I buy almost all of my seafood from Ippolito's in South Philly (check them out on my links page) . I buy from them not only because their stuff is always fresh and priced well, but also because they get in some really interesting fish. Stuff I've never cooked, eaten or even seen before. I like the challenge of cooking something new and I think it keeps the blog interesting. It would be pretty boring if I was posting a red snapper dish every week.
With that being said, I present to you one of the weirdest sea creatures I have ever eaten, the Mantis Shrimp. As you can see from their Wikipedia Link, these are actually neither shrimp nor mantis. And they are real bad asses with the nicknames "prawn killer" and "thumb splitters" because of their powerful claws. Like most interesting foods, these are pretty common in a lot of other Countries. But not seen here often because Americans tend to be unadventurous eaters. Our current love affair with Tilapia is a good example.
I did a little research on these things and realized that at this size they were not going to have very much meat in them. So I couldn't treat them like shrimp or lobster. Instead, I chose to make a stew to extract as much flavor as possible. I served a couple of the tails with the stew because they were really pretty.
I made the broth by first "confiting" a head of peeled garlic in olive oil. I sauteed the tails to get some color on them and then cooked them down in some clam and chicken stock. After straining the stock I blended it with the garlic and oil to make a nice thick broth. The mussels and clams were then cooked in the broth. The dish was garnished with some croutons and cilantro.
With that being said, I present to you one of the weirdest sea creatures I have ever eaten, the Mantis Shrimp. As you can see from their Wikipedia Link, these are actually neither shrimp nor mantis. And they are real bad asses with the nicknames "prawn killer" and "thumb splitters" because of their powerful claws. Like most interesting foods, these are pretty common in a lot of other Countries. But not seen here often because Americans tend to be unadventurous eaters. Our current love affair with Tilapia is a good example.
I did a little research on these things and realized that at this size they were not going to have very much meat in them. So I couldn't treat them like shrimp or lobster. Instead, I chose to make a stew to extract as much flavor as possible. I served a couple of the tails with the stew because they were really pretty.
I made the broth by first "confiting" a head of peeled garlic in olive oil. I sauteed the tails to get some color on them and then cooked them down in some clam and chicken stock. After straining the stock I blended it with the garlic and oil to make a nice thick broth. The mussels and clams were then cooked in the broth. The dish was garnished with some croutons and cilantro.
Insects or Sea Creatures?