This is how to clean shrimp in no time

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: cleaning prawns in no time.

You probably don't want to hear it, but it's really better to remove the intestinal tract from prawns before you prepare them. It's indeed a fiddly task, but yes, eating shrimp poop might be even lower on your list of things you want to do...

Therefore: a short course on cleaning shrimp. And we're talking about those big ones, prawns. With a little practice, you'll surely get the hang of it eventually.

Here's how to remove the intestinal tract from large shrimp

• Bend the head of the shrimp slightly downwards, following the ‘curve’. Under the head, you can now see the intestinal tract running towards the tail.
• Place the blunt side of a small knife tip under the tract.
• Gently lift it up so you can pinch the tract between two fingers.
• Remove the knife, keep the tail straight, and carefully pull the intestinal tract out.
• If you bought peeled prawns, carefully and not too deeply cut open the back, and
• again use the blunt side of a knife to loosen the intestinal tract so you can pull it out.

Here's how to peel large shrimp

• Hold the prawn in one hand with the back facing down and the head towards you.
• Work your thumb under the shell between the legs closest to you and move left and right.
• Now work your thumb along one side of all the legs until they are loose and pull the shell off. You can leave the head on or remove it.

Here's how to butterfly large shrimp

• Proceed as you would when cleaning peeled prawns, but cut a little deeper. This will create a butterfly effect when the shrimp cook and curl nicely inwards. This is how they are often served in Asian noodle soups.

Source: Chef’s Pencil