Last night I went to a ramen noodle shop for the first time, and I ordered some seafood ramen. On top of my giant bowl of hot soup were three giant unpeeled shrimp - eyes, legs, and all. I had no idea how to eat these without making a mess, and none of my other friends did either. I ended up just putting them on an empty appetizer plate and shelling them afterward, but it was really messy.
They looked to be deep fried - even their whiskers were crispy. How is one supposed to eat these things? Are you supposed to just peel them there (even thought that’s messy and risks burning your fingers) or chomp through the shell?
Some people do eat them shells and all, but I break them in half and dig out the meat. I don’t know what’s considered the ‘proper’ way of eating them. It’s not like some shrimp that are cooked with a spicy coating on the shell, intended to get on your fingers and transferred to the food while you eat, so I suspect they were intended to be eaten whole. But that just doesn’t appeal to me, the crunching would distract me from the flavor of the shrimp itself.
Then, if the shell is coated in something tasty, I’ll peel the shell off with my teeth and I’ll spit out the indigestible bits. If the shell isn’t coated in something tasty, I’ll peel it by hand using a chopstick for assistance (usually making a mess in the process).
Yep - when they’re fried thay’re intended to be eaten whole. I’m not a fan myself so I’ll ask for them peeled or do it myself. Rarely I can get them peeled with the head still on - the best of both worlds.
Ok, wow! Good to know. Thanks for the replies. I’m not sure I could ever bring myself to just eat the whole thing, even though I really love shrimp. I eat the little tiny ones whole, so I guess it’s the same idea. I am familiar with the idea of head-sucking through crawfish, but it didn’t occur to me to do that to shrimp, too. I’ll have to try it.