The Only Way To Prepare Shrimp If You Serve It Alongside Dip

When preparing shrimp for shrimp cocktail or when the shrimp are intended to be dipped into a sauce, you should always leave the tails on the shrimp, and Ina Garten agrees. If you order shrimp cocktail at a restaurant or fancy steakhouse, the shrimp are usually served with the tails still on as well, so dining patrons are able to grab the shrimp by the tail for dipping, using it like a little handle. Not only does leaving the tails on shrimp for dipping contribute to ease of eating, but it also makes for a better visual, as the tails are a pop of color and contrast to the pale shrimp flesh.

Leaving the tails on also eliminates the risk of getting sauce on your fingers, or, conversely, accidentally sticking your fingers into the communal dipping sauce. This applies to fried, breaded, or coated shrimp as well, as the tails prevent diners from touching the breading or getting their fingers greasy. 

Whenever you do serve shrimp with the tails still intact, it's important to leave a small bowl or vessel alongside the shrimp so guests can discard their tails. Although dipping tail-on shrimp is much less messy than completely shelled shrimp, it's a good idea to have small cocktail napkins nearby as well for guests to use, as there will still be some residual moisture remaining on the shrimp tails that can leave your fingers slightly damp. 

You should never remove shrimp tails before you cook them, with one exception. In contrast to shrimp meant for dipping, if you're serving shrimp in a dish that requires utensils to eat rather than fingers, it's best to completely remove all of the shell — including the tail — for ease of eating, like in a shrimp scampi pasta or a shrimp ceviche. In this case, leaving the shells on would make for messy, unnecessary work for the diners, as well as forcing them to find a home on their plates or napkins for the discarded shrimp tails.

If you're looking for ways to boost the flavor of your shrimp, marinating them before cooking is a great way to impart more flavor. Be sure to use a marinade low in acid, as raw shrimp will begin to cook quickly in an acidic liquid, similar to ceviche. Or, if you do use a marinade high in acids, only let the shrimp marinate for a few minutes. In terms of cooking methods, your grill is the key to more flavorful shrimp. Grilling shrimp imparts a wonderful char and smoke-kissed flavor without much effort, and shrimp are easy to maneuver on the grill when their tails are kept on. You can always thread the shrimp onto skewers to make grilling even easier.