cooking conch

luvs

'lil Chef
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i bought some earlier. i haven't cooked w/ it before- pointers/links to recipes/info/etc would be great~

TIA,
luvs
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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thanks 4 the prompt replies, guys! i have seen the fritters made on tv. they looked darned yummy to me. calicook, i shall check the link. thanks again~
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
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If you go the chowder route, I learned something new last Saturday. In the recipe that CaliforniaCook linked above the conch is cubed but otherwise unprocessed before going into the chowder. The finished product yields conch meat that is slightly rubbery in texture which I don't mind at all. It can be softened before adding to the soup by placing the cubed meat into a large pot with a couple of quarts of water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, let sit for about ten minutes, drain, and set the meat aside. This worked very well.
 

High Cheese

Saucier
while the fritters are good, I think they mask the taste of conch. Try to find a recipe that doesn't compete with it's flavor.
 
i bought some earlier. i haven't cooked w/ it before- pointers/links to recipes/info/etc would be great~

TIA,
luvs

luvs - where did you get yours from? The markets around here sometimes carry whelk (aka scungili), but never conch.

I love both in "Conch Fritters" & "Conch Chowder". The key is to mince or grind small.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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it was cheap, so imma get a suffcient a batch w/ these recipes/ this input. appreciated!
breezy, i got it @ an 'iggle market district
 
If it was "cheap", are you absolutely sure it's not whelk instead of conch? Because there really is no such think as cheap conch. Both are equally delicious, but if it was cheap & you weren't buying it right off a boat, I really doubt it's true conch.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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nope. it's conch. said so bold & bright on the sign, & an item i find to be cheap may seem absurdly priced to another/vice-versa. u can get pretty much any item u want @ some of the places here
 

joec

New member
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I've made it in both fritters and chowder. My chowder is very similar to Buzz's also. The fritters as was pointed out need to be really finely chopped. I've tried the fritters several different ways over the years as to what I added. My grandmother and mother in law used to make it also a lot, but not uncommon when when comes from S. Florida and the Florida Keys. There it is a staple during the season.
 
It's not available locally around here, but online from reputable sources runs around $18-$20/lb. with a minimum 5-pound purchase required.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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'kay.

i have conch. in my kitchen. i checked several reliable sources & it is indeed conch. if you've advice pertaining to conch/recipes, great! if you're looking to bicker w/ someone, find a mirror, as i'm not game for arguments~:goodnight_smi:
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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thanx, joe- i'll definately hafta make both & post the results either under the dinner thread or here. it's chiily here, & think i'll make a batch of chowder over the weekend, & the fritters i dunno when. is there a dipping sauce used for the fritters, guys~ TIA
 
'kay.

i have conch. in my kitchen. i checked several reliable sources & it is indeed conch. if you've advice pertaining to conch/recipes, great! if you're looking to bicker w/ someone, find a mirror, as i'm not game for arguments~:goodnight_smi:

Good grief - get your panties out of a wad girl. I'm not trying to bicker. Just wondering where you were able to get real conch at a reasonable price. Calm down.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
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Luvs,
I've read the posts, and particularly, the response you are taking offense to. None of the moderators feel the post in question was in any way offensive. On the contrary, it was conversational and informational as well.
 
Thanks Vera. Honestly, I in no way was trying to pick a fight. I love conch & was just wondering where luv's got her's & how reasonable it was in price. And there are tons of people who confuse whelk (scungili) with conch as they both look almost identical when cooked, which is how they're sold.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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it's not as though i reported a post/this thread- now i'm confused. i suppose another could've
in post #8, i said clear as day where i got it from, yet it continued. i'm obviously from pittsburgh, not elsewhere, so how should i know where breezy should get it from.....
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
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It is illegal to harvest conch in Florida. The conch I get at the farmers market comes from either the Bahamas or the Caribbean. The price is roughly $10 per pound.
 
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luvs

'lil Chef
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mine was brought in from the caribbean, too, buzz. i'm gonna check the price on it......- 'kay. $11.99/lb.
i'm making your chowder sunday, i think, w/ the tip you gave on giving the meat a pre-boil before adding to the other ingredients. (thanx for both, BTW).
 

GotGarlic

New member
thanx, joe- i'll definately hafta make both & post the results either under the dinner thread or here. it's chiily here, & think i'll make a batch of chowder over the weekend, & the fritters i dunno when. is there a dipping sauce used for the fritters, guys~ TIA

We used to get conch fritters at a restaurant down the street from a house my mom owned in the Florida Keys. They served it with a sort of mustard remoulade sauce - delicious :smile:

I've seen it fresh a couple of times in a Chinese grocery store in Virginia Beach. I don't remember the price exactly, but I'm sure it was between $10-15/lb. because I remember thinking it was pretty reasonable.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
Gold Site Supporter
thanx much, Gotgarlic. my friends/fam, if i forewent mentioning the anchovies, would luv if i whisked together a remoulade & fried some fritters.

as for where the seafood can be purchased by consumers, w/ permits, some seafoods can be caught/sold quite legally. & there's the crooked ones that care not, till they're up to thier knees in fines/costs for the illegalities of selling certain foods sans permits~
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
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Here's some conch chowder with the addition of a bunch of fresh clams from the farm mart this AM.
 

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Adillo303

*****
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We went to the fish market in Paterson today. They get a lot of fish in from the Cara bean. They had Conch for $9.99 a pound. I do not know about permits, but, they have been there for years.
 

luvs

'lil Chef
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food is intermittentantly available, here. like now, i cannot get plain 'ol lettuce. hafta get either pre-packaged, 'pre-washed' lettuce or get rusty, ucky crap from a junky place that i fear entering as it's odiforous from the time u enter. shudder. ew.

& buzz, that chowder rocks. i have a pack of 'lil clams in the freezer. they sure would be an excellant accent to the other textures. thx, once again. i should head to the 'iggle 4 fresh clams, so busy today, though!
 
While I still fondly remember the Conch Chowder I enjoyed down in St. Lucia, I've made some wicked-good pseudo "Conch Fritters with Key Lime Sauce" using whelk (scungili) back when that was commonly available.

Whelk used to be considered trash by commercial clammers (since they feed on other shellfish), & back in the days when we clammed ourselves we picked up lots of whelk that we threw back unless we - as kids - wanted them for the shells. No one back them considered them edible.

Now you can't find them anywhere, although Amazon sometimes sells them canned, but that's only good for sauce over pasta, not fritters.

I don't even need conch. I'd settle for some nice freshly-cooked whelk (scungili).
 
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