Different Meat Week - Frog Legs

image zorbs

Today we are going to eat Kermit's little legs...well, actually not his legs, but frog legs. Finding frog legs in the city isn't so hard, because I know they carry them in the Asian grocery stores, and most major cities have a "Chinatown" even if it's not necessarily only Chinese stores there.

I picked up a few packs of frozen frog legs the same time I grabbed the rabbit that I covered a few days ago. They came in a vacuumed sealed tray like the picture above. Again, given the choice, I wish I could get fresh frog legs, but I doubt they would have any around here. I'd probably have to go to the Southern states and I'm sure there would be fresh frog legs I could get. There's got to be frog farms around there.

I have had frog legs many times, and the last time I had it was at a Chinese buffet restaurant about 2 years ago where they had them battered and deep fried. I could've just eaten skinless battered chicken wing drumlettes and had a similar flavor.

Since deep frying will probably just hide the natural flavor, I threw a few in some boiling water and tried it that way. I have to say it's not very great, but not overly bad. Initially it's just bland light chicken with a soft texture, but then you can detect a wet grassland essence. Probably a better description would be steamed carp taste, and to repeat I said "carp" like the fish, not crap! :-)

I brought some frog legs to my friends BBQ earlier in the year just to try them out and see how they do on a grill. Some of the guys became squeamish little girls, and the other half were curious to see how they turn out. They don't BBQ well, because the meat is lean and delicate, and the heat dried out the meat and the legs shrank. Maybe that's why it's not offered grilled over an open fire!

image jauladeardilla

One of the tried and true ways is to put a light batter or flour coating and throw them in the oil. I've had it this way many times, so it's kind of a no-brainer to cook it this way. Added some zesty herbs and mild crushed red peppers, coated it with flour, and that was it. Fried them up in my Presto Cool Daddy electric fryer and had some awesome frog legs.

image Dionysius

I enjoy sauteed frog legs just as much as fried frog legs. Choosing one over the other is when I'm feeling a little more gourmet dinning is in order. Frog meat lends itself to sauteing very well, as it's a light meat that can pick up the flavors of whatever you cook it in. You can still detect the natural flavors of the frog meat, but unlike deep frying which changes the flavor, sauteing is more like adding or enhancing the flavor of the frog meat. A quick simple way to cook them this way is just to cook it in butter, add some cooking wine if you prefer, and basically sprinkle any herbs, spices, salt/pepper. It's the basics and then add whatever you feel like adding, like fruits or veggies. I even tried some with ground cinnamon and apricots.

You may hear it all the time that frog legs taste like chicken. It initially does, but you'll soon detect the delicate frog taste. Most of the packages I've seen state they are all farm raised, however if you get your hands on some wild frogs, it's going to taste pretty strong like whichever lake or swamps they came from. In short, it's swampy chicken!

Kermit says: Bon appetite!

image purpleslog