How to Peel Spot Prawns

Are you struggling to peel prawns? This tutorial will teach you how to peel spot prawns (the easy way!) with scissors.

There’s no question about it. Alaska spot prawns (also called spot shrimp) are a delicacy.

These beauties are available seasonally and can be difficult to source. We bought ours from Sitka Salmon Shares.

Once you’ve found some, though, you might be a little confused.

They can be kind of intimidating.

Why?

Because, although peeling thing isn’t difficult (I promise), they’re also somewhat trickier to peel than the shrimp you might normally find at the grocery store.

The good news is, peeling them doesn’t have to be difficult. Actually, it’s pretty simple.

I’ll show you how to do it.

What About the Spot Prawn Roe?

One of the amazing (and again, intimidating) things about spot prawns are the roe. Sometimes, but not always, spot prawns will come with roe (eggs) attached.

The good news is that the roe is a delicious addition to shrimp stock (or any kind of seafood stock!) or any dish that uses shrimp stock, such as lemon shrimp risotto.

The bad news is… I’m just kidding, there’s no bad news. It’s all good!

However, if your spot prawns have roe, I recommend peeling the shrimp while it’s still partially frozen. This will make the roe easier to pop out of the shells.

If your fingers get too cold, it’s okay to take a (quick!) break to warm them back up. Or, to speed things up, recruit someone else to help you prepare the spot prawns!

How to Peel Spot Prawns

This post assumes that you’re working with purchased, frozen spot prawns without the heads attached.

Add your spot prawns to a large bowl and fill it with cold (not warm, not hot) water.

If you tend to be forgetful (like me), set a timer for 15 minutes.

If you see roe on the underside of your spot prawns, you’ll want to be extra diligent about the timer.

Once the shrimp have begun to thaw, but are still mostly frozen, it’s time to start peeling. At this point, I like to drain the cold water out of the bowl to stop the shrimp from continuing to quick thaw.

How to Organize the Spot Prawns As You Peel

Organizing your shrimp peeling station might sound silly at first, but it will really speed up the process. I like to have two (or possibly three) separate bowls within arm’s reach.

I put the peeled prawns in one bowl and the shells in another.

If there are roe and I plan to use them right away (like in risotto!), I put those in a third bowl. Otherwise, the roe go into a bowl with the shells, and then both the shells and roe go into the freezer to use for later.

Use Kitchen Shears to Peel the Prawns

Grab your favorite pair of kitchen shears and get to work.

Start on the outer top of the spot prawn (where the top of the head would be), and cut through the shell down to the tail.

After cutting, peel back the shell on both sides.

The shell should come off pretty easily.

Once the sides are peeled back, wiggle the shrimp and carefully pull it out of the shell.

Be gentle here, because if you’re not careful the tail meat could break off.

If the spot prawn has roe attached, you can now flip the shell over and pop out the (mostly frozen) roe.

However, if your prawns are thawed, this step will be a little messier.

After removing the spot prawns from the shells, serve them in one of our favorite shrimp recipes, such as butter garlic shrimp, shrimp Fra Diavolo, blackened shrimp pasta and a seafood boil for two.