I guess it’s time we gave God thanks for filling the world with delicious food and creating us with the capacity to enjoy it.
Today, among the very few edibles I have successfully prepared, I’d like to talk about eels–freshly caught, and grilled on your own little hibachi on your back porch.
First you have to catch them. The best way to go about catching eels is to let it be widely known that you are fishing for flounder. You’re bound to attract eels. And now I will skip over the fun of getting an eel off your hook, and on to the matter of cleaning it. For this you will need:
Hammer
Nail
Pliers
Sharp Knife
Cleaning the eel is the hard part. They are, after all, extremely slippery. So what you do is, you nail the eel’s head to a tree, make a starter cut through the skin, and then use the pliers to peel off the whole skin in one deft movement. You’ll be amazed by how easy it is, if you do it right. And then it’s a simple matter to remove the internal organs. The rest of the recipe follows:
1 eel (more, if the eels are small, or if there are more than the two of you for dinner)
Hibachi with coals.
Aluminum foil.
Pats of butter as needed.
Cut the eel into servings. What we’re going to do is cause the zillion little rib bones to melt away without a trace. Wrap each piece, with a pat of butter, in foil and place on the hibachi.
Grill slowly for about 30 minutes. The foil will protect the eel from burning, but you do want to melt those rib bones.
And that’s pretty much all there is to it! You won’t believe how tasty those eel sections are, especially with a drop or two of lemon or lime juice, and a pinch of parsley. Don’t use a lot of extras, because grilled eel has a delicate flavor and the meat is very tender.
And now my mouth is watering!
Know of any good eel-fishing holes in Arizona? 🙂
I was going to ask you that.
It’s a secret I’ll take to my grave. 🙂
No way – not a chance! There are some things I just can’t get my mind around. Eel, squid, octopus, mussels, tripe – and this from an Italian 🙂 in part. But you boys enjoy yourselves lol
Linda, eel and squid are not icky after you clean them, and both have a nice, delicate flavor. Besides which, overcooked squid can be very useful for patching the soles of your shoes.
Mussels made me sick once, so ix-nay to them. As for tripe–does anybody really, truly, actually eat that?
Yes, indeed, people really do eat tripe – yuck! I’ve actually cooked it for a couple of my friends who really like the stuff. As far as I’m concerned, cooking it is as close as I want to be. Oh, and I forgot to include escargot and gritty oysters on my list of no-nos
No, no — truly overcooked squid is tender and delicious. So is barely cooked squid, in a different way (for salads and quick-fry, mostly). But that in-between state is what makes them tough. I love squid, especially stuffed and baked (Italian style), or braised with sherry and peas, or in a tomato sauce. I also like deep-fried squid, but I never deep-fry at home, so it has to wait till I go out to eat.
One of my aunts used to make delicious tripe, cooked forever in tomatoes and onions. Yum.
I’ve never cared for eels, though — a bit too fatty-tasting for me.
The first time I ever had fried squid rings–which I had to clean, cut, and cook myself–my father incredulously remarked, “You’re going to eat bait???”
I’m sure I’ve never had it overcooked. One of the things that makes it good bait is that the raw piece of squid is tough enough to stay on the hook. The fish can’t just pull it off and enjoy it.
When I make tripe (which hasn’t been for years now) I make it in a sauce very similar to my pasta sauce. But first it must be simmered for hours and cleaned, and then added to the sauce and cooked awhile longer. As for any and all of these delicacies, it’s not the taste necessarily since I’ve never tasted any of them except oysters once in the oyster stew my mom made (too gritty) – I just can’t get past what they are 🙂
Do you like clams?