How to Peel and Devein a Prawn (Tips from 26 Hours/Day)

Few weeks back, I caught the first episode of the Japanese programme 26 Hours/Day《超省时生活》on Channel U and got hooked.

There are many brilliant tips on how to do things faster, especially the segment on how to cook a meal in 20 minutes. Every week, a different celebrity will demonstrate how to cook up a feast using some short-cut methods. It's really amazing, do try to catch an episode and I bet you will be just as fascinated!

Here's one tip I wish to share: how to peel and devein a prawn.

I don't really like eating prawns, and I definitely don't enjoy peeling them. Sometimes, I'm so lazy that I don't even bother deveining them! But after watching the programme, I decided to try it out and the tip really worked! Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Find the second section of the prawn shell




Step 2: Break the shell into two sections and kind of loosen it at the same time. Then pull in in opposite directions and the whole shell will be able to come off easily. You don't even need to remove the head first.

Step 3: Remove the whole shell and you get a nicely peeled prawn. If you want to retain the tiny tail, be gentle when you remove the shell towards the end.

I found a videoclip online to give you an idea of what I mean.

In the second episode, another celebrity showed a different method of deshelling prawns, which is equally easy (I've yet to try this method). First remove the head, then using a pair of scissors cut along the arch of the shell and you can easily peel it off.

After you have deshelled, the next step is to devein it, and you can easily do so using a TOOTHPICK.

Step 1: Poke the toothpick through the prawn at about the position marked 'X'

Step 2: Pull the toothpick slowly upwards and as you do that, the vein will be pulled out as well.
Again, I've searched for a videoclip and here's one to demonstrate the method.

I hope you find the above useful!


26 Hours/Day
Channel U
Tuesdays, 8 to 9pm