How long does it take to cook frozen shrimp in a pan? Pasta with shrimp and cream cheese

King prawns have a richer aroma and taste, excellent nutritional properties and, of course, larger sizes compared to regular shrimp. This is an excellent option for combining dietary properties, easily digestible protein, nutritional value, and essential amino acids in one product.

As a rule, frozen king prawns are available for sale in retail chains in our region. Let's figure out what we should do next with them after purchasing, how much and how to properly cook frozen king prawns, and also reveal a few secrets of their preparation.

How to properly cook unpeeled frozen king prawns?

First of all, defrost the shrimp at room temperature or under running cold water. Then pour water into any pan at the rate of four liters per kilogram of shrimp, heat it to a boil and add two tablespoons of salt to this amount. Now immerse the unpeeled frozen king prawns in boiling water, wait until it boils again, and cook for six to seven minutes. Place the shrimp in a colander and rinse with cold water. Such a shock procedure will make it easy to clear them of their shells for further use.

Note that this cooking process is intended for raw shrimp. They are gray in color, both fresh and frozen. If you purchased unpeeled pink shrimp, this means that they were already boiled before freezing and therefore require less cooking time. All you have to do is keep these pre-thawed shrimp in boiling water for one minute, and they are ready.

How to properly cook peeled frozen king prawns?

If the frozen king prawns you purchased are already peeled, they were most likely boiled before freezing and are pink in color. To prepare, first defrost them at room temperature, placing them in a colander placed on any container to collect liquid. You should not immediately immerse them in hot water, as there is a high risk of losing the taste of the finished dish. For the same reason, it is not recommended to use a microwave oven for defrosting.

Pour water into a saucepan in a volume twice the volume of the shrimp that need to be boiled, heat to a boil, add salt at the rate of 30 grams of salt per liter of water and immerse our already defrosted, peeled king prawns there for one to two minutes, depending on the the size of the mollusks. It is more convenient to do this in the same colander in which they were defrosted, so choose a cooking pan of the appropriate size.

When cooking any shrimp, both peeled and in the shell, it is important not to overcook them in boiling water, since after prolonged heat treatment they become hard (rubbery).

If you like the natural taste of shrimp, then you should not add spices to the water when cooking. Although, if necessary, and if desired, you can season the water with a bunch of dill, allspice or black peppercorns, bay leaves, as well as a wide variety of spices and herbs. It all depends on your taste preferences and, possibly, on the requirements of the recipe for further use of boiled shrimp.

Well, the king prawns have been purchased, defrosted and properly boiled. All that remains is to decide on the method of their further use. Namely, add shrimp to, or enjoy their wonderful natural taste by preparing some original sauce for them.

Ingredients:

(4 servings)

• 800 gr. fresh frozen shrimp
• 1.5-2 l. water
• 2 bay leaves
• shrimp sauce
• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce
• lemon juice

• First of all, we need the shrimp themselves. Shrimp can be small, medium or large. Size doesn’t really affect how to cook shrimp. But what is very important is the freshness of the shrimp. Good frozen shrimp always have a uniform color, a shiny shell and a curved tail. The latter depends on the type of shrimp: the larger the shrimp, the less curled it is.

• Before cooking, shrimp must be thawed. To prevent shrimp from losing their taste, they should be defrosted in the refrigerator at a temperature of 3-5°C. Room temperature is not the best choice; hot water and microwave are excluded.
• It is better to cook any shrimp unpeeled. The shell not only gives additional taste and aroma, but also protects tender meat from loss of liquid.
• So, pour a sufficient amount of water into a large saucepan and put it on fire. The method of boiling shrimp in sea water has now been forgotten and is practically not used. But earlier, especially when nobles or crowned heads expressed a desire to try this delicacy, shrimp were cooked only in sea water.
• To achieve the desired effect of sea water, be sure to salt the water, and it is advisable to use sea salt. We put about 30 grams of salt for every liter of fresh water.

• For flavor, add a couple of bay leaves. It is not recommended to add a lot of spices, as they will clog the taste and aroma of the shrimp. Boil the water for a couple of minutes until the salt is completely dissolved.
• Place shrimp in boiling water. The water stops boiling.

• We increase the fire, but don’t go anywhere ourselves. We wait until the water boils again.

How long to cook shrimp

• If you ask a good cook: How long does it take to cook shrimp? He will answer you - “not at all.” Exaggerated, but true.
• The main rule of delicious shrimp is to cook the shrimp quickly.. Therefore, as soon as the water with shrimp boils, immediately remove the pan from the heat.

