Why Onions Make Us Cry...and Other Food Mysteries Solved

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Why does shrimp turn pink when cooked?

How does raw shrimp go from that unappetizing blue-gray color to a vibrant pink-red hue when cooked? The answer lies in its exoskeleton, which contains carotenoids known as astaxanthin. The same carotenoids are found in salmon, giving it that distinct pink color. When shrimp is raw, the astaxanthin are bound to proteins called crustacyanin. But during the cooking process, these proteins become denatured by the high cooking temperatures, and eventually they loosen their "grip", revealing shrimp's "true" pink shade.