Live shrimp escapes boiling hot pot in Chinese restaurant and attacks guest in viral video

A pleasant dining experience at a hotpot restaurant in China took a horrific turn for a customer when a live shrimp turned the tables and fought to survive. The dramatic and unexpected encounter left the woman in tears as the live crustacean clung to her hand in its attempt to escape the boiling broth. A video of it surfaced on several social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, and garnered millions of views.

The viral clip, which has taken the internet by storm, shows the restaurant guest attempting to dip the live crustacean into her stew of boiling broth and other seafood. But the vicious shrimp suddenly came to life and hopped out of her hand. Despite her efforts to recapture the shrimp with chopsticks, the shrimp continued to fight back in a desperate fight for survival.

As she repeatedly tried to dip the shrimp into the pot, the shrimp retaliated by grabbing her hand with its sharp forearm, causing her to cry out in pain. Soon, a restaurant employee intervened and released the aggressive shrimp from her hand.

The post was captioned “Live seafood cooking goes wrong in China. Woman wanted to eat a shrimp, but the animal decided to eat her instead.”

Shortly after the video was shared, internet users were quick to react to the post. The majority of users found the woman's shrimp spearing highly amusing and made all sorts of jokes, while others were impressed by the shrimp's survival and defense power.

“Good for this shrimp! He wouldn’t give up without a fight,” read one comment.

Another user commented: “What a surprise that the poor frightened creature didn't want to be boiled alive!”

“This is a type of mantis shrimp. They are aggressive and have praying mantis-like stinging arms that they use to stab their prey or apparently people who try to throw them into boiling soup,” one person said.

Another added: “This delicious shrimp is just trying to survive and defend itself.”

“Now you will never eat shrimp again,” said one user.

One account said: “But he said you will remember me first and foremost forever.”

The post added that the mantis shrimp packs a powerful punch, shattering the shells of its victims with the force of a .22 caliber bullet. It has arms that are naturally spring-loaded, allowing it to swing its fist like clubs at speeds of up to 23 m/s.