The difference between prawns and shrimps, teach you a few tricks to distinguish them at a glance

We always see various kinds of shrimps in the market, with different sizes and shapes. Many people who don’t know much about the business are always deceived by some merchants and spend a lot of money to buy cheap shrimps. Common shrimps include prawns and mud shrimps. The breeding methods of these two types of shrimps are different, and they taste different. Let me give you some tips on how to distinguish between prawns and shrimps.

The appearance of the prawn is similar to that of the tiger shrimp, but it is large in size, has spines on its forehead, has hard shrimp meat texture, tastes worse than that of the mud shrimp, and has no sweetness. Grass shrimp and white shrimp are similar in appearance. Grass shrimp are dark green in color and have a harder skin, while white shrimp are gray in color, large in size, with thin skin, no obvious stripes, and are neither crispy nor sweet. As for sand shrimp, commonly known as big-head shrimp, its antennae are thick, its head and tail are small, and its appearance does not resemble that of tiger shrimp.

"Jiwei" refers to the box farming method near the coast. However, the shrimp people generally refer to are not white shrimps, but tiger shrimps. Its shell is hard with obvious yellow-red stripes. It is small in size, has a crisp and sweet taste, and has no spines on its forehead (shrimp gun). The market price is around 100 to 200 yuan. The mud shrimp can survive in water temperatures of around 10°C. Due to the restrictions on its growth period and sea closure period, its price is generally high from November to April of the following year.

The shrimp is bred in freshwater and cultured in seawater, and its name comes from "enclosure culture". The shape of the mud shrimp is similar to that of the prawn, but its shell is softer than that of the prawn, and its body is not as big as that of the prawn, generally about the size of a middle finger. The production is relatively high in the estuary areas along the coast of Guangdong, and the shrimp is fat, thin shell, and has delicious and refreshing meat. Juvenile shrimps (no more than 6cm) are dark green to dark green, while adults (over 6cm) are light brown-yellow with dense light brown spots all over their bodies. Some white shrimps (prawns) on the market are used to impersonate mud shrimps. When choosing, you should pay attention to the following two points: first, look at the color, second, look at the spots. It is very easy to identify.