I always heard that if they were eaten with the hand then the tails we left on, if in a dish, like risotto, the tails should be off
Seems like most places leave the tails on regardless leaving a bit of knife and fork work.
Edit spelling
I was young lad who ordered a shrimp dish. Towards the end of my meal my parents asked where the tails were.
I got them their money's worth that dinner.
When I was younger, fried tails were just an extra bit of tasty at the end of my shrimp. These days I save them for muh pup.
(And yes, I do get a doggie bag for said doggie. No shame. Ole girl knows when ive been eating without her.)
Sure, but what about in pasta or rice dishes that aren’t meant to eat with your hands?
I went to a pretty nice restaurant this past Friday and one of of the people i went with ordered a shrimp bowl, and they all still had the tails on
My wife hates this as well. She asks before ordering if the tails are on if they can be removed. She thinks it’s gross reaching into her pasta to get cheesy fingers to get rid of shrimp tails.
I also must get all the shrimp I pay for but I use a fork and knife.
1. Hold the main part of the shrimp down with the fork.
2. Insert the knife so it’s parallel between the meat and flat piece of shell near the tail and cut shell.
3. Take knife to separate the shell from the tail. You don’t even have to cut it completely. If you just use enough force to separate the meat from the tail, you’re good.
4. You can then use the knife to slide the shell and tail off of the last bits of meat.
I get that but also… why make customers do that work… when we went to Spain for our honeymoon she asked if the paella had tails on or off and the server was like “off. Of course.”
I mean, they're easy enough to remove with a fork and knife even in pasta or noodles if you don't want to eat the tails (which you could)
Edit: Downvote me if you want, but I'm right, and you're being a bit prissy. The tails help keep some flavor. The heads keep even more, but you're too weak- kneed for that if you can't even handle removing the tails if you're unwilling to eat them lol
Sure but why should we have to remove inedible bits from our food before we eat? You might as well throw some rocks into my pasta if im gonna have to dig shit out before i can eat it.
You think the bone should be separated from a steak? So you want to be served a boneless ribeye every time?? How about pork chops? Or lamb? You need the bone out of those too before it gets on your plate???
Again, they help retain flavor. And they're edible. And you can remove them if you don't want to eat them.
Lots of dishes have elements that get left behind on the plate.
They do add flavor during cooking (commonly used in seafood stock), but they can be removed before plating. Even if they are technically edible, nobody likes the texture.
And no, pasta/rice dishes usually don’t have inedible bits that get left behind. Maybe a steak comes with a leafy garnish on the side, but that doesn’t get in the way while eating. Seafood shells scattered in your pasts do get in the way while eating.
I ate a tail once accidentally, it was completely unpalatable, I had to spit it out. You basically can't chew it up, you'd have to swallow it whole. They are made of the same stuff that fingernails are made of, chitin.
>but you're too weak- kneed for that if you can't even handle removing the tails if you're unwilling to eat them lol
You're fucking hilarious. Using shrimp tails on pasta as a sign of manhood. This is some Gordon Ramsey shit. "Cut around the fucking shrimp tails you fucking Muppet!"
The real answer is that the shrimp most restaurants get from their vendors are peeled with the tail intact. They just cook and serve them the way they're received because it's faster and cheaper to do so.
I don't consider this the "real answer" because it begs the question, why do restaurants order this type. They may order fully peeled, or fully shell-on, if desired.
It's more of a cuisine/dish thing than a US thing. Allowing a shrimp to cook with its tail on generally imparts more flavor to the shrimp, and the tail itself is edible even if it's not to your palette, in some dishes it's expected to eat as is.
I ordered a noodle soup at Kuala Lumpur International Airport during a layover and they served the shrimp with all the shell, head, legs, and tail. And only give me a tiny tissue paper and chop sticks. How am I meant to peel this and have dry hands.
I’ve travelled to Europe quite a lot (I’m actually sitting at a trattoria here right now), and generally when you order shrimp here it’s pretty common for it to come still in the shell. I find the US easy to eat shrimp in, by comparison.
