So, I almost came up empty-handed yesterday goose hunting and decided to bring a few coots home instead. Never ate one before and everyone says they're no good, so I figure I had to see for myself. Overall not bad. Not my first choice, but that's mostly because I love goose so much. I would cook this up again if I ended up with a bag of coots for one reason or another (or if I got skunked again!)
The flesh isn't very fish at all - something like a mallard. I did notice a liver-like taste in some over done bits. My fault for not watching the fry pot too closely. The bits that were medium were ABSOLUTELY delicious though. The breast meat is very very rich and delicious. Like a really dark and "ducky" (for lack of a better word) duck.
Here's how I did them. First, I debreasted them like grouse - stepping on the wings, cutting out the breast bone and removing the legs at the hip joint. This didn't work on a smaller one and I had to dig in and clean it the old fashioned way. I cut the feet off, too! I also saved the gizzards (I wanted to see what they'd been eating anyways) and the hearts. I removed all the visible fat from the breast and legs.
The diet of these coots seemed to be green water-plants. There were no inset or fish bits that I saw, so my confidence at this point was up. Your mileage may vary.
I then soaked the breasts, legs, hearts and gizzards in a marinade that was 1 cup red wine (cheap stuff) to 1 tbsp rice vinegar to 1 tbsp good soy sauce. I think the quality of the soy sauce is important. The cheap stuff tastes like salt-water after you've had good soy sauce like you'd get at a sushi restaurant.
Anyway, 4 coots needed about 2 cups of this marinade in the pot I used. I marinated for 3 hours at room temp. Then I carefully cut the breast meat off the breastbone and cut into 1 inch strips (about 6 strips per coot). I left the legs as is. You could cut the meat off and tie it up with a toothpick if you don't like eating the meat off bones.
I made up an egg batter with 2 large eggs, 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1tsp of tabasco sauce.
I made up a breading mix with 2tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of black pepper and a half teaspoon of baking powder (mix these 4 ingredients first so you don't end up with lumps of salt or baking powder) and 1 1/2 cups of Panko crumbs. I mix panko crumbs by shaking in a large bag so you don't crush too many crumbs.
I then breaded them in the Panko mix - shake and bake style. I have lots of this breading pre-mixed since I use it for lots of things. You could take it pre-mixed if you were camping. I'm also sure you could substitute another type of crumb here and it would work out equally well. Panko is very light and crunchy. A heavier breading would be acceptable since the meat turned out so rich.
After breading with Panko, it's important to let the pieces stand for a few minutes so the crumbs absorb the egg. If you don't, the Panko will fall off as soon as the meat hits the oil.
I fried these in oil in a deep cast iron pot at about 400 degrees (estimating) until the crumbs browned. Put the legs in first, leave in a minute, then put in the breast strips and gizzards, wait a minute, then put in the hearts. It was all done in about 6 minutes or so. Not 100% sure on the temp, I just estimate these days. I know I overcooked the hearts and some of the smaller breast pieces - darn.
It sounds like a lot more work than it is. So I took this breaded coot and drained it. I put a light green curry sauce on top. (About 2 tsp green curry paste to a small can of coconut cream. I added about 2 tsp of Mirin to this). They were really, really good.
Here's the short form recipe.
Marinate:
4 coots - breasts on bone, legs, hearts and gizzards.
2 cups red wine
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp high quality soy sauce
4 hours
Cut breasts off bone and cut into 3 strips each side.
Egg wash:
2 large eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp tabasco sauce
Breading:
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups Panko crumbs
Dip the meat in the wash and then bread. Let it stand for about 10 minutes before frying.
The legs take a minute longer to cook than the breasts. The hearts cook pretty fast.
Sauce:
1 small can of coconut cream
2 tsp of green curry paste
2 tsp mirin
The flesh isn't very fish at all - something like a mallard. I did notice a liver-like taste in some over done bits. My fault for not watching the fry pot too closely. The bits that were medium were ABSOLUTELY delicious though. The breast meat is very very rich and delicious. Like a really dark and "ducky" (for lack of a better word) duck.
Here's how I did them. First, I debreasted them like grouse - stepping on the wings, cutting out the breast bone and removing the legs at the hip joint. This didn't work on a smaller one and I had to dig in and clean it the old fashioned way. I cut the feet off, too! I also saved the gizzards (I wanted to see what they'd been eating anyways) and the hearts. I removed all the visible fat from the breast and legs.
The diet of these coots seemed to be green water-plants. There were no inset or fish bits that I saw, so my confidence at this point was up. Your mileage may vary.
I then soaked the breasts, legs, hearts and gizzards in a marinade that was 1 cup red wine (cheap stuff) to 1 tbsp rice vinegar to 1 tbsp good soy sauce. I think the quality of the soy sauce is important. The cheap stuff tastes like salt-water after you've had good soy sauce like you'd get at a sushi restaurant.
Anyway, 4 coots needed about 2 cups of this marinade in the pot I used. I marinated for 3 hours at room temp. Then I carefully cut the breast meat off the breastbone and cut into 1 inch strips (about 6 strips per coot). I left the legs as is. You could cut the meat off and tie it up with a toothpick if you don't like eating the meat off bones.
I made up an egg batter with 2 large eggs, 1 tsp of lemon juice and 1tsp of tabasco sauce.
I made up a breading mix with 2tbsp of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of black pepper and a half teaspoon of baking powder (mix these 4 ingredients first so you don't end up with lumps of salt or baking powder) and 1 1/2 cups of Panko crumbs. I mix panko crumbs by shaking in a large bag so you don't crush too many crumbs.
I then breaded them in the Panko mix - shake and bake style. I have lots of this breading pre-mixed since I use it for lots of things. You could take it pre-mixed if you were camping. I'm also sure you could substitute another type of crumb here and it would work out equally well. Panko is very light and crunchy. A heavier breading would be acceptable since the meat turned out so rich.
After breading with Panko, it's important to let the pieces stand for a few minutes so the crumbs absorb the egg. If you don't, the Panko will fall off as soon as the meat hits the oil.
I fried these in oil in a deep cast iron pot at about 400 degrees (estimating) until the crumbs browned. Put the legs in first, leave in a minute, then put in the breast strips and gizzards, wait a minute, then put in the hearts. It was all done in about 6 minutes or so. Not 100% sure on the temp, I just estimate these days. I know I overcooked the hearts and some of the smaller breast pieces - darn.
It sounds like a lot more work than it is. So I took this breaded coot and drained it. I put a light green curry sauce on top. (About 2 tsp green curry paste to a small can of coconut cream. I added about 2 tsp of Mirin to this). They were really, really good.
Here's the short form recipe.
Marinate:
4 coots - breasts on bone, legs, hearts and gizzards.
2 cups red wine
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp high quality soy sauce
4 hours
Cut breasts off bone and cut into 3 strips each side.
Egg wash:
2 large eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp tabasco sauce
Breading:
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups Panko crumbs
Dip the meat in the wash and then bread. Let it stand for about 10 minutes before frying.
The legs take a minute longer to cook than the breasts. The hearts cook pretty fast.
Sauce:
1 small can of coconut cream
2 tsp of green curry paste
2 tsp mirin
