Using the microwave to defrost prawns can make them soggy or overcooked.
Never use water that is warmer than room temperature, as this could lead to soggy or rubbery prawns.
For the freshest, best tasting prawns, consider cleaning and cooking them as soon as you get home from the store.
You can also freeze prawns for up to three months in your freezer at −18 °C (0 °F), but this may lead to less fresh tasting prawns. Prawns should never be left out at room temperature for more than a few minutes.
Discard the unused prawn heads in the trash immediately.
Removing the tail before the rest of the shell will make the deshelling process much easier.
This should leave you with just the meaty part of prawn left.
This black vein is the prawn’s intestines. Removing it will help your prawns taste much better. After deveining the prawns, you should rinse them once more with cold water. This will help ensure all remnants of the intestines are completely removed.
Removing the shell gets rid of all the oils on the prawn, so choose prawns that have not been deshelled to help maintain the full flavor.
Buying prepackaged prawns means you will get prawns that are much older and will not taste nearly as good.
There are also brown varieties of prawns that should appear brown in color. These, too, should have no spots or discolored areas.
This is another reason you should only purchase fresh prawns instead of prepackaged ones. If they are wrapped up in packing, you won’t be able to check out how the prawns smell before you purchase them.
