peel and de-vein but leave the tail on, is there a reason for this? doesn't make sense to me.

10/29/2010 9:26:34 PM

No idea... why dontcha aks red lobsta.

10/29/2010 9:34:52 PM

i think you mean "take the shells off shrimp"


otherwise, it would be similar to asking "why don't restaurants take the tails off lobster?"

10/29/2010 9:36:05 PM

whatever, why don't restaurants remove all the inedible parts of the shrimp

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 9:41 PM. Reason : .]

10/29/2010 9:40:40 PM

because they make convenient handles to hold with; just pull the rest of the shrimp out with your teeth

10/29/2010 9:50:52 PM

but thats what a fork is for

and I'd understand that if it was just shrimp by itself, but what if its cooked in sauce or in a soup you have to rummage through your food to get those things off

10/29/2010 9:53:02 PM

Quote :

"whatever, why don't restaurants remove all the inedible parts of the shrimp"

There are no inedible parts of a shrimp. I have no problem eating an entire shrimp with the shell and head still intact.

10/29/2010 9:54:44 PM

wait. fork? shrimp?

10/29/2010 9:55:15 PM

as someone who worked in restaurants for nearly a decade, them leaving the shells on a shrimp tail should be the least of your concerns

you should ask:

"Why is there black mold on all of the soda nozzles?"
"Why do servers only wash their hands like once per shift (at most) even though they handle utensils that have been in peoples mouths, filthy napkins and dirty money for hours on end?"
"Why do servers, with aforementioned filthy hands, use those bare, unwashed hands to put bread in the basket?"
"Why do servers refuse to throw away lemons that they cut at the beginning of the week, just because they're too lazy to cut new ones...and now the lemons are slimy and moldy and being dunked into my ice water."
"Why do cooks, who scratch themselves and often go shower-free for days on end, touch everything on my plate countless times before food is sent out of the kitchen."

Let's consider a burger...bun, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, etc...all individually handled and placed atop your burger without gloves or tongs. That's a lot of filthy food!

10/29/2010 9:58:36 PM

^^^ewww u nastee

^^have you never had shrimp alfredo or any kind of seafood pasta? I'm not talking about shrimp cocktail here, I'm talking shrimp served in a dish

^it's not a sanitary thing at all. It's a "Hey you took the time to remove almost all of the shell off my shrimp except this last little part, that doesn't make sense. please explain why you do that."

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:00 PM. Reason : .]

10/29/2010 9:58:52 PM

I've never had a shrimp dish where the shell was left on. you must be going to some shitty places.

10/29/2010 9:59:55 PM

adds flavor

10/29/2010 10:01:40 PM

^^every restaurant does this, all of them

you must not order enough shrimp dishes


[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:02 PM. Reason : .]

10/29/2010 10:01:40 PM

pshoes wins

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/297480

10/29/2010 10:03:38 PM

haha ok. I don't eat seafood/shrimp ever!

I've had plenty of shrimp in my day and never has this happened to me.

wait, are you talking about the shell or tail? you've switched here.

^says tail, not shell.

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:04 PM. Reason : ..]

10/29/2010 10:03:42 PM

saps is right though....i'd say 90% of the shrimp dishes i've ever served or eaten at a restaurant had the shells on

10/29/2010 10:05:10 PM

some eat the tails

10/29/2010 10:05:48 PM

I mean the tail, the very end, I can somewhat understand leaving a shell on to save time and capture flavor


but removing the shell and leaving the tail doesnt make sense to me

FOR INSTANCE

tonight I went to a Thai restaraunt and ordered some tom yum soup

soup had shrimp in it with the tail still on

Quote :

"wait, are you talking about the shell or tail? you've switched here."

I havent switched at all, I'm talking about the tail

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:13 PM. Reason : .]

10/29/2010 10:07:19 PM

often, with tom yum, the head and tail will be on the prawn.

this is my preferred way to present and cook larger shrimp.

i'll take the shell and legs off though

but save the shell and legs in the freezer then make a shrimp stock when i have enough shells.

it's great.

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:19 PM. Reason : in fact, if i ate at a palce that didnt have AT LEAST the tail on in tom yum i wouldnt go back]

10/29/2010 10:18:35 PM

really? so do you eat the tail? do most people eat the tail? am I some sort of freakish non-tail eating weirdo?

10/29/2010 10:21:18 PM

no


we had a banquet at work to celebrate a successful contract award

there were skrimps

it was then that I met the first motherfucker in my life that would devour a shrimp whole, while the rest of us took the tail off


I was disgusted.... but I understood.












stop being a shrimpist, saps.

10/29/2010 10:24:24 PM

i dont eat the tail.

but i dont mind it being there.

also, if restaurants are buying shrimp that have already been shelled/veined.... well that's just gross.

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:27 PM. Reason : e]

10/29/2010 10:26:28 PM

I used to eat the tail when I was a kid


then I realized normal people don't do that

10/29/2010 10:27:34 PM

OH ILL EAT THE TAIL GIRL

oh wait

10/29/2010 10:28:17 PM

If the tail isn't cooked properly (well if it isn't the whole thing is probably not cooked right) it's not pleasant to eat, and there's nothing wrong in not eating it.

Having grown up on the water and with a large, local supply of shrimp, I've had shrimp pretty much any way you can eat it. Personally, my favorite is the Asian "salt and pepper" shrimp--pan-fries the shrimp in oil at such a high heat that the head, shell, and tail become crispy and amazing. Granted, I've eaten those parts just plain fried too.


