Maine shrimp: how to make a stock/broth

Just polished off a pound of heavenly fresh Maine shrimp, briefly boiled and messily slurped over newspaper. Saved the boiling water and shells and heads, and want to make a nice broth to use in soup or risotto. Do I need to remove any of the remaining innards, including what looks like a small cloud of grainy mustard near where the head and body join?

calendargirl
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6 Comments

calendargirl
calendargirl February 18, 2011
Thanks, everyone! The original boiling water with onion & celery is now reduced and I am about to add the heads and shells for their gentle simmer. If the finished broth is bitter, is there a way to counteract that?
 
pierino
pierino February 18, 2011
The "grainy mustard" part is wonderful but highly perishable so, do it now!
 
mainecook61
mainecook61 February 18, 2011
Eat 'em up quick. They're going to close down Maine shrimp season early again this year.
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 February 18, 2011
After re-reading the post. A key point is using the boiling water...and 1 lb of already cooked shrimp shells and heads.
Reduce the boiling water a bit with onions and celery, you probably have a lot of liquid.Then simmer with the shells and heads to get out all the goodness.

If you're going for a clear broth--the keyword to search on is "Egg White Clarification".
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff February 18, 2011
Good advice from Sam1148. Don't boil it too hard. It's possible that even with that precaution, your broth will be bitter. But it's way to hard to clean Maine shrimp to avoid that possibility. And your odds are good if you keep to a gentle simmer, that's my experience anyway.
 
Sam1148
Sam1148 February 18, 2011
I'd put it all in with some onion and celery...and smash the heads with the back of spoon, and filter well with cheese cloth when done. If it's cloudy, whisk in some egg whites mixed with water. That will capture the cloudy bits and you can filter that out with cheese cloth if you goal is a clear broth.
 
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