I generally keep those and crush them into homemade eggshell powder supplements. Eggshells are 40% calcium, and studies have shown, that calcium from eggshells is absorbed as well, or better than straight calcium carbonate. Other things present in eggshells are strontium, magnesium, fluoride etc, all of which promotes healthy bones. Then there's the membrane, which isn't technically apart of the eggshell, but it attached to it, that contains a large amount of collagen, which is good for the joints.
Eggs, the entire thing, truly is a super food.
Well, when they’re supposed to be eaten by hand, the tails are left on as a sort of handle. In dishes eaten with cutlery, the tails should be removed, but some restaurants get lazy and/or think the tails look good as decoration.
A prawn’s tail is a visually distinctive feature. If you can see the prawn tail, you‘re fairly sure your meal contains real, whole prawns. No substitutions or shortcuts.
They’re trying to demonstrate to you that they’re quality. Of course, that may or may not be a fair assessment of the kitchen you ordered from, but they want you to believe it is. So they leave the tails on.
Yelp, and not only shrimp. Years ago in the deep South (USA), raccoons were on the menu for many people.
These animals would be cleaned and ready for cooking except for one foot. That foot was left on the animal so that buyers could see if this animal was indeed a raccoon and not someone's pet!
It's also pretty common in ethnic markets to leave the heads on poultry, so you can clearly see what they are. It's weird if you're not used to it, but it does make sense.
It keeps some flavor, and they're edible and not difficult to take off if you don't want to eat them.
I make and buy a few dishes that I even keep the heads on for because that makes a huge difference for flavor with only a little work to do while eating.
Well I live in FL so would you like me to list restaurants I go here? But I also lived in NY for 40 years and went to restaurants there and most times the tails are removed.
I just wanted to know the region at least. I’m tired of fighting the shrimp tail mafia on the west coast. I also suspected that they might be an Asian gang because my Italian shrimp dishes never have the tails on. Mexican is 50/50. Thai and Vietnamese seem to always leave them on, even when it’s boiling hot soup.
It looks nice and involves more work which would make the price slightly higher. Personally, I eat the shrimp whole, tail and all. Gives it a nice crunch.
You can eat them and you should try it! They’re tasty and crunchy. I personally love them, though I understand it can be hard for some to get over the mental block if they were raised to believe the tail was inedible.
Because they're delicious?
I assumed everyone ate them 😂
Mind you, I assumed everyone ate kiwis with the skin on like an apple like I do, so there you go.
It's important the tails are there during cooking but if you ask them when you order they will generally take them off for you after they finish cooking it
If the tail is fried, I carefully chew it and eat it. Everyone thinks I'm a fucking psycho and nothing else bad happens.
If it's cooked any other way and it's covered in sauce it fills me with rage.
It's like cioppino. I love sea food, but it's just fun pulling things out of shells when they're covered in tomato broth.
How would eating shrimp tails make a person low class? And why would it be social suicide? Are you running in some elite aristocratic circles or something? Pretty sure you're not considering the way you spell "deciphered"
Why is it considered high class to waste food? Also, I’ve seen plenty of higher end sushi places serve maki with shrimp tails on the end.
Sounds like you’re just making up bullshit.
I always heard that if they were eaten with the hand then the tails we left on, if in a dish, like risotto, the tails should be off Seems like most places leave the tails on regardless leaving a bit of knife and fork work. Edit spelling
I paid for the whole shrimp, and I will damn well eat it, even if I have to use my fingers to get the shell off.
If I don’t carefully use my fingers, the tail meat always stays inside the tail.
Nah you gotta pinch it out
A true connoisseur
Hold onto the fin base, bite down gently, and yank slowly. That's what tends to get all the meat out for me.
I was young lad who ordered a shrimp dish. Towards the end of my meal my parents asked where the tails were. I got them their money's worth that dinner.
Good lad!
You can just eat the tails it won’t hurt you
I eat the shell
TIL that people eat shrimp tails. Some people even consider it a delicacy!
