24
votes
Accepted
I cannot understand how to properly fry seafood
Given your picture, I think the correct term here is saute; that is, to quickly fry in a little bit of hot fat. Pan frying uses more fat, and a lower temperature, to create a deeper crust. Probably an ...
- 73.8k
23
votes
Can a fish living in fresh water be called seafood?
Don't read too much into the "sea"; there's no rule that every word in the language has to stick precisely to its etymological roots.
Seafood just means edible aquatic life, i.e. fish and shellfish ...
- 58.2k
20
votes
Why boil octopus with wine cork?
The muscle fibers of octopus are very thin compared to other species, arranged in multiple layers and alternating rings, which are then even further reinforced with collagen, 3-5 times more than ...
- 3,094
20
votes
Accepted
Could I possibly tell imitation lobster from real lobster?
If it is high quality imitation lobster and you are not amongst the highest skilled tasters (few of us are), you won't be able to tell the difference by yourself.
Imitation seafood is made from ...
- 2,792
15
votes
I cannot understand how to properly fry seafood
You say
In the advertisements the chefs just swirl the mussels, shrimps, and octopus pieces around and produce some tasty browned pieces
That's like saying "When I watch Bob Ross, he just puts ...
- 136k
15
votes
I cannot understand how to properly fry seafood
An important element to cooking fish is the quality of the fish itself. Many fish processors use sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) to preserve the fish. Unfortunately this also makes the fish absorb ...
- 765
13
votes
Clams frozen before purging
There’s no way to make a dead clam purge sand etc.
You can always try to cook a few and see how gritty they really are, then decide. You may be lucky and find that they have a good mouthfeel, or you ...
- 58.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is it recommended to leave the last segment of shell on a shrimp?
The shells do have strong shrimp flavor that can contribute to a sauce, and are also left on for visual reasons. But personally, the choice of whether to leave it on depends on how I'm planning on ...
- 8,382
10
votes
Good Frozen Fish /seafood
I'd like to start with an analogy. Look at what you said in comments that some vegetables are actually better purchased frozen than purchased fresh. Let's take frozen peas vs fresh.
Peas notoriously ...
- 58.5k
10
votes
I cannot understand how to properly fry seafood
Squeeze it. This is frozen seafood. Freezing food creates tiny sharp ice crystals that break a lot of the cell walls, and releases trapped moisture. When you defrost you need to squeeze all that loose ...
- 960
9
votes
Accepted
How do you barbeque a whole piece of fish?
I BBQ whole fish or fish filets with or without skin quite regularly. You suspect the BBQ was too hot, but usually BBQs are not hot enough (unless you were REALLY hot and over like 800F?). Make sure ...
- 1,850
9
votes
What should I be aware of while eating raw oysters?
Usually for a business it's up to the oyster shucker to worry about the quality and you're to just enjoy.
You can tell if the oyster is bad if it has an off smell. Much like fish, fresh oysters won'...
- 1,319
8
votes
Does abalone have any unique nutritional value that justifies its lofty prices?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: People eat abalone because of its taste, texture, and potential for gourmet preparation. Nutritional value isn't under consideration.
- 61.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Accidentally killed my mussels
In order:
No. It's possible, though not especially common, for a dead mussel to be stuck closed; they'll likely open with very little resistance.
Most likely yes. The main issue with eating dead ...
- 14.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Should I eat the head of an octopus?
The parts that are inedible in an octopus of any size are the "insides" and beak. If you got it frozen, no need to worry about the insides but if you caught it yourself, you need to turn its bag ...
- 666
7
votes
Accepted
What is this seafood that I bought in a Chinese market?
That's abalone (鮑魚 bàoyú), a popular and expensive delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
- 1,416
6
votes
Accepted
What is the English name of these sea snails?
Ốc bông = tiger moon snail (hotdeal.vn, Google images) or in Latin: Notocochlis tigrina (Wikipedia)
Ốc tỏi = Japanese bonnet snail (Facebook, Wild Fact Sheets, images, more images) or in Latin: ...
- 414
6
votes
Does soaking in saltwater for 20 mins help cleanse mussels?
Where I come from (Portugal) it is quite common to see in most restaurants and establishments shellfish being soaked several hours to even days long before consumption, especially sand dwelling ...
- 2,178
5
votes
Accepted
Crab - brown meat looks grey
Did the shell on the grey-brown one seem heavier or look weathered? I have had this more with local caught when I was on the coast than commercial crabs, but, I have had occur something which sounds ...
- 8,673
4
votes
Identify this seafood from the Black Sea known in Romanian as "rapane"?
The following method works better than a dictionary most of the time when you have to identify plants or animals.
Open the Wikipedia home page, and search for "rapane" in Romanian.
Result #1 is ...
- 1,185
4
votes
How to cook scallops that will prevent them from becoming too rubbery?
It sounds like maybe you cooked them too long. Searing the perfect scallop requires a few steps, and some thought, but it is not difficult. ...and, a cast iron pan is very effective, so don't be put ...
- 73.8k
4
votes
Should I eat the head of an octopus?
2kg is quite big. I would clean it and slice the 'head meat' and cook with the other parts. Bear in mind that the head meat is slightly thinner than the tentacles therefore maybe cook slightly less ...
- 1,782
4
votes
Can a fish living in fresh water be called seafood?
That usage might be peculiar to the US as most dictionaries like the Cambridge dictionary and Collins Dictionary list the broader definition of seafood as American English and have the narrower ...
4
votes
Accepted
How might these prawns have been cooked?
They are cooked...likely boiled (sometimes this happens on the boat, sometimes on shore...it depends on the processor), then frozen very quickly. "Ready to eat" simply means that they are ...
- 73.8k
4
votes
What are the best ways to dry seafood before cooking/searing on the pan?
Several layers of paper towel is, in fact, the best way.
Place the seafood on 2-3 layers of paper towel and press down on it with another 2-3 layers of paper towel from the top.
Alternatives do not ...
- 61.2k
4
votes
Clams partly open with tongues sticking out - have they gone bad?
If they are still alive - shells closing or siphons moving - then they are still good. I store mine on a bit of crushed ice in a colander set over a bowl to catch the meltwater. I think it keeps them ...
- 336
3
votes
Accepted
Can you get food poisoning from calamari rings?
You can get food poisoning from every kind of food.
The thing with Calamari is that if you cook them too long they become rubbery.
Nailing the proper cooking time is something that can be learned by ...
- 20.5k
3
votes
Why boil octopus with wine cork?
I cook octopus from time to time, and I always put a wine cork in the boil water together with the octopus, because my mother in-law told me that the high content of the tannin from the cork (of red ...
- 47
3
votes
Does the location of where an octopus was imported from determine the flavor/quality of the meat?
Usually spanish and portuguese octopus is "Octopus vulgaris" and vietnamese octopus is "Eledone"
And yes, there are gastronomical differences. Eledone is smaller, with less muscle and tougher.
By ...
- 993
3
votes
Does cooking octopus in salt or pastry crust produce juicy octopus?
ok, so octopus either needs to be cooked for a very short amount of time (just until it's barely cooked through) to keep the muscle tissue tender or for a very long amount of time (2 hrs plus) to ...
- 3,063
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