every one of em I've ate has everything besides the head and veins
2007-02-23 13:46:42 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Food & Drink ➔ Ethnic Cuisine
Many Chinese prawn dishes are cooked whole as they are - the 'orangey brain' inside the large heads are choice parts favored by many.
Cooking with the heads and shells intact demonstrates freshness, leaving the inside flesh succulent and moist; they also look more attractive for garnishing purpose and appear more appetizing.
Prawns (raw) without the heads may not be fresh - the neck area of a shrimp/prawn is the first to decay easily separated from the body. Uncooked fresh prawns would have the head still 'firmly' attached.
2007-02-23 16:11:56 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Presentation - same reason why Americans leave the tails on shrimps for shrimp cocktail.
In Japanese Shrimp Tempura, the tails are also used for holding them during cooking. Skilled chefs hold the tails with barehands, coat them in batter, dip them in hot oil, wiggle it a little until the batter is set, then let go. If you use chopsticks to hold the body of the shrimp when you fry it, you'll have an area without batter.
2007-02-25 09:28:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're supposed to separate the head fron the tail, and suck out the delicious juices. Then you get to peel the tail which is fine in Taiwan because it's usually steamed, but in Philippines everything is fried, so the tail is very slippery.
2007-02-24 00:30:29 · answer #3 · answered by luosechi 駱士基 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well maybe it's part of the food decor/ art. Also, it kinda gives u the feeling that the shrimp will taste better :P. It's not a problem i guess, you just have to pull or bite it off.
2007-02-24 10:35:01 · answer #4 · answered by Hanna 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) For presentation
2) Some people believe that leaving the shell on seals in the juice and makes it a tastier dish.
2007-02-24 00:46:12 · answer #5 · answered by bzpple 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've eaten at plenty of Western restaurants that do this. In fact, just last week I had that.
I don't see what the problem is. It's just food and you should have the common sense to pluck off what is unnecessary.
2007-02-23 21:55:16 · answer #6 · answered by Belie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cooking with those parts on intensifies the shrimp flavor in the food.
2007-02-23 23:14:06 · answer #7 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
MUCH more rich flavor & everything else said by our collegues here. The US is about the only culture who want to purify foods to look like they never lived.
2007-02-24 02:29:49 · answer #8 · answered by PAMELA G 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because it looks better that way.
Shrimp (whose kanji name represetns 'sea' and 'old' in Japanese) is a simbol of longivity because it resembles an old man with bent back.
2007-02-23 22:28:38 · answer #9 · answered by flemmingbee2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You really don't have to devein shrimp, cooking kills bad stuff.
Maybe because of work it takes to devein. Tails on for looks.
2007-02-23 21:50:37 · answer #10 · answered by mike h 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