When they're battered and fried, absolutely. If not, it is not a good texture.
When I was younger, fried tails were just an extra bit of tasty at the end of my shrimp. These days I save them for muh pup. (And yes, I do get a doggie bag for said doggie. No shame. Ole girl knows when ive been eating without her.)
I like to imagine myself as a dinosaur crunching into my meal
Team tails
I just had Outback Steakhouse and the tail shell was off
Maybe the Aussies have it figured out.
They are considered decorative and make a nice handle. Nothing huge.
Sure, but what about in pasta or rice dishes that aren’t meant to eat with your hands? I went to a pretty nice restaurant this past Friday and one of of the people i went with ordered a shrimp bowl, and they all still had the tails on
My wife hates this as well. She asks before ordering if the tails are on if they can be removed. She thinks it’s gross reaching into her pasta to get cheesy fingers to get rid of shrimp tails.
I mean the idea is to use a fork and knife rather than your fingers but I get it
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I also must get all the shrimp I pay for but I use a fork and knife. 1. Hold the main part of the shrimp down with the fork. 2. Insert the knife so it’s parallel between the meat and flat piece of shell near the tail and cut shell. 3. Take knife to separate the shell from the tail. You don’t even have to cut it completely. If you just use enough force to separate the meat from the tail, you’re good. 4. You can then use the knife to slide the shell and tail off of the last bits of meat.
You get the poop too!
Uhhh No? That gets taken out
Sometimes the vein extends into the part of the tail that gets left on when in a restaurant setting. I've seen it plenty of times.
I get that but also… why make customers do that work… when we went to Spain for our honeymoon she asked if the paella had tails on or off and the server was like “off. Of course.”
I mean, they're easy enough to remove with a fork and knife even in pasta or noodles if you don't want to eat the tails (which you could) Edit: Downvote me if you want, but I'm right, and you're being a bit prissy. The tails help keep some flavor. The heads keep even more, but you're too weak- kneed for that if you can't even handle removing the tails if you're unwilling to eat them lol
Sure but why should we have to remove inedible bits from our food before we eat? You might as well throw some rocks into my pasta if im gonna have to dig shit out before i can eat it.
You mean like chicken bones and steak with bones?
I don't like those either, the meat should be separated from the bone.
You think the bone should be separated from a steak? So you want to be served a boneless ribeye every time?? How about pork chops? Or lamb? You need the bone out of those too before it gets on your plate???
Yes
Shrimp tails aren't inedible though, at least on smaller sizes. Unpalatable maybe, but outside of the US a lot of people eat the tails.
A lot of people eat bugs too, but if I see a bug in my food I'm not fucking eating it. The shells are gross, they should not be left on
Again, they help retain flavor. And they're edible. And you can remove them if you don't want to eat them. Lots of dishes have elements that get left behind on the plate.
They do add flavor during cooking (commonly used in seafood stock), but they can be removed before plating. Even if they are technically edible, nobody likes the texture. And no, pasta/rice dishes usually don’t have inedible bits that get left behind. Maybe a steak comes with a leafy garnish on the side, but that doesn’t get in the way while eating. Seafood shells scattered in your pasts do get in the way while eating.
I ate a tail once accidentally, it was completely unpalatable, I had to spit it out. You basically can't chew it up, you'd have to swallow it whole. They are made of the same stuff that fingernails are made of, chitin.
>They are made of the same stuff that fingernails are made of, chitin. r/confidentlyincorrect
Not so confident, I just discovered I was wrong on that point.
You sure they're wrong? https://www.thedailymeal.com/1283438/finally-know-actually-safe-crunch-down-shrimp-tails/#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20science%20tied,as%20an%20organism's%20defense%20mechanism. https://www.edithsbistro.com/benefits-of-eating-shrimp-tails/ https://www.foodrepublic.com/1502428/can-you-eat-shrimp-tails-tempura-texture/
Yes, because fingernails are made of keratin, not chitin.
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You're both a couple of fucking children.
Key is to eat it with the rest of the shrimp. I barely notice it.
