A Prawn Story
Why do prawns become pink when you cook them? That’s the question Nicolas asked me a few weeks ago when we were cooking for the Chinese New Year. I didn’t know, so I’ve looked for an answer. Here it is!
When raw, prawns are grey and sometimes almost translucent. When cooked, they turn pink, almost orange.
The explanation is actually quite simple: prawns contain a pigment called astaxanthin, which is hidden by a protein covering which gives the grey colour. These proteins are not heat-stable and disappear when you cook the prawns - either boiled, stir-fried or steamed. The astaxanthin is then released and the prawns turn into a bright pink/orange colour.
Asthaxanthin is a member of the carotene family of pigments and is a stable pigment (unlike the protein chains), meaning that once cooked, prawns display their “definite” colour.
I hope you learned something today… I did.
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