• If the shrimp are large (king or tiger), then cook for half a minute, maximum one minute. In order not to miss the moment, we count down out loud. Yes, yes, out loud. Even after keeping the shrimp a little in hot water, we risk getting a rubber shrimp instead of the most tender meat.
• The second rule of delicious shrimp is that after boiling, the shrimp should be cooled as quickly as possible.. The ideal option is to drain the shrimp in a colander and then place them on crushed pieces of ice for 1-2 minutes. If you don’t have ice on hand, simply rinse the shrimp with cold water.

• Place the cooked shrimp on a large plate. That's all, as you can see, there is nothing complicated about how to boil shrimp. If you follow these simple tips, your shrimp will always turn out extraordinarily tasty and tender.

• We serve the shrimp either warm or chilled, depending on the chef’s idea. Don't forget to prepare a special sauce for shrimp.
• There are several basic shrimp sauces, but this one is my favorite. It's fast, tasty and practical.

• Take two small cloves of garlic, finely chop them or crush them in a garlic press.
• Mix mayonnaise, soy sauce and crushed garlic.
• Add one teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• Mix everything thoroughly. Serve the finished sauce with the shrimp.

These dishes are worth trying

Reviews and comments:

Irina 04/25/13
I don’t remember where I read that after cooking shrimp should be left in hot water for taste, and I always did that. I tried to cook it in a new way, as you wrote. The shrimp turned out great. Thanks for the recipe

Victoria 06/12/13
Some advise boiling shrimp for a quarter of an hour, others, like you, just bring them to a boil and immediately turn them off. Who to believe?

Alyona
Victoria, you must trust, first of all, common sense. How much does one shrimp weigh? From 5g. small up to 30-35g. large. The protein that makes up the shrimp begins to coagulate at a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius. So how long does it take for a shrimp to cook? Fifteen minutes are out of the question!!!
And one more example from life. If you have ever gone to a river and caught crayfish, you should remember that crayfish are boiled for exactly 5 minutes, and crayfish are much larger than the largest shrimp)))

Djulia 06/22/13
We are finally at sea! We cooked shrimp according to your recipe. It turned out delicious. True, she couldn’t overcome herself and turn off the heat immediately after they boiled, but let them boil for a minute. After all, the shrimp were not frozen, but fresh. Who knows when they were caught there. It's better to play it safe.

Alyona
Cool for you, you are at sea)))

Afanasyev Igor 02.11.13
Cooking shrimp correctly is actually difficult, and if you overcook it for even a minute, it won’t turn out delicious. I use this cooking method all the time and I always have delicious shrimp.

Lina 11.11.13
Thank you for the detailed topic and special thanks for the shrimp sauce recipe. I still couldn’t find something useful, usually everyone recommends sauce with ketchup, but yours is something unusual and original.

Sonya 11/13/13
We love shrimp, but it turns out we cook it completely wrong (I didn’t know that I needed to defrost it, and I didn’t rinse it with cold water either ((then they turn out rubbery for me!

Evgeniya 11/15/13
To be honest, I have never encountered shrimp. And I had no idea how to cook them. This is a whole science that includes knowledge of shrimp anatomy. Great. I love learning something new.

Alyona
Always happy to help)))

Marina 11/22/13
I’ve never tried shrimp, somehow they didn’t attract me and didn’t arouse my appetite, but now my opinion has changed, looking at the photo I now wanted to try it, in case I liked it.

Alyona
Marina, be sure to try the shrimp, life is full of surprises)))

Irina 11/28/13
It seemed to me that I knew how to cook shrimp and knew the secrets of cooking, but it turned out that not quite. Now I understand why they sometimes turn out rubbery. I didn’t know about defrosting them in the refrigerator, now I will follow all the advice in this article.

Love 11/29/13
You really shouldn't overcook the shrimp, they will lose all their flavor! Of course, you don’t have sea water on hand, but you always have sea salt and bay leaves too, it gives a wonderful aroma to the dish. As soon as they boil, our shrimp are ready!). Mayonnaise and garlic sauce is an excellent addition to warm shrimp!).

Galya 07.12.13
Oh, it’s kind of scary for me to cook shrimp for just a minute, God knows where they were caught and when, although I mentally agree with your arguments, the eternal Russian suspicion is stronger. Okay, neither you nor me, I will cook for 5 minutes, and I will carry out all the other subtleties according to your instructions.

Alyona
A wise decision, five minutes is much better than twenty)))

Olga 12/15/13
I didn’t know that it’s better to defrost shrimp before cooking. I thought that, on the contrary, you should throw shrimp just taken out of the freezer into boiling water. Interesting note about sea water, worth a try.

