Shrimp is quick to cook, and when you fry it, you must stand on guard because it can be done in no time. Shrimp is a very nutritious food that can be quite healthy due to the fact that it can lower your bad cholesterol. It can be cooked in a variety of ways and can be prepared and cooked in under 30 minutes.
It is great as a party snack or just to be used to make a family gathering more fun and tasteful. The question is, how long does it have to be cooked or how long do you have to fry it to make that ideal party snack? We are obviously partial to deep frying, and you only need to fry shrimp for two to three minutes. For more information, check out our guide on how long to fry shrimp using the best deep fryer.
What is shrimp?
Shrimp is one of the over 2,000 species of the Natantia, which is a subspecies of the Crustacea class of sea animals. Prawns and other sea animals that are part of a worldwide cuisine of seafood are all part of the Crustacea class. Shrimp are either caught in the ocean or raised on farms that are specially designed to produce hundreds of thousands of them yearly.
There are more than 300 types or species of shrimp across the world. Only about six types are commonly sold. The larger shrimp, especially the jumbo, are sometimes confused with one of its fellow Crustacea family members, the prawn. A shrimp has a flattened, semi see-through body with a pliable abdomen that tapers to the back. It ends in a tail and is very similar to a prawn.
Pan fry or deep fry – that is the question
Though shrimp is a healthy food and can be easily included in a balanced healthy diet, you still need to prepare it healthily. Pan-frying or oven-baking is a far healthier way to prepare it without too much oil involved in the cooking. On the flip side, preparing your shrimp in a small deep fryer will often result in the best taste. But no matter how you prepare it, you still need to be aware that these little nutritional snacks cook quickly.
You need to be there for it the whole time while preparing and cooking, baking, or frying them the way you want it. No matter where your shrimp originated from – from shrimp farms or from the ocean – they are all prepared in basically the same way.
If you just cook them normally in the water, your shrimp should be properly cooked in only 3 to 4 minutes. Frying the shrimp should take you 2 to 3 minutes, and any longer than that will just make them rubbery.
To know when they are done cooking, you will need to look at the shape of the shrimp. Normally, if a shrimp is still straight, it is undercooked. However, if they are curled up in an ‘o’, they are overcooked. Overcooked shrimp will be rubbery and inedible. You want your shrimp to look like the letter ‘C’ to be just right.
Fried shrimp will be basically the same shape, but you will have to look at the color, as well. After 2 to 3 minutes, the shrimp should be a light ‘C’ shape and should have a golden brown color.
How to get your shrimp
It is better to buy your shrimp frozen than to buy them thawed. The shelf life of frozen shrimp is much longer than thawed shrimp. When buying thawed shrimp, they have only a few days of shelf life and do not taste as good as fresh shrimp.
Frozen shrimp are also much better to prepare, and they have a much better flavor quality than thawed shrimp. You should avoid buying de-veined or peeled shrimp, as well. Also, do not buy brown shrimp. Tthey have a mineral that occurs naturally and will taste like iodine in your mouth.
Frozen shrimp are sold in pounds, and the packaging you buy it will indicate the number of shrimp it contains per pound. You can determine the size of the shrimp by looking at these numbers, as well. The larger they are, the less per pound you will get. 20 to 30 shrimp per pound is the best number to go for to give you a good size.
This amount will also provide better flavor, and they are easier to prepare. Make sure your shrimp are of good quality and smell of saltwater only. They should also have no spots on the shells. Those black spots on the shells normally indicate that the meat is starting to break down and is no good.
Take a good look and get a feel of the texture of frozen shrimp before you buy them. Look especially for the thawed ones. If your shrimp feels gritty or the shells are of yellowish color, you should not buy them, frozen or thawed. This indicates that the black spots that occur on the shell when the meat is breaking up were removed with a bleaching agent to cover the state of the shrimp.
Final Thoughts
It will only take you 2 to 3 minutes to fry your shrimp to a nice, crispy treat. It will be a good, crispy snack that will make the party perfect while being part of your healthy diet. Sure, you can get your shrimp cooked or fried from fast food stores. But, it is always more fun to make them yourself.
We hope you have a happy shrimp frying experience and remember to always keep your eyes on the shrimp. Over frying them makes shrimp rubbery and sad – no one wants to eat shrimp like that, do they?
