If you want to keep the shell on the body while you’re cooking it, but you’d rather not cook it with the legs and vein, use a pair of kitchen scissors to snip the shell along its back. This way you can still devein the shrimp, and peel off the shell when it’s done cooking.
This method can be done with a shrimp deveining tool you can buy at seafood markets, but a two tined cooking fork will do the same job. Running cold water over the shrimp as you’re forking it helps the vein come out and moves the process along more quickly.
