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Prawns or Shrimps, to Boil

This dish is boiled prawns or shrimp seasoned with salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Prawns or Shrimps, to Boil

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Ensure prawns are very red and fresh, with no spawn.

  2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Boil

  1. Add prawns and boil for 7 to 8 minutes.

  2. For shrimps, boil for about 5 minutes.

  3. Check doneness by observing the color change.

  4. Avoid over-boiling to prevent tastelessness.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Prawns
Their firm flesh sets and turns opaque when heated, giving the dish its main texture.
Shrimps
Their smaller size means they cook faster and firm up sooner than prawns.
Salt
Seasons the cooking water so the shellfish takes on flavour as it boils.

The step that matters

Avoid over-boiling. Prolonged heat tightens the proteins in shellfish, making them tough and dry, and it also dulls their flavour. Pull them as soon as the colour changes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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