Food - Drink
Here's How You Can Tell If Shrimp Is Undercooked
By MOLLY HARRIS
Shrimp can be cooked in a variety of ways, including grilled shrimp skewers, shrimp cocktail, shrimp-laden pasta, and shrimp scampi. Although cooking shrimp can be tricky, these techniques guarantee that they will be cooked to perfection.
One of the easiest and most common ways to tell if the shrimp is cooked or undercooked is to look at the color. A shrimp is undercooked with a tinge of gray and is a bit translucent, while cooked shrimp does a 180-degree turn and is white with pops of pink or red.
As for the shape, an undercooked shrimp is straight or has a slight curve shaped like a “U,” while a cooked shrimp has a good curl that looks like the letter “C.” In addition, those that are so tightly wound that they look like the letter "O" are overcooked.
As for the texture, undercooked shrimp will be fleshy, while overcooked shrimp are notoriously tough and just as difficult to chew as raw shrimp. Perfectly cooked shrimp should fall somewhere in between the two.
Another method of making sure the shrimp is cooked is to check its temperature. When the heat source hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit, shrimp should be fully cooked, but to be safe, check their internal temperature, which should be 120 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe to eat.