Boiling Shrimp

[Constance]

I'm watching Sara Moulton, and her guest chief cooked shrimp by poaching it. He says use a lot of well-seasoned water, bring it to a boil, put in shrimp, turn off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes. He says this method will prevent rubbery shrimp.

 

[urmaniac13]

I usually keep them boiling but stand by and watch them with eagle eyes, as soon as they turn opaque and take on bright red colour I turn it off and immediately drain them. Which doesn't take long at all.

 

[mugsy27]

5 minutes is WAY to long IMO...i never do it for more than 90 seconds....

 

[jennyema]

The way Sara's guest does it is the way I always do it too. Boiling (as opposed to simmering) protein makes it seize up.

As far as time goes, I think it depends on how many shrimp and how big they are, but 5 minutes is probably too long.

I cooked a pound of jumbo shrimp this way on Saturday and I left them in the hot seasoned water for 2 min, then took one out, tested it, and it was done. Got the rest of them right out and into ice bath, so most of them cooked for about 2 1/2 min.

 

[Gretchen]

Let stand for 5 minutes, not boil. that is pretty much the way I do it. And for large shrimp they are usually JUST right.

 

[Steve A]

Boil water, spices and flavorings. Shut off heat, put in THAWED shrimp, shell on, if desired; P&D'd if not, and let poach until they lose their gray color and start turning a nice pink. Bingo.

Drain, strain, shock in ice bath. You're done.

Ciao,

 

[Constance]

"Tune in" to the show I was talking about, and check out the Melon Salad recipe. It tells exactly how the French chef (Daniel Boulud) cooked the shrimp.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29411,00.html

 

[Michael in FtW]

I think a lot has to do with what you are trying to accomplish.

I remember when I was little and we lived in New Orleans and Dad and some of the guys he worked with went out shrimpin' and crabbin' on Lake Pontchartrain ... well, that was back in the early 1950's before it got too polluted.

They would bring a big pot of water up to a boil and toss in 1-2 packets of Zatarain's "Crab and Shrimp Boil" - let it simmer for about 30-minutes, then toss in the shrimp (usually about 20-pounds) and let it steep off the heat for about 30-minutes - then it was peel and eat. Sometimes they did a full blown "boil" and we had corn and potatoes that were cooked first, then the shrimps and crabs were added after the pot came off the fire.

I think shrimp are like squid - if you don't want it "rubbery" then you either cook it for a very short time - or cook it for a long time. If you're going for "boiled" shrimps - I like the "long time" method so they absorb the flavors from the "boil" - for something like a pasta dish - the short 1-2 minute method.

 

[ironchef]

Umm, well it was Daniel Boloud after all. Arguably the top chef in NYC and one of the top 5 in the country.

 

[AllenOK]

Another thing to remember, is that "large" and "jumbo" shrimp are different sizes between different supermarkets. I find it more accurate to describe shrimp size by their count-per-pound, which is usually expressed as a fraction, like 41/50, 21/25, etc. This is a range, and you can expect to have anywhere between the two numbers of that size shrimp in a pound, so 41/50's would have somewhere between 41 and 50 shrimp in one pound.

Also, there is the issue of how big of a volume of cooking liquid you have. If you have a couple gallons of water at a simmer, when you toss in say a pound of shrimp, it will cook faster, due to the high "stored heat" volume in the water, than tossing the same pound of shrimp into one gallon of water at a simmer.

At work, we often cook two pounds of 8/12 count shrimp (that's shrimp that's about 2 oz EACH, their huge, about as big as you can get), from frozen straight into the poaching liquid. It usually takes about 5 minutes, sometimes longer. I usually have about a gallon of water in the boil, and leave it on a low heat when poaching. I also stand over it like a hawk, watching. If it starts to bubble, off the heat immediately, drain it, and ice-bath it to stop the cooking.

 

[simonaskitchen]

5 minutes are too much, for my personal experience!!!
It depends on size of shrimps, first of all: generally 2-3 minutes are sufficient.
Take a look at their color: when you see them becoming opaque, take them off boiling water!

Ah! An other thing! If you want them to get a particular flavor, add some white wine during boiling time!

Simona

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

When making shrimp cocktail, I usually bring the water to a boil, add 1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning then the shrimp. Bring to a boil quickly then off the heat and let stand for about 3 minutes at the most. They should be pink. The OBS adds a wonderful flavor to the shrimp. I use the 26-30 per pound size. Perfect.

 

[unmuzzleme]

5 minutes IS a bit long...