...it's whatever you like. If you don't like shrimp tails, then don't eat them. I personally enjoy shrimp tails and I know others do too.

[Edited on October 29, 2010 at 10:30 PM. Reason : fuck me, arrows in an active topic]

10/29/2010 10:28:34 PM

^^call me

10/29/2010 10:29:06 PM

Quote :

" while the rest of us took the tail off"

Wait? When you say you don't eat the tail, are you talking about the entire pink area as shown in the pic below?




In Asia, they usually leave the head and shell on. It's actually pretty tasty. It gives it kind of a crunch to the shrimp.

10/29/2010 10:31:48 PM

But don't they have pointy things on their head?

10/29/2010 10:36:30 PM

^It's not sharp after a nice bath in scalding oil

^^They're not delicious, they're FUCKING ORGASMIC

10/29/2010 10:37:23 PM

once again, pick up the shrimp by the tail and when you put it in your mouth, pull out the meaty stuff that's still in there...om nom nom

10/29/2010 10:53:31 PM

Presentation.


[/thread]

10/29/2010 10:57:18 PM

yeah i squeeze the meat out of the tail portions

10/29/2010 11:06:01 PM

They do cut the tails off them at Kanki

10/29/2010 11:44:51 PM

Quote :

"Let's consider a burger...bun, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, etc...all individually handled and placed atop your burger without gloves or tongs."

What restaurant have you worked at for 10 years that require the cooks to wear gloves?

10/30/2010 12:59:47 AM

^^^If you apply just a little pressure on the tail as you hold it, you can slide the tail off the shrimp meat right easy.

[Edited on October 30, 2010 at 1:01 AM. Reason : ]

10/30/2010 1:00:20 AM

Quote :

"yeah i squeeze the meat out of the tail portions"

^This

[Edited on October 30, 2010 at 3:05 AM. Reason : as you bite it]

10/30/2010 3:05:10 AM

The tails are safe to eat. I eat them all the time. Especially good on the fried ones.

10/30/2010 3:06:28 AM

safe to eat != enjoyable to eat

10/30/2010 3:15:09 AM

The tails are safe and enjoyable to eat. I eat them all the time. Especially good on the fried ones.

10/30/2010 5:25:02 AM

to me i think it's a freshness thing to me

i'm reminded of something my mom told me when she used to work for goodyear. she worked in the plant that machined the huge molds that they send off to other goodyear plants that inject them with rubber. you know the little hairs on a brand-new tire? those are from air vents designed to prevent bubbles and inconsistencies from forming in the molten rubber during the casting process. the rubber pushes all the air out of the mold through those little vents and of course follows suit, plugging them up and forming them nifty little shits.

well, the engineers at goodyear developed a ventless mold that could reliably cast a perfect new tire without those unsightly little hairs everywhere. they produced a few batches and sent them to japan for a test market, noone bought them because they had become so accustomed to seeing hairs on new tires that merchants were hesitant to believe they weren't actually being sold a used product. goodyear scrapped the project.

i can draw a parallel here with shrimp. it would seem to me that if i go to a nice restaurant and order shrimp, i want to know that it's a fresh, quality product with minimal processing prior to becoming part of my meal. while this is clearly desirable with all food, it is especially important where seafood is concerned. when it's already shelled and trimmed, i have no idea how old that thing is or when it was prepped, whether it's been frozen and thawed multiple times or if it even came from a market rather than a plastic bag from the local grocer's freezer section.

when i can see it there in its natural form and i have to peel this nature away from it to consume the goodies within, not only am i more apt to grant this fleeting notion of "quality" but i truly feel i've escaped the mundane and embarked upon an adventure.

10/30/2010 5:47:14 AM

Can someone find me a reliable source that compares the number of cases of food-borne illness that resulted from restaurant or food service as opposed to home kitchens?

In my experience, as much as people like to talk shit about the cleanliness of restaurants and food service kitchen, the home kitchen is normally WAY more dangerous than most commercial kitchens.

Then again, I have never had food poisoning, so I am pretty sure you are all just pussies.

10/30/2010 6:39:46 AM

Yeah but you probably have the immune system of an entire African tribe

10/30/2010 6:52:27 AM

Yeah but you probably have the immune system of an entire African tribe

10/30/2010 6:52:27 AM

Yeah but you probably have the immune system of an entire African tribe

10/30/2010 6:52:27 AM

Yeah but you probably have the immune system of an entire African tribe

10/30/2010 6:52:27 AM

Yeah but I probably have the immune system of an entire African tribe

10/30/2010 7:14:02 AM

I chew the tail, sometimes it chews into a nice fine paste and goes down (especially if it is fried), sometimes it is tough so I don't even try.

Fatties should eat the tail... the chitin in it will help prevent absorption of the some of the fat consumed in the diet. After all, they make a supplement from it for that purpose (or they used to, but they have stopped because better supplements have become available).

[Edited on October 30, 2010 at 7:31 AM. Reason : ]

10/30/2010 7:30:56 AM

tell me more about these fatty supplements

10/30/2010 11:21:28 AM

in before punchmonk tells everybody i eat shrimp with the shells on

10/30/2010 11:22:19 AM

i don't eat bugs, seafaring ones or otherwise

10/30/2010 11:29:20 AM