Use raw, deveined shrimp for this recipe. Beyond the question of "raw or cooked," however, there are many other factors that can influence what king of shrimp you use. (I found this article, Everything You Need to Know to Buy Better Shrimp, to be thorough and very helpful.) We use medium shrimp to prepare this salad; either fresh or frozen depending on the season. When purchasing frozen shrimp, we usually go with individually frozen (IQF), head-off, peel-on shrimp. We find the pre-peeled shrimp to be of lower quality, with less flavor, and peeling them takes only a few minutes.