# shrimp tails in food **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474 "2007-06-10T16:23:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/41 "2007-06-11T19:54:57Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] What’s good enough for a grouper is good enough for me. [/QUOTE] Are we to assume, then, that you are a [protogynous hermaphrodite](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/NassauGrouper/NassauGrouper.html)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/42 "2007-06-11T20:04:18Z")
If you ask for your salad dressing on the side and it comes dressed, all you got to do is quietly use your finger to wipe the dressing off onto the side of your plate, then put it on the salad as you wish. Same fpr toast. If you want it “dry”, just scrape the butter off. I could go on. I’m paying for the food. If they can’t accommodate me, let me know and I’ll go elsewhere. Why patrons cower before restaraunt staff, including the chef, is beyond me. Sissies! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/43 "2007-06-11T20:17:18Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] Are we to assume, then, that you are a [protogynous hermaphrodite](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/NassauGrouper/NassauGrouper.html)? 🙂 [/QUOTE] That would explain this sudden genital itch. They spelled “octopi” octopuses! I guess that’s okay outside of catholic school. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/44 "2007-06-11T20:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon] I am perhaps a slob, but what I would do is to put the whole shrimp (or the last part, if I cut it) in mouth, suck off all the sauce and then stick the tail out of my mouth and gently pull it off. Very little muss or fuss. If there is no sauce (or I have just dipped the front in cocktail sauce, then I treat it as finger food and it is even easier. Quit all your bellyaching! [/QUOTE] It wouldn’t be much fuss to pick rubber bands and paper clips out of the dish, but they don’t put _those_ in. (Actually less trouble, because you wouldn’t have to seperate them from the shrimp). The point is that most of us like _edible_ things in our food. What’s goofy is that they went to the trouble of _peeling_ the shrimp, but then stopped the process when they got to the tail. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/45 "2007-06-11T20:49:01Z")
Of course, it could always be worse… [http://www.wvec.com/news/local/mcchicken\_head.jpg](http://www.wvec.com/news/local/mcchicken_head.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/46 "2007-06-11T20:59:17Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] I’m paying for the food. If they can’t accommodate me, let me know and I’ll go elsewhere. Why patrons cower before restaraunt staff, including the chef, is beyond me. [/QUOTE] Are you explicitly ordering shrimps with the tails removed? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/47 "2007-06-11T21:59:25Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Are you explicitly ordering shrimps with the tails removed? [/QUOTE] Sure. If it’s a pasta dish, or something else saucy, I say “could you ask the cook to send those with the tails removed please?” Or, sometimes I ask “are the shrimp served with the tails on?” I wouldn’t ask with something like shrimp cocktail. Not once has the server reacted negatively. Most often he/she says that they don’t like the tail either. I’m generally a friendly guy, and get along well with the staff. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/48 "2007-06-11T22:09:52Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] 1. A lot of people, including me, eat the tails. 2. Much of the flavour of the shrimp is in the shell and tails. Unless you want to just toss this flavour out, you leave them on or you leave them wandering about the dish by themselves. [/QUOTE] …or you put them in a cheesecloth sack during cooking, and remove before serving (I know of several dishes that call for some variation on this technique for something “inedible or unappetizing, but necessary for flavor” like fish heads or shrimp shells.) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/49 "2007-06-11T23:16:05Z")
Bah. I bet you ouraphobic milksops don’t eat your oysters shells-and-all either. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/50 "2007-06-12T00:46:43Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] My wife is Asian. . . She is really good at getting the tail meat out. [/QUOTE] Come on, I can’t be the only one that this sounded kinky! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/51 "2007-06-12T01:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=GiantRat] Come on, I can’t be the only one that this sounded kinky! :dubious: [/QUOTE] Somebody needs to get laid. Soon. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/52 "2007-06-12T01:08:07Z")
Frozen shrimp is always shelled. I suspect that leaving the shell on is a way of proving it was fresh. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/53 "2007-06-12T01:41:29Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] Frozen shrimp is always shelled. I suspect that leaving the shell on is a way of proving it was fresh. [/QUOTE] Do you guys have shrimp in Australia? (wink,wink,wink) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/54 "2007-06-12T02:07:08Z")
We’re bilingual down here. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/55 "2007-06-12T02:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] Sushi is meant to be eaten with one’s fingers. [/QUOTE] When I lived in Japan, everybody there always ate their sushi with chopsticks, without exception. In Japan it’s considered very rude to embarrass people, so I couldn’t tell them they were doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/56 "2007-06-12T02:40:24Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] When I lived in Japan, everybody there always ate their sushi with chopsticks, without exception. In Japan it’s considered very rude to embarrass people, so I couldn’t tell them they were doing it wrong. [/QUOTE] Which is the reason, I assume, you’re not going to embarrass ShibbOleth. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/57 "2007-06-12T06:02:38Z")
My Chinese roommate has introduce me to eating entire shrimps that we procure from a local Chinese restaurant. They take the whole shrimp and fry it in a salty, garlicy batter and then you eat the whole thing. I’ve had ones bigger than my hand cooked that way. Absolutely delicious. I’ll eat the tails no problem. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/58 "2007-06-12T07:46:27Z")
[QUOTE=GiantRat] Come on, I can’t be the only one that this sounded kinky! :dubious: [/QUOTE] Lemme tell ya, **Shibb** ’s wife is so hot that he won’t even take her to meet fellow dopers. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/59 "2007-06-12T12:04:48Z")
[QUOTE=kimera] My Chinese roommate has introduce me to eating entire shrimps that we procure from a local Chinese restaurant. They take the whole shrimp and fry it in a salty, garlicy batter and then you eat the whole thing. I’ve had ones bigger than my hand cooked that way. Absolutely delicious. I’ll eat the tails no problem. [/QUOTE] I like the way the shrimp heads are served at my sushi bar. when I order the sweet shrimp (_ama ebi_), they deep fry the heads and serve them alongside. They are delicious, taste like Fritos, though some find the eyes and feelers challenging. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474/60 "2007-06-12T13:00:26Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Lemme tell ya, **Shibb** ’s wife is so hot that he won’t even take her to meet fellow dopers. 😉 [/QUOTE] She hasn’t met many Dopers… **Rue DeDay** , **Thinksnow** , **Zappo** , **Bluesman** and **Lucretia** have been so blessed, and then she did make it to one Dopefest in Chicago, so there’s a ton there… but she is either painfully shy or afraid she’ll be outgeeked by us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrimp-tails-in-food/407474.md?page=4)