I agree with the general consensus...I've never cooked shrimp for 5 minutes that didn't turn rubbery. But again, as most people are saying, it sounds like if there are a lot of shrimp and they're large, then 5 minutes might be alright.

I usually just take the boiling seasoned water off the heat, throw the shrimp in, and watch them like a hawk. As soon as they've turned opaque, it's into an ice bath!

 

[black chef]

i'm from louisiana, born & raised on the bayou, so i KNOW how to boil shrimp to perfection... as i've been told.

here's what you need:

2 lbs of shrimp
1/2 stick of butter
1-1.5 quarts of water... that's it.
1 big, sweet, onion
1/2 cup of seafood boil (zatarains or louisiana brand)
2 capfuls of liquid seafood boil (zatarains)

directions:
1. bring water to a boil and add butter and seafood boil (powdered version).
2. chop onions, add and return to a boil.
3. add shrimp and return to a boil.
4. AS SOON AS THEY BEGIN TO BOIL, KILL THE FIRE AND REMOVE FROM THE BURNER-esp. an electric stove.
5. add-in 2 capfuls of liquid seafood boil.
6. let stand for 10 min.

this is what happens:

the butter forms a layer over the water... sealing in the heat and keeping the shrimp submerged in the seasoning, so essentially, they soak-in the seasoning & finish cooking-all with no heat.

while they're sitting, after about 5 min., stir the shrimp and break the butter layer-allowing some heat to escape from the pot. this prevents them from overcooking. repeat about 3 min later.

you'll have highly (hot & spicy) shrimp that are easy to peel and cooked just right.

that's my famous recipe... for all the world to have.

 

[VeraBlue]

I always season the water with chopped, fresh lemons, whole peppercorns and a splash of Zatarain's crab boil. When the water boils, I drop the shrimp in all at once and then count to 60. Then drain them, lay them out in a single layer and put in the fridge to cool. I don't shock them since I've seasoned the water. I don't want the seasoning to wash off.

 

[T-Bone Appetit]

I do not profess to be any kind of a cooking expert although my wife tells me that I am a good cook. That being said, she came home this evening with about 1-1/2 pounds of 21/25 count shrimp. I've cooked shrimp before but have never been 100 percent thrilled with the results. I stumbled upon this site doing a Google search and prepared the shrimp using a little bit of advice from all of the previous posts (thanks to all).

Here is what I used/did (keep in mind that I didn't really measure anything):

1-1/2 to 2 cups water (about an inch in a large pot)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
1 Tbsp Old Bay seafood seasoning
1/4 Tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 lemon, squeezed and thrown in

I brought the mixture to a boil and added the shrimp. I boiled them for approximately three minutes stirring frequently. Once they attained that nice pink color, I took them off the heat and let them sit covered for another 3-5 minutes (while my corn was cooking). At the end of that time, I threw them into a colander and rinsed them with cold water.

At the risk of sounding immodest, they were the best shrimp that either of us had ever had.

BTW: Crosse & Blackwell Shrimp Sauce is the bomb!

Good luck!

 

[attie]

Boiling shrimp [prawns to us] is about the only way we cook them unless for crumbing etc.

Bring salted water to the boil
Add the shrimp but do not over crowd the pot
Quickly bring it back to when the shrimp start to float and water starts to boil, give it 30 seconds or so for all the shrimp to float.
Scoop shrimp immediately into iced salted water
It doesn't matter what size the shrimp are, the smaller they are the quicker they cook

Salted water should be as sea salted water
Add a half handfull of sugar per gallon of water to bring out the sweet shrimp flavour if you wish,

I believe wild caught shrimp should taste like shrimp, it is a beautiful product that doesn't need flavour enhancing

 

[Leenorton]

Sorry AllenOK, but physics tells us that it is not the total heat content of the water in the pot that cooks the shrimp since it is only in contact with the adjacent water. Thus, it is the temperature of the water that matters. Not trying to pick a fight, just thought you would want to know.

 

[Robo410]

must admit I don't boil or steam most seafood. Shrimp I grill or roast. Excellent flavor, not rubbery and shells don't stick. Often I'll peel the shrimp and freeze the shells until I have enough for stock.

 

[Marko]

It depends on how many pounds of shrimp and what size they are. Have an ice bath ready to refresh the shrimp when they are done. The best way to tell if they are done is to pull one out and test it. Stall the cooking in an ice bath after that.

For storing, chill the liquid used for cooking and add the chilled shrimp afterwards. Hold in the refrigerator until serving.