G’day mates!
Join us for another catch and cook here in the sunny Caribbean as we deep fry some conch.
It’s our first attempt at cooking conch and we had an absolute blast doing it. I’m sure for those of you who are familiar with cooking this sea snail, you’re keen to give us a few pointers, so go ahead ?. I’d like to get it from tasting like ‘cat foot’ to at least just nice.
Videos made with love, Elayna xo
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Conch ceviche is our favorite! Lime juice, salt and pepper and let sit over night. Longer is sets the better it gets! One word of advice is to cut it into smaller strips.j
Hi Guys,
Conch is like Calamari and Octopus, you have to cook the heck out of it, or cook it quickly (thinly sliced). I think your problem with the fritters was two-fold.
You need to FIRST par boil the hell out of the cleaned conch in water with bay leaves, peppercorns and maybe some celery leaves and salt UNTIL TENDER …maybe 30 minutes or more.
SECOND, you need to slice the cooked conch thinner and then season it with salt and pepper and dredge FIRST in plain “ seasoned flour”, then the eggs, then SEASONED breadcrumb mixture.
Also, DEEP fry in smaller batches. Take a small saucepan and add your oil. Bring it up to 350 degrees and fry only a few pieces at a time. They need to be completely submerged in the oil. I think if you try this method Riley won’t think he’s eating a cat’s leg…I laughed so hard??? nearly peed my pants.
We Italians eat a Northern Atlantic cold water relative of the Conch, called Scungilli. I imagine the prep and cooking is probably similar to Conch….and I’ve been cooking Scungilli for years. Before you proceed with any of these recipes, you first need to parboil conch pieces as I’ve instructed above.
Our two favorite ways of eating this delicacy is with spaghetti in a spicy Tomato sauce, Fra Diavalo (which you could also use as a dipping sauce for your above fritters) or in a cold salad, the par boiled COOKED Scungilli, thinly sliced, marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, celery, olives, capers, fresh parsley, salt, pepper and garlic.
Of course by now, you’re probably miles away from Turks and Caicos or the Bahamas and have finished your supply of fresh conch. But if you’ve got any frozen, think about trying it as described above.
Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Love you two and your crazy adventures.
Best
Lynne a very happy Patreon
Konk, not Konch. And try making Bahamian Conch Salad. Awesome!
This suggestion comes from my wife, she says to try to soak it in pineapple juice for a few hours and instead of deep fry, try steaming for 15-20 mins or maybe with a few vegs/asian stir fry with the usual fish/mushroom sauce. Been only 2 weeks of watching your channel, loving it so much we have booked ourselves on our first sailing experience at the end of October. Hopefully we’ll enjoy it as much as watching both of you.
Guys – love your videos. I lived in the Bahamas for several years and eat a hell of a lot of Couch. I love it. Currently, I have a place in Dominican Republic, so when you want to come back let me know we have plenty of spaces and I’ll have the girls cook up some Couch properly.
Hi Riley and Elayna,
My husband and I love watching your shows! I lived aboard a sailboat in south east Asia back in the 80s for 6 years the name of it was the Vagabond!
But the reason I’m writing to you is because I know a better way to get the conch out of its shell.
I learned from the natives in Malaysia who sold shells to the tourists. It’s brutal but one has to eat…
Hang the shell above a container of seawater and eventually the animal will come out of the shell to get to the water. I know it’s brutal…
One more thing, The first time we ran aground an old sailor told me later,
“ you are not a true sailor until you’ve run a ground”. I’m not sure what it means but running aground, bumping against coral heads or dragging anchor are all part of the package as I am sure you well know.
Carry on and remember we’re rooting for you!
Author
cheers Claire! xo
O.k when I was working as a cook in st.croix, well we always cleaned conch with key limes in a big pot you must always skin all the outer brown skin off. We then cut it into squares then saute it in garlic and oil and lemon. Season any way you like. Love it with brown rice etc. veggies black pepper and caribbean hot sauce. Great with beer. Cheers! I guess you probably also know that to get the conch out of the shell quickly you have to break a hole in the shell at the top the only way to save those gorgeous shells is to string up the snail by his toenail and let gravity drop the shell. Happy sails Stephen wallis
Red wine with seafood? Or any wine will do? Cheers!
I LOVE CONCH! It’s been years though I remember two ways of prepping the meat. One was cutting it up in really small squares the other was to slice it thin then beat the heck out of it with a mallet or meat tenderizer 🙂 yum!