Mushy tandoori shrimp - what'd I do wrong?

My tandoori shrimp came out very mushy and mealy.
I used the white shrimp I'd bought at H-Mart, which usually have a very nice texture. Every recipe I saw online said to marinate overnight, so I thought that was the right thing to do.

Should I have left out lemon juice? Even the yogurt has acid, so that may not be the problem.

Maybe I undercooked? They didn't seem slimy, just overly soft.

I just copied this recipe but haven't tried it yet:

http://blog.shobasindiancooking.com/

No lemon juice in the marinade here and would guess that overnight w. the acid was the problem. Yogurt should not have the same result as citrus.

The lemon seems like the likely culprit, in hindsight.
I checked some online recipes, and lemon juice is added at the end in several. My original recipe has meat tenderizer and lemon juice kneaded into slashes in chicken prior to applying the marinade. I leave out the tenderizer (even on chicken), but kept the lemon.

It made a passable shrimp salad today: chilled down they're a little more solid, with some more yogurt, cayenne, cumin and cardamom, put on whole wheat Ritz crackers it was pretty darn good.

Joel,
The acid is indeed the culprit. I did a lime-marinated shrimp skewer recipe that called for a 15 minute marinating time and had a similar experience with mushy shrimp. Next time I will toss to coat just prior to grilling or even baste on the grill so as to get the flavor w/o the tissue breakdown.
John

JoelF wrote:The lemon seems like the likely culprit, in hindsight.
I checked some online recipes, and lemon juice is added at the end in several. My original recipe has meat tenderizer and lemon juice kneaded into slashes in chicken prior to applying the marinade. I leave out the tenderizer (even on chicken), but kept the lemon.

Typically tandoori recipes would have lemon juice in the marinade (in addition to yogurt and cream), but I wouldn't marinate large shrimp (i.e., prawns) or even lobster more than a couple of hours. Even chicken is best marinated six hours or so (though I have done it overnight but then skimped on the marinade).

For chicken, I do cut gashes and smear with a paste of salt and chile powder in lemon juice. No need for tenderizer - unless you are using say a tough red meat, then the tenderizer (typically a piece of raw green papaya*) would go in the marinade.

*mentions in assorted threads, so here's one that mention many

I'm planning on doing some very large prawns on the grill this weekend.
The last time Itried this they tasted quite good but were a little tough.
Would an hour or so in a lemon juice marinade help with this?

Would something like Adolph's meat tenderized be better?

zoid wrote:I'm planning on doing some very large prawns on the grill this weekend.
The last time Itried this they tasted quite good but were a little tough.
Would an hour or so in a lemon juice marinade help with this?

Would something like Adolph's meat tenderized be better?

Probably a little less cooking time would be the best bet. Shrimp can get pencil eraser tough if overcooked.

Honestly these guys were on the grill no more than 60-70 seconds a side.
I guess I'll try the marinade and see what happens.

I agree with Steve. Chances are, the meat tenderizer would just make the outside layer of flesh mushy - assuming you're not grilling them in the shell, in which case a tenderizer won't have any effect at all. Once they're reddish, pull 'em off the grill immediately.

Not that Tom or Steve need my support, but - they're right. If you cooked 'em 60-70 seconds per side and they were tough, try 60 secs for the first side and 30 secs for the second side next time. The marinade will make them taste different. It won't prevent them from getting tough if you overcook them. I don't know who Adolph is, but unless he pulls the shrimp off the grill sooner he's not gonna help either.

Or, you could marinade and cook IN the shells, which is frequently done in Asia (I had some terrific head-on shrimp done this way in Shanghai). This will give a nice texture to the shrimp.

Geo

Geo wrote:Or, you could marinade and cook IN the shells, which is frequently done in Asia (I had some terrific head-on shrimp done this way in Shanghai). This will give a nice texture to the shrimp.

Geo

That is exactly the plan