Expert: Jennifer Brizzi - 7/22/2009

Question
new to cooking:

1. when stir frying shrimp, what is the color of a cooked (but not overcooked) shrimp?  its white right?

2. well my method was med high heat when i dropped the shrimp in in order to "sear" it and give it that brown color on the outside before dialing down the knob to med-low in order to finish cooking the shrimp through.  i don't remember how many minutes i stir-fried it but i overcooked it b/c it was somewhat rubbery.  the thing too is that the whole time i was cooking the shrimp, i was moving it around so that it just doesn't sit still on the skillet.  i thought that by constantly stirring/moving the shrimp around, it will keep it from overcooking.  apparently not.  so how many minutes are you suppose to stir-fry shrimp for and at what heat (med-low, or med?)

3. like chicken, is there a safety/bacteria alert when you eat a shrimp that is somewhat undercook?  i am asking b/c the first time i've stir fried shrimp and ate it, it was somewhat translucent still but ate it anyway and got a stomach ache later on. ..so i'm not sure if that was just a coincidence. ..that's why ever since then, i'm been more cautious about it...however, i want to know how to do it perfectly and not SETTLE for cooked but rubbery shrimp.

4. same for scallops, can the scallops be rare? or is that dangerous?

thanks for your time  

Answer
Dear "new to cooking,"

Shrimp usually turns a vivid pink when cooked, pink or white all the way through with no grayness or translucency.

It doesn't take very long to get to that point, maybe 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp. It will continue to cook a little once it's off the fire. As far as temperature I would cook it at a medium to medium high heat and stirring it around is a good way to get it to cook evenly.

Shrimp does not contain salmonella like some chicken can, nor do scallops. Scallops are good rare or raw and won't hurt you if undercooked. Any food can be contaminated by bacteria, though, so it's a good idea to rinse and dry all seafood before using it.

I hope this has been helpful. Let me know if I can clarify anything for you.

Jennifer Brizzi
http://www.jenniferbrizzi.com