One day when I was eating with my Japanese friends, they were
shocked when I ate the tail of the shrimp.

For me, shrimp tail is very crunchy and tasty.

But, AFAIK, all of my japanese friends refuse to eat the tail
of the shrimp. I asked my friend and apparently japanese
don't eat shrimp tail unless it is fried. I asked another person
and they said Japanese people don't like the taste of shrimp tail.

It's really funny, since we always order shrimp dishes (or cook
shrimp ourselves) and all of their plates are empty except for the
shrimp tail that they cut off.

Why does anyone eat shrimp tail? It would be like eating the rest of the exoskeleton, yuk.

I don't know of anyone in the US who eats shrimp tail, either. Unfortunately I think you're in the minority. :P

I eat the shrimp tail, and it was my japanese coworker who originally got me to try it. Though meredithcat and Tobberoth are right I think it is rare to eat the tail anywhere not just limited to japan.

meredithcat Wrote:I don't know of anyone in the US who eats shrimp tail, either. Unfortunately I think you're in the minority.

Yeah since I was little I've just yanked off the tails for non fried shrimp.

Tobberoth Wrote:Why does anyone eat shrimp tail? It would be like eating the rest of the exoskeleton, yuk.

Some people do that too.

When I homestayed in Japan, my host brother (who is 16) at the shrimp tail. His family didn't like it, but it's not like it was weird or anything. It's like in America - you like some things and don't like other things, lol.

When you say shrimp tail, do you mean the flesh from inside the tail part of the shell, or do you mean you actually eat the tail part of the exoskeleton? I've never known anyone to do that. It would be like eating the chicken bones at KFC.

I've seen Japanese people eat the shrimp tail a few times. Actually, the only people I've ever seen eat the shrimp tail were Japanese.

I have seen shrimp eaten in its entirety including exoskeleton in china and vietnam, including some of the resturants here in England.

eggcluck Wrote:I have seen shrimp eaten in its entirety including exoskeleton in china and vietnam, including some of the resturants here in England.

If restaurants were sovereign territory of the relevant nation, the way embassies are, it would make for some interesting legal issues :-)

I don't know anyone personally who regularly eats shrimp tails. Occasionally shrimp will be cooked in such a way (or maybe it's a certain kind of shrimp, I'm not sure) so that the tail gets pretty soft (like soft shell crab) and I'll eat them. Normally though, shrimp tail is way too hard and crunchy to be appetizing, it'd be like eating crab shell to me...

There's hardly any jerk stores in Japan either. What the hell is wrong with these people?

I just called the jerk store, they're out of Evil_Dragon!

This is another case of people's friend groups not being representative of an entire population--a lot of people in Japan eat shrimp tail, it's very common.

In America, however, it is not.

I guess I just tend not to eat stuff I know I can't digest. A shrimps boney parts fall within the category of fish bones, which are something you should not eat at all, due to the risk of choking if the bones are not flexible enough.

"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."

ocircle Wrote:I guess I just tend not to eat stuff I know I can't digest. A shrimps boney parts fall within the category of fish bones, which are something you should not eat at all, due to the risk of choking if the bones are not flexible enough.

Did you just make this up, or do you have a way of knowing that this is true? I can't find any real sources online that talk about whether or not one can digest shrimp tails (though I found a lot of half-assed sources going in either direction). I also can't find any good source that confirms that there is a greater risk of choking on shrimp tails in comparison with other commonly eaten foods.

Granted, I just did ten minutes of poking around on Google.

I could have sworn I wrote on this thread about this topic and my post isn't here.

Anyway, here's what I wrote.

I homestayed 1 month in Japan. The family I was with was a dad, mom, son, and daughter.

Of them, the son liked the shrimp tail. The rest didn't. It wasn't really a big deal - just like in America people have certain tastes, in Japan, surprise surprise, it's the same.

I'd go so far as to suggest shrimp tail isn't popular in Japan because it's not popular anywhere. I never knew anyone who ate shrimp tail until that one dude in Japan, and I live in SF, California, a relatively diverse place.

Erubey Wrote:I just called the jerk store, they're out of Evil_Dragon!

Yeah? Well I had sex with your wife

Wow. So I guess I'm strange. Didn't realize that shrimp tail
was hated so much around the world.

Like many, I don't like the exoskeleton.

Also, I found out recently that many japanese love お焦げ (おこげ),
which is the burnt rice at the bottom of the crock pot.

Here in Brazil I never met someone that eats shrimp tails.

Ah, I like おこげ too. But you have to burn it right!

It's not burnt it's seared!

There is a sushi restaurant here in Colorado that serves deep fried shrimp heads. I'm not into shrimp tails not to mention the body part of the exoskeleton but they are yummy...