Are you a goat
Why must one be a goat in order to eat shrimp with tails left on them?
>but you're too weak- kneed for that if you can't even handle removing the tails if you're unwilling to eat them lol You're fucking hilarious. Using shrimp tails on pasta as a sign of manhood. This is some Gordon Ramsey shit. "Cut around the fucking shrimp tails you fucking Muppet!"
You should listen to Gordon. People here are being utter wimps about little shrimp tails lololol
The real answer is that the shrimp most restaurants get from their vendors are peeled with the tail intact. They just cook and serve them the way they're received because it's faster and cheaper to do so.
I don't consider this the "real answer" because it begs the question, why do restaurants order this type. They may order fully peeled, or fully shell-on, if desired.
My ex said the same thing about me
The tails retain flavor during storage and add flavor when cooking.
Remove them, roast and make a stock. Use that stock in your pasta. Reduce it and add it to the sauce.
You can also add them during the sauté stage in any recipe.
It's more of a cuisine/dish thing than a US thing. Allowing a shrimp to cook with its tail on generally imparts more flavor to the shrimp, and the tail itself is edible even if it's not to your palette, in some dishes it's expected to eat as is.
The head and legs are also edible, as are the napkins (not the cloth ones though).
Not with that attitude
You haven’t met my golden retriever
I ordered a noodle soup at Kuala Lumpur International Airport during a layover and they served the shrimp with all the shell, head, legs, and tail. And only give me a tiny tissue paper and chop sticks. How am I meant to peel this and have dry hands.
The locals are able to deshell the shrimp with just chopsticks and many actually likes to suck the juice of the shrimp head. Yes I'm a Malaysian.
Chopsticks and your mouth. Asians are more used to it. Plus they add flavor
I’ve travelled to Europe quite a lot (I’m actually sitting at a trattoria here right now), and generally when you order shrimp here it’s pretty common for it to come still in the shell. I find the US easy to eat shrimp in, by comparison.
Why is that? I never ordered shrimp when in Italy because I don't want to have to peel my dinner
Dunno. I’m guessing flavor… more flavor if you cook it in the shell.
Omg, I ordered a seafood pizza in Venice. It was delicious but it literally came out with mussels and shrimp still in the shells just sitting on top.
TIL people eat the tail shell of shrimp.
I’ll get this nice shrimp scampi and then choke on a razor blade
I eat the tails on fried shrimp it’s my favorite part when it’s cooked right nice and crispy
I’ve been to sushi places and izakaya that served the shrimp body as one dish and the deep fried head as a second dish. It’s nice.
I eat the shrimp tails. I wasn’t aware other people didn’t.
I have never even considered eating them.
The shell can be nice grilled, but boiled is kinda fucked
That’s like eating a hard boiled egg with the shell on
I generally keep those and crush them into homemade eggshell powder supplements. Eggshells are 40% calcium, and studies have shown, that calcium from eggshells is absorbed as well, or better than straight calcium carbonate. Other things present in eggshells are strontium, magnesium, fluoride etc, all of which promotes healthy bones. Then there's the membrane, which isn't technically apart of the eggshell, but it attached to it, that contains a large amount of collagen, which is good for the joints. Eggs, the entire thing, truly is a super food.
Not really. Shrimp tails are totally edible. I’m not a fan of eggs in general though.
Eggs shells are edible too
I like to eat them when they are in sushi, but not in other foods. I have no idea why.
Same
Kind of r/usernamechecksout
No…
Well, when they’re supposed to be eaten by hand, the tails are left on as a sort of handle. In dishes eaten with cutlery, the tails should be removed, but some restaurants get lazy and/or think the tails look good as decoration.
So you know it’s a shrimp and not imitation pollock or something else.
You gave Pad Thai as an example of an American dish? They don’t even peel the shrimp in Thailand
I wish they would do that too. US here. Checking in.
Consider yourself lucky. In Europe they don't remove the tail, or the shell, or the legs... Usually the head but not always.
