Shrimp cocktail's a classic for a reason. That's because pairing plump, ice-cold shrimp with a bracingly refreshing tomato and horseradish-based sauce seems to make perfect sense. But some of you novices out there who're brand-new to cooking might wonder if the shrimp in shrimp cocktail is something that's served raw.
(Don't worry, asking these types of questions is perfectly good!) The answer is no — For maximum convenience, you can buy the pre-cooked and frozen stuff (I get the giant cost-efficient bag from Costco) — but for those who want to do it themselves, the shrimp in shrimp cocktail should always be cooked before it's served. Shrimp is a type of seafood that's only served raw under certain circumstances, and that's due to the normal safety concerns surrounding any raw seafood. Just like with any other food, it's to prevent you from getting sick.
When do people eat raw shrimp, anyway? This version is called amaebi, also known as sweet prawn or sweet shrimp. Amaebi isn't to be confused with ebi, which is the cooked and butterflied shrimp you also see on top of . You can tell the difference mainly by its texture; amaebi will be a little more translucent, a little lighter in hue than its cooked counterpart, and it'll also be silky and soft when you eat it.
It's delicately sweet, which is why it's such a prized (and usually expensive) treat. But in general, eating raw shrimp carries the risk of consuming a bacteria called vibrio, which can cause food poisoning. This i.
