6+ ways to cook frozen shrimp - it's simple and incredibly tasty

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Prepared by: Alexey Marchuk

10/15/2015 Cooking time: 25 min

A real gourmet delicacy is fried shrimp with lemon. The biggest advantage of this is the speed of its preparation. You simply have to try this deliciousness. Real jam!

Shrimp fried with garlic

Both royal and small specimens are suitable for cooking. No preliminary cleaning is required; we leave the shell on.

You will need:

• Fresh frozen seafood – 800 g;
• Rosemary – 1/2 teaspoon;
• 3 garlic cloves;
• Vegetable oil – 150 ml.

Cooking recipe step by step:

1. We wash the crustaceans and dry them with paper towels;
2. Pour butter onto the surface of a large frying pan, add finely chopped garlic and rosemary. Fry the components together for a minute so that the oil component absorbs the aroma;
3. Place the crustaceans and fry until their skin turns golden brown, then remove to paper napkins to absorb excess fat.

Crispy appetizers like Fried Garlic Shrimp pair perfectly with beer and highlight the flavors of this frothy drink.

Product selection

If you have already bought shrimp, then you know that in most cases they are sold already boiled. To extend shelf life, the product is subjected to shock freezing, which forms a thin film of ice on the surface. Such seafood can be stored for about 1 year without losing its taste and maintaining its appetizing appearance. Sometimes seafood is sold in vacuum packaging, chilled, and the meat is already peeled.

According to the size of shrimp there are:

• cold-water (Atlantic);
• warm water (royal, tiger).

Small species are usually cheaper than royal or tiger ones. The taste of the meat of both is not too different, choose at your own discretion. If you are going to make a salad, then cocktail shrimp are better suited; if you just want to enjoy tender meat or cook sea soup, of course, choose large representatives of crustaceans.

Before purchasing a product, look at its appearance:

• look at the frozen or manufactured date on the package, the fresher the seafood, the better;
• the tail of crustaceans should be bent inward: this indicates that they were not stored for long;
• the shell should be smooth and shiny, and the coloring should be uniform.

Some people misleadingly believe that a brown head is a sign of depravity, this is not true. The dark color of the head, as well as the presence of caviar, indicate that the seafood is healthy and its consumption is absolutely safe for health.

Shrimp fried with lemon and garlic

Grocery list:

• Soy sauce – 180-200 ml;
• Frozen tiger clams – 500 g;
• One lemon;
• 5 garlic cloves;
• Basil - two sprigs;
• Olives – 6 pcs;
• Salt and pepper;
• Butter.

Step-by-step recipe with photos:

1. Place butter in a deep frying pan and set to gas. As soon as it melts, put shrimp on it (you don’t need to defrost it) and brown it. During the frying process, do not forget to stir them, otherwise they may burn;
2. Quickly cut the lemon into circles, each of which is then divided into 4 more parts. Add it to the frying pan, mix everything thoroughly with a wooden spatula;
3. Finely chop the garlic using a knife or put it through a garlic press, add it to the bowl with soy sauce, mix thoroughly until smooth;
4. Pour the resulting mixture into the frying pan. Seafood in soy sauce with garlic and lemon should be simmered for about two minutes;
5. Add ground pepper and add a little salt;
6. Continue simmering for another 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the stove.

Place the fried shrimp in soy sauce on a large plate and garnish with basil sprigs, olives and lemon rings.

Nuances in preparation

To keep shrimp meat tender, it needs to be cooked correctly. It’s not at all difficult if you follow some subtleties when cooking:

• Frozen shrimp should only be defrosted naturally. Do not use a microwave or defrost food under running boiling water. Due to the thermal effect, the meat becomes rubbery and the juice comes out;
• Shrimp meat should be cooked only in boiling water; you cannot put food in cold water and then heat it, as all the useful components will go into the broth;
• To add flavor during cooking, you can add spices and seasonings. Basil, rosemary, Provençal herbs, paprika, black and red peppers, and bay leaves are excellent for this purpose;
• It is easy to judge the readiness of the product when the crustaceans float to the surface. Pay attention to the color of the shell: it becomes transparent.

Shrimp meat only takes a few minutes to cook, making them great for whipping up. Overcooked shrimp become tasteless, and their meat takes a very long time to chew. Cooking time depends on the type of product; details of how long to cook shrimp are described in the table.

