How do you describe texture of perfectly cooked shrimp?
Almost every Asian language has a word for the texture and mouthfeel of perfectly cooked shrimp. But no concise English word!
I'm talking about the crunchy, firm, crisp texture when you first bite into the shrimp. It's a similar texture as biting into the perfect grapefruit or pomelo.
For pasta, we use the Italian, al dente. But we need a word for shrimp!
What would you say?
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21 Comments:
It should not be chewy like gum. It should be firm yet soft and your teeth should easily go thru the shrimp and it should be tender. If you cook them too much you get chewy and chewy or tough is bad.
When they turn pink STOP the heat. If your steaming or boiling shock with ice and cold water right away. If you are frying, grill yank them off and serve ASAP.
JerzeeTomato at 2:57AM on 08/15/08
Pink in colour, bouncy in texture and slightly firm with a slight hint of a crunch!
Duckey x
duckey at 4:09AM on 08/15/08
Opaque but barely so, with enough resistance to the teeth to momentarily stop the teeth before yielding to a gentle bite.
therealchiffonade at 5:01AM on 08/15/08
Succulent.
Cassaendra at 6:29AM on 08/15/08
Maybe Al Dente would be a good term actually... Perfectly cooked shrimp are in a way similar to pasta as they are at first firm and toothsome, but then yielding, soft and silky. What's the word for it in Chinese?
simon at 8:44AM on 08/15/08
How about "Frispy"? ;-D
izatryt at 8:46AM on 08/15/08
I was going to say Al Dente as well. 'Bouncy' is a good adjective too I think.
How about "Slightly crispy--never mushy?" :)
hungrychristel at 10:23AM on 08/15/08
Plump and juicy, but firm to the bite...or maybe, "juicy tender crisp"? Or "crisp and succulent"?
brooke29 at 10:59AM on 08/15/08
definitely has to have a crunch towards the end of the bite
mlo at 11:18AM on 08/15/08
In Cantonese: "song chuy"
eeeeps hard to phoneticize in English!
I think:
Singaporeans say "QQ"
Japanese "puri-puri"
Steamy Kitchen at 3:00PM on 08/15/08
Pink and just firm, but not enough to "meet the road".
PerkyMac at 3:05PM on 08/15/08
Springy!
JT Eats at 3:14PM on 08/15/08
Well, if we have accepted al dente into our English food lexicon, not to mention all the French cooking words we use daily, I'm all for saying "this shrimp has perfect song chuy, or puri puri," since we don't have that one word that captures the meaning.
simon at 3:32PM on 08/15/08
@simon ~ Do you say it like "poor" or "pure"? I like it. I am going to start using it right away.
izatryt at 3:39PM on 08/15/08
lol, i'm not sure, but from my minimal knowledge of phonetic Japanese, I would say: POOR-ee POOR-ee
simon at 3:49PM on 08/15/08
Well then, puri puri it is!
izatryt at 4:22PM on 08/15/08
I am hooked on the word used by The Food Pornagrapher-
http://www.thefoodpornographer.com/
"Bursty"
sadiepix at 4:36PM on 08/15/08
If you were comparing textures a perfect shrimp would be just like a grape.
AliNC at 5:23PM on 08/15/08
I'll jump in here before Cassendra does and point out that the Japanese "u" is a short sound. Not at all the double o in the English word "poor". Unless ofc you happen to be one of those accented English speakers who say "poor" like the "pur down in the mur."
feriorrenna at 8:07PM on 08/15/08
(that was "the poor down in the moor" for anyone who didn't follow) :P
feriorrenna at 8:08PM on 08/15/08
Snappy is the word my husband always uses.
mrsmoosie at 7:14PM on 08/16/08