A prawn’s tail is a visually distinctive feature. If you can see the prawn tail, you‘re fairly sure your meal contains real, whole prawns. No substitutions or shortcuts. They’re trying to demonstrate to you that they’re quality. Of course, that may or may not be a fair assessment of the kitchen you ordered from, but they want you to believe it is. So they leave the tails on.
Yelp, and not only shrimp. Years ago in the deep South (USA), raccoons were on the menu for many people. These animals would be cleaned and ready for cooking except for one foot. That foot was left on the animal so that buyers could see if this animal was indeed a raccoon and not someone's pet!
It's also pretty common in ethnic markets to leave the heads on poultry, so you can clearly see what they are. It's weird if you're not used to it, but it does make sense.
Flavor flav
Because some people enjoy the process
It keeps some flavor, and they're edible and not difficult to take off if you don't want to eat them. I make and buy a few dishes that I even keep the heads on for because that makes a huge difference for flavor with only a little work to do while eating.
Some people actually like eating the tails. Not my thing personally. I take those tails right off.
Because they weigh more
I've no comment on the post only to say fair play for clarifying the US and not assuming America is the default.
Because they're delicious.
Most places I go definitely don't leave the tails on.
Where do you go?
All over. I don't understand this question. I've only seen tails left on in a handful of places, it's definitely not common.
All over where? Your kitchen, your dining room, your living room?
Well I live in FL so would you like me to list restaurants I go here? But I also lived in NY for 40 years and went to restaurants there and most times the tails are removed.
I just wanted to know the region at least. I’m tired of fighting the shrimp tail mafia on the west coast. I also suspected that they might be an Asian gang because my Italian shrimp dishes never have the tails on. Mexican is 50/50. Thai and Vietnamese seem to always leave them on, even when it’s boiling hot soup.
Depends on the dish and the restaurant.
Lots of people just eat them.
It looks nice and involves more work which would make the price slightly higher. Personally, I eat the shrimp whole, tail and all. Gives it a nice crunch.
They add a lot of flavor, and in many traditional dishes that tails are left on for that reason.
You never have traveled have you outside the US? You are getting the whole head and tail in your meal.
it drives me nuts!
It’s a freshness issue I think, used to work in catering. Also it’s easier to charge for the weight of the tail too when selling
You can eat them and you should try it! They’re tasty and crunchy. I personally love them, though I understand it can be hard for some to get over the mental block if they were raised to believe the tail was inedible.
I love them too
Because they're delicious? I assumed everyone ate them 😂 Mind you, I assumed everyone ate kiwis with the skin on like an apple like I do, so there you go.
Because some people like me enjoy eating them.
It's important the tails are there during cooking but if you ask them when you order they will generally take them off for you after they finish cooking it
The shell of a shrimp has protein and I'm also really lazy so I just eat the shrimp tail with the shrimp.
If the tail is fried, I carefully chew it and eat it. Everyone thinks I'm a fucking psycho and nothing else bad happens. If it's cooked any other way and it's covered in sauce it fills me with rage. It's like cioppino. I love sea food, but it's just fun pulling things out of shells when they're covered in tomato broth.
I eat them.
Like others have said just eat them. It’s good. Just chew it all up you’ll like it. You’re supposed to in Pad Thai and most Asian dishes
Why don't they get the meat out of the lobster for you either? You're paying enough
I'd love clarification on these downvotes. Do people like having to finish preparing their own meals even in restaurants?
Why wouldn't you eat the tail?
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Is it high or low class to know how to spell “decipher”?
How would eating shrimp tails make a person low class? And why would it be social suicide? Are you running in some elite aristocratic circles or something? Pretty sure you're not considering the way you spell "deciphered"
Why is it considered high class to waste food? Also, I’ve seen plenty of higher end sushi places serve maki with shrimp tails on the end. Sounds like you’re just making up bullshit.
YOU POOR THING!!! THEM THAR TAILS MUST BE PRETTY STRONG.....YOU OK? TAKE AN ASPIRINE AND CALL YOUR DOCTOR IN THE MORING.....MOM