Vitalina 12/22/13
It turns out that there is a whole science of how to cook shrimp so as not to miss the moment of readiness. I used to think that it was enough to simply dip them in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, and voila, they are ready. But no, there are still a lot of tricks for preparing them.

Tamara 01/03/13
Good afternoon You write that we take frozen shrimp, but in supermarkets they are almost always boiled and frozen. Please clarify?

Alyona
Tamara, good day to you too! It is preferable to buy fresh frozen ones, without previous heat treatment. They turn out to be the most delicious and juicy. Another thing is that these are not always available in the store.
If only boiled-frozen ones are available, then you shouldn’t cook or fry them for a long time, since they are already ready.

Inna 02/09/14
I was pleasantly surprised by my new knowledge in the field of cooking. I love seafood, they are frequent guests on my table, but boiling shrimp in sea water is new to me. I'll try to cook in a new way :)

Tatyana 03/13/14
I didn’t know that shrimp should be cooled after cooking, but to be honest, I cooked them longer than the allotted time, now I’ll correct myself). You should know and take note of the subtleties of preparing dishes; the taste depends on this. Thanks for the recipe!

Alyona
Tatyana, thank you for your comment)))

Katya 10/28/14
My best friend is addicted to frying shrimp, and she fries them for quite a long time. As a result, her shrimp are tough and smell like oil. I can't eat this! I'd rather use your method. In my opinion, you have a correct and logical approach to this sacrament))

Vlad 11/19/14
Thank you, the shrimp are great!

Valentina Ivanovna 21.11.14
I really liked the sauce for the shrimp. I added salty soy sauce to it, the kind they use for sushi, I assume that's what you meant.

Ekaterina 11/25/14
girls and boys, I’m from Sakhalin, and I can tell you that we don’t cook them at all, because you just need to pour boiling water over the shrimp, add salt, stir and drain the water, they cool down very quickly, so it’s not recommended to cool them by any other means, if With this method, the shrimp simply melt in your mouth, and you don’t even need to add salt to the water, but before eating, dip the peeled shrimp in soy sauce, it’s very tasty))))

Alyona
Ekaterina, thank you very much for your shrimp recipe. I fully agree, the less heat treatment, the more tender the shrimp are)))

Vasilisa 01/18/15
I’m reading some of the comments and I’m surprised. It turns out that many people do not know how to cook shrimp correctly. But they are already sold as a semi-finished product, read on the packaging, they just need to be brought up to condition a little. That's why they cook for just a minute.

Anton 01/31/15
Good afternoon, Alena. Everything is correct, but I add 2-3 cloves. Thank you for your work.

Alyona
Anton, thank you very much for your feedback)))

Shrimp are no longer an overseas delicacy; everyone can afford them. There are many recipes that use shrimp meat.

Among them there are both delicious, one might say festive, and simpler and even low-calorie recipes. adapted for daily use.

However, despite the availability of this product, a number of problems arise when cooking them for the first time. Mostly difficulties arise with determining time. Not everyone knows how long and how to cook shrimp correctly.

Since the shrimp are very tender, you only need to cook them a little. But there are some nuances here too. Use our step-by-step photo recipe for cooking unpeeled shrimp and you probably won’t go wrong!

• Unpeeled, frozen shrimp;
• Water;
• Salt and spices as desired.

How to properly cook frozen unpeeled shrimp:

1. Pour regular cold water into the pan. Add spices and salt at your discretion. Bring it to a boil. Take water at the rate of 1 part shrimp to 2-3 parts water.

2. Place frozen, unpeeled shrimp in a colander and be sure to rinse under running cold water (it’s better to remove the shell).

Since the shrimp are very tender, you only need to cook them for a couple of minutes. Shrimp that you purchased boiled and frozen should be cooked for 3-5 minutes, and uncooked shrimp should be cooked for about 10 minutes.

6. Before eating, shrimp must be peeled. To do this, tear off the head of the shrimp and then pull the tip of the tail. The shell can be easily removed and the inner edible part of the shrimp will remain.

Now you know how to cook unpeeled frozen shrimp, but you also need to know a few more important points described below.

Subtleties of cooking unpeeled shrimp:

• The process of preparing shrimp has its own subtleties. For example, they cannot be overcooked, otherwise they will become rubbery. When cooked correctly, they will literally melt in your mouth.
• Not only salt is used as spices, but also bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves and lemon, and bay leaves. If you decide to use a lemon, then cut it and squeeze out the juice (which is what you will be using). If the lemon is very large, then squeeze the juice out of only one half; if it’s small, then you can squeeze out all of it. The water in which the shrimp will be cooked will taste slightly acidic after adding lemon juice.
• You can determine whether our shrimp are ready by the change in color of the shell. The shell will become a little more transparent, and the shrimp themselves will float up.
• You can cook unpeeled shrimp not only on the stove, but also in the microwave by adding a little water.
• Frozen shrimp must be defrosted and not thrown directly into the water.

