The most important indicator when buying shrimp is freshness, but besides freshness, you should also pay attention to its size. The water environment where wild shrimp grow may be polluted. The longer the shrimp grows, the more pollutants may be present in its body. It's best to eat this type of shrimp less often.
Don't buy shrimp that is too big.
Senior National Public Nutritionist Li Li: "Peeling shrimp is too troublesome, larger shrimp has more meat and is more cost-effective." This seems to be the voice of many people, but in fact, the bigger the shrimp, the better it is not.
The most important indicator when buying shrimp is freshness, but besides freshness, you should also pay attention to its size. The water environment where wild shrimp grow may be polluted. The longer the shrimp grows, the more pollutants may be present in its body. It's best to eat this type of shrimp less often. Currently, the level of river pollution in our country is generally higher than that of seawater. Therefore, in this regard, sea shrimp (such as prawns and grass shrimp) are relatively less polluted than river shrimp (mainly consisting of green shrimp). For farmed shrimp, although they grow faster, if they are too large, their texture will not be as tender, and their nutritional value will also be affected.
If the shrimp is slightly smaller, you can eat it with the shell. The shell contains a relatively high amount of calcium, but this calcium is not easily absorbed by the human body; it only has a slight effect on supplementing calcium.
Basin Basin Shrimp
Black heads on Arctic shrimp are nothing to worry about
Senior Chinese Chef Zhang Cailing: It is usually a sign of spoilage if the head of a cooked shrimp turns black or even falls off, but this is not the case for wild Arctic shrimp; a "black head" on an Arctic shrimp is normal.
When people catch Arctic shrimp, they use large trawl nets to pull them up from the seabed at once. The sudden change in atmospheric pressure can cause the stomach to rupture. The stomach of an Arctic shrimp is in its head, and with its translucent shell, the black or brown plankton or algae that the shrimp has eaten spreads out, making the head look black. Furthermore, female Arctic shrimp during the spawning period sometimes have mature roe in their ovaries, and the head may also appear dark green. These can all be reasons for the "black head" phenomenon in Arctic shrimp. Eating this "black head" shrimp will not harm the human body. If you cannot visually accept it, simply remove the shrimp head.
However, for river shrimp like green shrimp, if the head has already turned black, it's best not to buy or eat them.
Crispy and Fragrant Arctic Shrimp
The ice glaze is a protector for the shrimp
Second-level Public Nutritionist Liu Yun: People who often buy shrimp will notice that there is sometimes a layer of "ice glaze" on the outside of the shrimp. In fact, it serves to preserve the freshness of the shrimp.
The bumps and temperature differences during the transportation of fresh shrimp can adversely affect the quality and flavor of the shrimp. However, after putting on an "ice glaze," the shrimp is isolated from the outside world, with less temperature variation, reducing its contact with harmful bacteria and air, and also preventing breakage from impact. At the same time, the "ice glaze" can reduce the evaporation of moisture in the shrimp, preventing dehydration and spoilage. Some merchants may also add vitamin C to the ice glaze for preservation purposes.
Of course, the "ice glaze" is not the thicker the better. Otherwise, you will end up with more ice than shrimp in your purchase, which is not cost-effective. You can buy a few first and gently tap them with a hard object to see the thickness of the ice glaze, then decide whether to buy them. In addition, to avoid poor quality water used to make the "ice glaze," it is best to thaw, wash, and then cook and eat it before consumption.
Steamed Shrimp with Garlic and Vermicelli