This Is Why Shrimp Turns Pink When You Cook It

Shrimp, before its cooked, is a very unappetizing gray-blue color. This color, it turns out, is the exoskeleton (you know, the shrimps external skeleton).Now, to explain how that exoskeleton turns pink we have to get scientific on you. Here we go: the exoskeleton contains carotenoids (which are pigments) called astaxanthin. It is these carotenoids that are what give salmon its pink color. Before the shrimp is cooked the astaxanthin is covered by protein chains called crustacyanin. The protein chains in fact wrap up the astaxanthin, concealing its lovely pinkish-red color.But heat loosens the hold these protein chains have on the carotenoids and releases the astaxanthin, turning the shrimp its lovely shade of pink. This is the same reason lobsters turn red when you cook them.One more fun fact: if youve ever heard that flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp,its because of this same carotenoid. While flamingos eat shrimp that still appear blueish gray (they dont have the luxury of cooking them before eating), the crustacyanin protein chain dissolves in digestion ' releasing the carotenoid that makes flamingo feathers more pink.Now that you know why, watch the magic happen with these shrimp recipes.type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related... + articlesList=56560311e4b079b2818a050b,57d0024ee4b03d2d45975a06,55f98185e4b0b48f67016cc5 -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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