The smaller the shrimp, the faster they will cook. A freshly frozen product, which has a grey-green tint to its shell, is always cooked 2-3 minutes longer than already boiled red shrimp. Seafood can not only be boiled, but also steamed, in a slow cooker or microwave, or fried in a frying pan. You decide the cooking method yourself; regardless of the method, the dish will certainly turn out delicious.

Shrimp fried in shell

Thanks to the spices, the finished dish turns out incredibly aromatic and tasty.

You will need:

• Shellfish – half a kilo;
• Half a lime and half a lemon;
• Garlic – 2-3 cloves;
• Dried thyme;
• One chili pepper;
• Pepper and salt;
• Olive oil.

Fried shrimp recipe:

1. We cut up sea reptiles: we separate the heads, remove the intestinal vein, and leave the shell. We wash and dry the carcasses well, add some salt, sprinkle with thyme and pepper, and put them aside;
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, cut the garlic and chili into large pieces, fry until a light crust appears. After the oil has absorbed the aroma from these components, carefully remove them with a slotted spoon and throw them away;
3. Also squeeze the juice from half a lemon and a lime into the pan. Now fry the seafood on each side for a couple of minutes. Next, remove them onto a paper towel to drain off any greasy residue.

Shrimp in the shell should be eaten slowly, washed down with white wine.

How to cook boiled frozen shrimp

First, the product must be defrosted, since it is difficult to find chilled shrimp, and the price tag will be accordingly.

Let's return to the purchased crustaceans.

Place a pack of frozen shrimp in a container, fill it with warm water and wait until it defrosts. Now you can open the pack, rinse the shrimp and place in a deep bowl. The final touch is to pour boiling water over them, let it sit for a few minutes and drain the water.

How long does it take to cook shrimp?

It is impossible to find raw shrimp; only boiled ones are on sale; their cooking time is no more than 6 minutes. Duration varies from 2 to 6 minutes. Here you need to take into account the size of the crustaceans; large ones take longer to cook.

Protein meat has a delicate structure; if you leave it longer than necessary, you will get a rubbery something that has no taste. If you were not in a hurry and did not waste time, you will get tender and tasty shrimp that melt in your mouth.

There are many different recipes, the most delicious, simple and unusual ones will be described below.

Fried tiger clams breaded

Required ingredients:

• Lime and egg - 1 pc.;
• Wheat flour, sugar, English dry mustard, ketchup, sesame oil - a tablespoon each;
• Breadcrumbs – 25 g;
• Sweet chili sauce – 300 ml;
• A pinch of salt;
• Vegetable oil – 4 tablespoons;
• Tiger shrimps – 10 pieces.

How to fry shrimp at home:

1. We make a mixture of sesame oil, ketchup, chili and granulated sugar. Mix everything well and cool;
2. Pour a mixture of salt and flour into one bowl, break the egg into the second, and add breadcrumbs into the third. Alternately dip the cleaned seafood first into the contents of the first container, then into the second, then into the third. Place the pieces on a clean towel and press lightly so that the breading sticks better;
3. Heat a dry frying pan until a slight smoke appears for a couple of minutes and add vegetable oil. Fry the sea creatures in two portions until an appetizing yellowish crust appears on each side.

Serve fried tiger shrimp with your favorite sauce and garnish with lime wedges.

Argentine shrimp recipe

If you manage to find an Argentine variety of crustaceans, do not miss the opportunity to cook it deliciously. It's not difficult, even a child can do it. Despite the fact that the seafood is unpeeled, this will not affect the cooking process in any way. We'll clean it up later. The algorithm of actions is presented below:

• First, defrost the seafood, rinse and cut off the head;
• Make not too deep cuts along the back with a thin knife blade. You will see a vessel, remove it with your fingers;
• You don’t have to remove the shell for now, but if you want, take it off. It is easy to remove the shell from cooked foods, but it is difficult to remove from raw meat;
• Heat 3-4 liters of water in a saucepan, add 3 tbsp. salt and bring to a boil;
• Boil seafood in boiling water until cooked. It takes 4-5 minutes;
• After cooking, drain the water, place the delicacy in a colander and rinse for 1 minute in cold water.

You can drizzle the shrimp with olive oil or lemon juice. For spice, add spices, you can sprinkle with ground black pepper, it will turn out very tasty.

Royal fried seafood

In this recipe, which is related to Thai cuisine, fried king prawns are cooked with an exotic fruit, which gives the dish a special piquancy.

Required components:

• 3 large spoons of teriyaki sauce;
• 15 pieces of crustaceans;
• 200 g mango;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 1/3 cup coconut flakes;
• One onion.

