How To: Clean Fresh Shrimp

If you purchase fresh shrimp from a store most likely the will need to be cleaned.

You will need to remove the shell, legs, tail, and excrement.

The easiest way to remove the shell is to pull all of the legs off - This will sever the connection of the shell around the body and from there it can be easily removed.

Be careful during this process as fresh shrimp can be fragile and you do not want mangled shrimp for your pizza.

Next, remove the tail of the shrimp - This is not an easy process and will take some time to get right.

Grab the tail right where the shell meats flesh and gently twist off while applying moderate pressure.

You will not get this perfect every time, but that is alright.

Now, on the top of the shrimp (the part opposite where the legs were) take a paring knife and slice all the way down, head to tail, about 1/8 of an inch thick.
_{NOTE: If the shrimp were clean when purchased, you will not need to do this.} In that slice you made, you should see stringy material in either a black or green color. That is the excrement from the shrimp.
_{You do not have to remove it, but I always do.}

Gently remove from shrimp and you're ready to go!

 -Ed