# Deveining shrimp



## kevin20422 (Dec 7, 2009)

I am sorry if this is dumb but the frozen shrimp we bought at the grocery store have the vein gone off the back but there is a black line in the inside too.  Is that a vein I need to remove also?

These are small frozen shrimp.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Hmm...maybe the shrimp has only been slit but not properly gutted? I'd say you need to take the black vein out. I like shrimp crunchy when it's battered and deep fried, but not that sort of crunch of the vein /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif

Not 100% sure - somebody else have an idea?


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

I would say that those shrimp may have been shelled and deveined,  but not thoroughly cleaned.  Very often the sand tract is broken during the deveining process,  and its contents spill out, settling into the groove.  I try to inspect the shrimp for this before purchasing.  While a couple like that might be okay,  I don't want to see it in the majority of the ones I buy.


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## cookinmt (Aug 3, 2010)

The line along the interior, or "belly,' is the ventral nerve (makes the shrimp move), and is totally harmless.  You find it more often in smaller shrimp as it's difficult to remove during processing, though with larger shrimp it tends to go with their heads.

Some cooks remove it for aesthetics, though once cooked it's usually not noticeable.  It's different from the intestinal tract along the outer curve or "back" of the shrimp, which is (usually) taken out.


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## kevin20422 (Dec 7, 2009)

Thanks, may I call you MT?  Your answer has been selected as the best answer.  You win a trip to Spain.

Just send $100 deposit to the address in your PM.

Just kidding.  Hey put down those cuffs, it was only a joke.  Help.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

For some reason, here, even frozen shelled shrimp has the black intestinal vein left in.  Asking people, they say they leave it!  Yuck.  I had to find frozen shrimp at a German hard discount (Lidl) which is the only place i've ever found it deveined.  It's WAY too much work to remove when it's been frozen because it always breaks (the freezing makes the cells break down more easily) and I had given up eating shrimp since I don't really know a reliable fish seller anywhere i can get to easily.   Is this just an italian thing or do others leave the black vein in?


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

How do you guys deal with shrimp and prawns which are cooked whole?  Or won't you eat them?

BDL


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

The pink or red vein can be eaten and in fact is used in Chinese rest. to make shrimp toast. The black vein so to speak contains a lot of sand can be eaten but should be removed. I am lucky, we have an automatic machine that removes the vein. Not practical for home use as it cost about $10,000.00., but on  a yearly  basis saves us that in labor.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

boar_d_laze said:


> How do you guys deal with shrimp and prawns which are cooked whole? Or won't you eat them?
> 
> BDL


I've eaten them, but not very often - not for any dislike of them but because i rarely get the chance. I never really learned to peel them with a knife and fork, so i imagine they're so mangled by the time i get them out that I don't notice the black intestine. I usually only have them in restaurants, usually they're in some pasta dish with some tomato. Grilled or fried i never order them because the grilling and the batter, the best parts, are on the shell you have to throw out. Seems a waste. I always choose calamari in a fish restaurant for fried fish.

But when i use shrimp, say, for shrimp cocktail or want to throw a few in with my rice salad (especially with black rice) or in some other preparation without sauce or garlic, then i buy them frozen and have to dig out the intestine, which I find bitter. (Is it my imagination? In a delicate dish, where you don;t have a sauce or garlic or anything, i can taste the black. Plus it's not attractive.)


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