Chinese soft-shell turtle is considered a delicacy in China and serves as an enjoyable dish, perfect to pair with boiled rice.
These turtles are widely eaten both wild and farmed, valued for their meat as well as for the medicinal qualities in their shell.
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Softshell Turtle
Chinese Pond Turtle Meat (CPTM) is an increasingly popular dietary supplement used to provide essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Furthermore, some believe CPTM contains healing properties which may improve cardiovascular health.
Softshell turtles, commonly found among small to medium-sized species, are known as “softshells” due to the absence of horny scutes found on most other turtle species on their carapace. Most softshell species are raised for consumption as food market items in China; their total wild population has been steadily decreasing over time.
Like other freshwater turtles, softshells are predators; feeding on fish, aquatic crustaceans, snails, amphibians and vegetation. Their webbed feet and long necks allow them to breathe surface air when submerged underwater.
Wild spiny softshells nest in rivers, lakes, and ponds with sandy or muddy bottoms and lay their eggs there. However, they make poor pets because of their strong territorial tendencies – including biting anyone who comes too near to their territory! Carl Franklin of Grand Prairie Herpetology says he witnessed nine female spiny softshells fighting over one gentleman at the same time!
Turtle Soup
Turtle soup is a hearty stew-like soup prepared from snappeping turtle meat seasoned with spices and vegetables, often found both in Asian cuisine as well as Creole cuisine in the United States. It typically uses roux as its thickening agent – a thickening agent produced by cooking flour with fat together – for thickening purposes. Its popular preparation style makes this an international dish.
At various points during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, dressing and simmering turtle was considered an essential culinary skill. Recipes for turtle soup abound in period cookbooks such as Elizabeth Raffald’s (1769). Instructions included dressing turtle properly before simmering it with broth (in this instance).
Add turtle meat and water in a 4-qt. saucepan; bring to a boil, skim foam from surface, strain, cut into 1/2-in. cubes, set aside and melt butter over medium heat; gradually stir in flour to create peanut-butter colored roux; slowly whisk in reserved turtle stock; simmer before garnishing with parsley and sherry as desired for optimal results – serves six.
Turtle Stew
Turtle stew is an iconic southern dish featuring turtle meat, skin, livers and claws paired with warm spices like paprika, allspice and nutmeg for flavor enhancement and added sherry for depth of flavor.
Fresh turtle meat can easily be found at Asian markets and some grocery stores in the US. If it proves hard to come by, try substituting with milder-flavored seafood such as frog legs, lobster legs or even gator tail tail for an easily accessible soup option.
To prepare turtle, first rinse and dredge in flour with salt for at least an hour before placing in a heavy 4-qt. saucepan on medium-low heat over medium-low heat. Sautee the bacon in butter until cooked; drain off grease before adding turtle and water to simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours until meat is tender. Strain broth; reserve both turtle meat and stock separately before melting butter in pan with flour whisked in until peanut-butter colored; add onions, celery bell peppers garlic until softened then add tomato paste tomato paste paprika allspice allspice Nutmeg Ginger until thickened before stirring into reserved stock to simmer further thicken until finally thickened at the end of this recipe!
Turtle Broth
Terrapins have experienced a recent resurgence of popularity in America. Once abundant as seafood delicacies, their population has been overharvested to an alarming degree, leaving their populations on the verge of extinction. The Delaware Valley boasts large populations of box turtles (Terrapina antiqua) and snapping turtles (Terrapina vera). Zooarchaeology can shed light on what types of turtles Philadelphia residents ate in the past as well as recipes they may have utilized.
Though turtle soup was often considered the flagship dish of period cookbooks, many also offered other ways of using this versatile meat. Hannah Glasse’s 1751 edition of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy provided instructions for five preparations of turtle; Amelia Simmons’ 1796 book American Cookery included seven, with two mock preparations among them. To kill and prepare turtle for cooking, beheading or slicing its throat was used before cutting into pieces with a knife; offal such as lungs, heart, kidneys livers, and intestines were removed prior to cutting into pieces using another knife; offal (including offal including offal) removal followed.