Cooking diagram:

1. Pass the peeled garlic cloves through a press and finely chop the onion;
2. Heat a frying pan, fry the onion until translucent, add the garlic mass and your favorite spices;
3. Add teriyaki sauce to the pan, add a little lemon juice and seafood;
4. Cut the mango pulp into small cubes, add to the seafood delicacy, cover with a lid and simmer until done;
5. Remove the lid so that the moisture evaporates a little;
6. Before serving, sprinkle our culinary masterpiece with coconut flakes.

King Prawns Recipe

It’s not for nothing that seafood received the name “royal”, since its size is large - about the size of an adult’s palm. Pay attention to what type of delicacy you bought: after all, crustaceans are sold in peeled and unpeeled form. The cooking procedure for both types is of course similar, but has slight differences:

• wait until the seafood melts. Then rinse them free of debris and ice;
• Add water to the pan about 3 times more than the weight of the delicacy. Place the pan on the fire, add salt and spices. As soon as the water boils, transfer the prepared product into it;
• The cooking time for unpeeled shrimp is 7-8 minutes, and peeled shrimp will be cooked in just 5 minutes. At the end of cooking, drain the broth from the pan.

The delicacy is ready to eat. If you like spice, sprinkle the seafood with a pinch of red pepper before serving. Unpeeled crustaceans will be easier to peel if you run them under cold water for 2 minutes. Start cleaning from the tail.

Fried shrimp in soy sauce with garlic

Fried shrimp with garlic and soy sauce taste like smoked shrimp. It depends on the sauce and frying oil mixture. In this version, you can prepare both frozen peeled crustaceans and chilled ones in the shell.

Product composition:

• 70 g each of olive oil and butter;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 700 g crustaceans;
• One onion;
• 5 tablespoons of soy sauce.

Stages of work:

1. Clean the shellfish, add soy sauce to them, season with chopped garlic and spices, and stir. Let marinate for a while;
2. Sauté seafood in butter mixed with olive oil for two minutes;
3. Separately, fry the onion, let it cool a little, and mix it with the fried crustaceans.

This unusual appetizer is served with a light salad or new potatoes.

How to cook shrimp with spices

Rinse the sea creatures well in water, pour water into the pan at the rate of 1 part shrimp to 3 parts water. That is, pour 6 liters of water per 2 kg of shrimp.

If done correctly, the shrimp will melt in your mouth. If you are preparing large varieties, such as tiger or royal, you must first clean them of chitin. Peeled shrimp will be better saturated with spices and the taste will be more delicate and vibrant.

Let the water boil, as soon as it boils, reduce the heat and add black peppercorns to the water. 3 pieces per 1 liter of water. To taste, you can add 3 cloves and the juice of one small lemon. For flavor, add a couple of cloves of garlic and a bay leaf. A couple of tablespoons of tomato paste will add piquancy to the shrimp; add spices to taste. Let the water with the spices simmer for a few minutes, only now add the shrimp. As soon as the chitin becomes translucent, you can remove it. Another sign of readiness: crustaceans float to the surface.

Drain the water, sprinkle with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, add olive oil to taste.

Recipe for fried seafood with beer

This oriental dish came to us from Indian cuisine. Cheese baked in breadcrumbs is an additional snack to the seafood delicacy.

Components:

• 150 g cherry tomatoes;
• 500 g crustaceans;
• Curry, paprika and other aromatic spices;
• 3 garlic cloves.

Cooking instructions:

1. Cut off the stem of the washed tomatoes and cut them into small cubes;
2. Grind the garlic, mix it with the tomatoes, add spices;
3. Place cleaned seafood into the spicy mixture and place the container aside for 30 minutes;
4. Place the shellfish in a frying pan and fry on each side.

Serve the seafood delicacy with beer. By the way, it is perfect for a football or hockey match, which men love so much.

Fried sea crustaceans in creamy sauce

Seafood cooked in a creamy sauce with a subtle hint of garlic serves as a main dish, as a separate appetizer, or as a side dish of rice.

List of components:

• 5 cloves of garlic;
• 1.5 cups medium fat cream;
• 800 g frozen shellfish;
• Salt, pepper, favorite spices.

Cooking method:

1. Season, add salt to the seafood delicacy, fry until golden in a frying pan;
2. We will pass the garlic through a press ourselves and add it to the cream with other spices;
3. Cook the dressing over low heat for five minutes;
4. Pour it into the frying pan while hot. Simmer the crustaceans under the lid for about three more minutes.

Serve with rice, light salad, and lemon.