Prawns are extremely delicious, but it has some health hazards too if not cleaned properly. Here you get the step-by-step guide with which you may easily clean prawns and make your favorite dish without fearing the health issues. So, if you are wondering how to clean prawns in the proper way, here you go.
All you need is:
Fresh prawns (prefer cleaning prawns before refrigerating or storing)
Small knife, or a toothpick, or a deveining tool
Cold water
Paper towels
The deveining process:
Removal of the head:
If your recipe doesn’t need the prawn head, just twist it gently and pull it off.
Peel the shell:
If your recipe doesn’t need to keep the prawn shells, you need to peel them off. Start from the legs and continue peeling it off upward. You may leave the tail for presentation as it looks better aesthetically.
Cut the back:
Make a shallow cut on the back of the prawns from head to tail, exposing the vein.
Remove the vein:
The vein appears black or brown. This is the intestinal tract, which contains sand, grit, and/or fecal matter. You obviously would not prefer to let it stay in your prawns.
Use the tip of a small knife or a toothpick to lift and pull it out.
Sometimes it has a clear or white vein. Don’t leave it like that. Just remove it.
Rinse and dry:
After you clean the prawns, just rinse them thoroughly with cold water. Then spread them over a paper towel and pat it dry.
The Extra tip:
- If the prawns are smaller in size and you can’t see the vein, hold them to a source of light, and it will be more visible.
- If you are cooking with the shell, just make an incision on the shell, and you may remove the vein through the cut.
Conclusion:
So, I believe now you will not wonder how to clean prawns whenever you get a fresh catch in the fish market. In the race between taste and health, health always wins. But if we play a little tactfully, they both may win.
Read other Kitchen Hacks here.