shrimp. As far as I
>have experienced, both here and in Japan, salt water shrimp are
>always cooked for sushi.
>
>By the way, the raw shrimp taste somewhat different in Japan and even
>appear somewhat different, but I believe that they are the same variety.
>

I once visited a shrimp factory on Iceland and was offered raw shrimp
that had just come in
(salt water of course) - best way to quality control it before cooking, I
was told (tasted good!)

[Jim Davis]

In article <1994Jan28....@acavax.lynchburg.edu>,
sey...@acavax.lynchburg.edu writes:

|> In article <2iaf1t$1...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>, ric...@cco.caltech.edu
(Keith Warren Rickert) writes:
|> > In <CKBDE...@fc.hp.com> fr...@fc.hp.com (Gary Fritz) writes:
|> >
|> >>How thoroughly must shrimp be cooked?
|> >

[Milkwoman@btcs18]

> |> > In <CKBDE...@fc.hp.com> fr...@fc.hp.com (Gary Fritz) writes:
> |> >
> |> >>How thoroughly must shrimp be cooked?
> |> >

Shrimp, like any seafood, must be cooked thoroughly. I did not see the
original post of this to know what else the originator asked, but in a nutshell
the best way to know if shrimp are fully cooked is to look at them: if pink
and just beginning to curl, they're done!!

Just thought I could help...

Tracy

[ke...@library.brandeis.edu]

That soapy taste you mention -- is it a little bit like iodine? If so, your
shrimp are a little past fresh. You might want to skip eating them.

Charlotte
ke...@library.brandeis.edu