For spice lovers, we can offer this recipe for shrimp broth:
1. Cloves – 4-5 pcs.;
2. Black peppercorns – 4 pcs.;
3. Allspice peas – 1-2 pcs.;
4. Bay leaf – 1 pc. medium size;
5. Lemon – 1/2, cut into several parts;
6. Garlic – 1 head, unpeeled, cut into 4 parts;
7. Tomato paste – 1-2 tbsp. l. or paprika powder – 1 tsp;
8. Salt.

You add the spices when the water starts to boil, and add the shrimp themselves when it is already completely boiling. Cooking time is 2-3 minutes.

You may like:

How long to cook frozen unpeeled shrimp step by step video recipe

We have also prepared a video for you to fully understand the step-by-step cooking process.

Not everyone knows how to cook shrimp. First, let's find out how to cook shrimp correctly so that they are not only tasty, but also retain maximum nutrients. To get the right shrimp, you should take into account several nuances. First, find out what kind of shrimp you bought, fresh frozen or boiled frozen. Fresh frozen shrimp are very difficult to find - they are gray in color, most shrimp will be cooked in a factory way. These are already pink shrimp. To cook them deliciously, you will need to clear them of ice and cook them just a little.

Methods for preparing shrimp:

Basic method

Ingredients:

• 500 gr. shrimp
• 1 lemon
• colander
• salt

Cooking method:

• To de-ice the shrimp, place them in a colander and pour boiling water over them as long as it takes to completely remove the ice from the surface of the shrimp.
• Then the raw shrimp must be transferred to a pan of boiling salted water, allowed to boil, and left on low heat for another 3-4 minutes.
• Then remove from heat, drain the water and add the shrimp, garnishing them and sprinkling with lemon juice.

You can cook shrimp without first clearing them of ice, as shown in the video:

2

Shrimp in beer

Beer lovers love to boil shrimp in beer. This is done as follows. Shrimp and beer are added to boiling water. The amount of beer depends on the amount of shrimp. For 1 kg of shrimp, add about half a liter of beer to the water. After boiling, cook the shrimp for another 5 minutes. Then drain the water and beer.

3

Shrimp in sauce

Shrimp can be cooked in a special sauce. Pour enough water into the pan, put it on the fire and wait for bubbles to appear. At this point, squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the water, add black pepper, bay leaf, a few cloves, and paprika. Depending on your taste preferences, you can add a few cloves of garlic, onions or a tablespoon of tomato paste to the water. When the water boils, pour the shrimp into it, cover with a lid and turn off the heat. After 2 minutes the shrimp are ready.

4

Fresh frozen shrimp

If you bought fresh frozen shrimp that are gray in color, you will have to cook them a little longer, since they were not thermally treated in advance. To prepare such shrimp you will need 5-8 minutes, as well as Avicomp kitchen products). In this case, after boiling, they should be cooked over medium heat. It is recommended to stir them carefully, being careful not to damage the shell. When they are finally ready, they will turn pink and float to the surface of the water.

King prawns sound beautiful and make you think of gourmet exotic cuisine. Indeed, this type of shrimp differs from its counterparts in its subtle, specific taste: they have more sweetness than ordinary shrimp. And they are also larger in size. The largest specimens sometimes grow up to 30-35 cm and can weigh 250 grams. But these are exceptional cases. The king prawns sold in our stores are not that big, but they are still large enough to attract our attention and whet our appetite.

Cooking king prawns is not difficult; they can be served very beautifully, using herbs, lemon, tomatoes or avocado for decoration. Shrimp can be an ingredient in a wide variety of dishes, or can be served as an independent dish with various sauces. There are a great many sauce recipes; in addition, you can show your imagination and create your own, one and only, sauce.

Cooking shrimp
First, let's take a closer look at how to cook king prawns.

First they need to be defrosted. If you have time, transfer the shrimp from the freezer to the refrigerator in advance and they will defrost naturally after a few hours. After this they need to be washed. If you have not previously defrosted the shrimp, you can defrost them directly during the washing process, although this will take a little longer. To rinse, place the shrimp in a colander and place under running water. If the shrimp are frozen, the water can be hot, this will not harm them at all.

