Shelled Shrimp [Cooking]
2007 Apr 20
Not so fast! ;-)
Since "shelling" is the act of removing shells from shrimp rather than adding them, "unshelling" should be the opposite. That implies that unshelled shrimp have the shells ON. Or is this like flammable vs. inflammable?
There's nothing wrong with crunchy shrimp -- one of my favourite Chinese dishes consists of shrimp cooked and eaten with their shells on.
Anyways, that recipe sounds ambiguous to me. Assuming you peel the shrimp at some point, I'd go with weighing the 1/2 lb with the shells off if you love shrimp and shells on if you don't. :-)
Since "shelling" is the act of removing shells from shrimp rather than adding them, "unshelling" should be the opposite. That implies that unshelled shrimp have the shells ON. Or is this like flammable vs. inflammable?
There's nothing wrong with crunchy shrimp -- one of my favourite Chinese dishes consists of shrimp cooked and eaten with their shells on.
Anyways, that recipe sounds ambiguous to me. Assuming you peel the shrimp at some point, I'd go with weighing the 1/2 lb with the shells off if you love shrimp and shells on if you don't. :-)
2007 Apr 20
I also think "unshelled" means shell ON as Fresh Foodie said- but I'm not 100% sure either. Most recipes that I've seen calling for shrimp without shells refer to them as "shrimp, shells removed" or something easy like that.
I tried to find some example recipes on epicurious.com and couldn't find many, but I did find some referring to shelled/unshelled peas. Based on those example recipes, I would say "shelled" = shell OFF and "unshelled" = shell ON.
Ingredient example from epicurious.com:
4 cups cooked peas (4 pounds unshelled fresh peas, shelled, or two 10-ounce packages frozen peas)
I tried to find some example recipes on epicurious.com and couldn't find many, but I did find some referring to shelled/unshelled peas. Based on those example recipes, I would say "shelled" = shell OFF and "unshelled" = shell ON.
Ingredient example from epicurious.com:
4 cups cooked peas (4 pounds unshelled fresh peas, shelled, or two 10-ounce packages frozen peas)
2007 Apr 20
As 'shelling' is a verb, it confuses things...but 'shelled', by definition, means 'with shell'.
I looked up unshelled in the dictionary (I closed my office door and shut the blinds)...
from The Concise Oxford:
unshelled (adj): extracted from its shell
or from Wiki's Ninjawords:
unshelled (adj): of animals or fruits that have no shell
I asked a colleague, Stuart ~ our Spock-like, brainard, know-it-all.
He answered, without pause, shell OFF.
O.K. Someone from the other side now.
I looked up unshelled in the dictionary (I closed my office door and shut the blinds)...
from The Concise Oxford:
unshelled (adj): extracted from its shell
or from Wiki's Ninjawords:
unshelled (adj): of animals or fruits that have no shell
I asked a colleague, Stuart ~ our Spock-like, brainard, know-it-all.
He answered, without pause, shell OFF.
O.K. Someone from the other side now.
2007 Apr 20
First of all i think alot of the confusion comes from the word shelled, Shrimp usually use the term peeled.
However,Instead of getting into the whole grammar thing, think of the dish logically. The only time you would want to serve shrimp in the shell is when they can be eaten with your hands, that is to say not in a sauce, not in a formal environment etc... People may argue that flavour is lost when the shrimp are cooked without their shells so if you really want to cook them in the shell for one of the aforementioned situations you could remove the shrimp near the end of the cooking process peel them and then reintroduce them to the dish.
....don't throw out your shells when you do peel them prior to cooking, keep them in the freezer and when you collect enough of them, getly simmer in veg oil to infuse their flavour and colour to make a fancy Shrimp oil.
However,Instead of getting into the whole grammar thing, think of the dish logically. The only time you would want to serve shrimp in the shell is when they can be eaten with your hands, that is to say not in a sauce, not in a formal environment etc... People may argue that flavour is lost when the shrimp are cooked without their shells so if you really want to cook them in the shell for one of the aforementioned situations you could remove the shrimp near the end of the cooking process peel them and then reintroduce them to the dish.
....don't throw out your shells when you do peel them prior to cooking, keep them in the freezer and when you collect enough of them, getly simmer in veg oil to infuse their flavour and colour to make a fancy Shrimp oil.
2007 Apr 20
I guess we can all agree that the word unshelled should not be used in a recipe then! :-)
In defence of eating shrimp with their shells on, here's a recipe: www.epicurious.com
You'll also notice that if you order a special Vietnamese soup that some restaurants offer "with shrimp cracker" the shrimp embedded in the fried cracker usually has its shell on. You're meant to eat that shell too. The shells have great flavour. Yum!
In defence of eating shrimp with their shells on, here's a recipe: www.epicurious.com
You'll also notice that if you order a special Vietnamese soup that some restaurants offer "with shrimp cracker" the shrimp embedded in the fried cracker usually has its shell on. You're meant to eat that shell too. The shells have great flavour. Yum!
witchypoo
If a reciped asks for 1/2 lb of "unshelled shrimp", does that mean that the shrimp has its shell on or shell off?