In the meantime, you need to put a pan of water on the fire and wait for the water to boil. The volume of water should be approximately three times the volume of the shrimp. Place the shrimp, washed from contaminants and freed from excess particles, into boiling salted water. We take salt at the rate of 20-30 grams per liter of water. You can also add to the water: lemon juice, black or allspice peas, bay leaf, a head or several cloves of garlic, dill - fresh or dried, coriander seeds. Each of these spices will give the shrimp a special taste and aroma. You can also use any combination of them to suit your taste.

Now we wait for the water to boil again, remove the foam and cook until tender.

Cooking time for king prawns
The shrimp you buy in the store will most likely be boiled and frozen. Although occasionally there are those that were frozen raw. They differ in color. If the shrimp are bright pink in color, it means they were cooked before being frozen. If the shrimp are gray-green in color, it means they were frozen without processing.

Why do we need to know this? This determines how long to cook the king prawns. If you cook pink, processed shrimp, keep them in boiling water for no more than five minutes, otherwise they will become tough. If you come across raw frozen shrimp, cook them for about eight minutes.

The cooking time also depends on the size of the shrimp. Large specimens take longer to cook than smaller ones. Although king prawns, by definition, cannot be small, their sizes still vary within certain limits.

If you cook peeled king prawns, keep in mind that the amount of salt should be halved. Otherwise, they are cooked in the same way - in boiling water, with additives if desired, but in a little less time than shrimp in the shell.

Cook shrimp in the microwave and in a double boiler
There is an original recipe for cooking shrimp in the microwave. Thawed and washed shrimp are poured with beer. For one kilogram of shrimp you need to take 100-150 ml of light beer. Salt, add black pepper and, if desired, a little lemon or lime juice. Place the container with beer-drenched shrimp in a microwave oven for seven minutes. Then we take it out, pour out half the beer, and put it in the microwave again, this time for five minutes. The shrimp are ready.

Beer can be replaced with water, then you will get regular boiled shrimp. In the first case, the shrimp will have an unusual taste.

Cooking shrimp in a double boiler is also not at all difficult. Fill the steamer container with water to the marked line, place the defrosted shrimp in the water, add a few slices of lemon and salt. Turn on the steamer. In fifteen minutes the shrimp will be ready. The taste of shrimp cooked in a double boiler is softer and more delicate than those cooked over a fire.

Original ways to cook shrimp
King prawns are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as in freshwater bodies of Asia and Latin America. They are eaten all over the world, and they do it in different ways.

For example, in Italy, shrimp are boiled in milk or even heavy cream. Place them in boiling milk, unpeeled, and cook in it until tender. Add salt and spices, but do not add lemon so that the milk does not curdle.

In Japan and China, when boiling shrimp, they add not spices to the water, but green tea, that is, they get shrimp boiled in tea. In Russia they came up with the idea of ​​boiling shrimp in beer and even vodka. Vodka is not used instead of water, but simply added 1-2 glasses during cooking. This gives the shrimp a tartness and probably a certain strength.

Beer for boiling shrimp is also used not pure, but diluted 1:1 with water, with the addition of salt, pepper and lemon. The shrimp are boiled, then covered with a lid and left for 10-15 minutes so that they are better saturated with the beer broth.

Sauces for shrimp
Traditionally, shrimp are served with lemon juice: add lemon while cooking, drizzle lemon juice over shrimp after they are cooked, or mix lemon juice with olive oil and dip peeled shrimp in it.

In addition to olive oil, lemon juice can be mixed with low-fat sour cream, add finely chopped herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, arugula), salt and pepper and serve with shrimp. You can add mustard.

You can use garlic cheese sauce. The cheese must be hard; Parmesan is best. It is grated on a fine grater, mixed with sour cream and mayonnaise, and grated garlic is added. If you want the sauce to have fewer calories, then you do not need to add mayonnaise.

The simplest and most universally loved sauce, popularly called “ketchunez,” is extremely easy to prepare: ketchup and mayonnaise are mixed in equal proportions.

King prawns and diet
King prawns are considered a dietary dish, because their calorie content is low: a maximum of 110 kcal per hundred grams of product. At the same time, they are very nutritious, because they contain a lot of protein (21g per 100g), which is easily digestible, and a large number of essential amino acids necessary for the normal functioning of the body. King prawns contain a lot of microelements and many vitamins necessary for humans.

The fat content of king prawns is very low: 1.7 g per 100 g of product. It is even smaller than ordinary, small-sized shrimp. Moreover, the fat contained in shrimp is very healthy, because it consists of saturated fatty amino acids, which have a beneficial effect on blood vessels and the heart and do not form harmful cholesterol.