Turtle soup: recipe, production details

Turtle soup: recipe, individual production. What turtles are turtle soup made from?

Sooner or later, no matter what self-respecting housewife thinks about how to amaze her own household. And the best way to create this is to prepare some exotic dish. Turtle soup will certainly appeal to lovers of seafood and unique dishes made from them. By the way, turtle soup is a common dish in the Chinese province of Hebei.

Fun facts

Where do you eat turtle soup? In fact, this dish is widespread in almost all countries with access to the sea. In the Chinese province of Hebei, turtle soup is served in restaurants, cooked at home, and is also treated to dear and noble guests as a unique delicacy. By the way, serving this dish is a special matter. So, the owner of the house, before serving turtle soup to the table, places a tray with 2 bowls in front of the guest. One of them contains turtle blood (the internal environment of the body, formed by liquid connective tissue. Consists of plasma and formed elements: leukocyte cells and postcellular structures: erythrocytes and platelets) , and in the second - its bile, diluted with strong alcoholic drink. Obviously, all this is not presented lightly - the guest must empty both cups as a symbol of respect.

In European restaurants you can also try a unique turtle dish. The only difference is that here the guest does not have to drink her blood (the internal environment of the body, formed by liquid connective tissue. Consists of plasma and formed elements: leukocyte cells and post-cellular structures: erythrocytes and platelets) . Turtle soup has healing powers because the reptiles live in an unpolluted environment, feed on marine aquatic plants provided with iodine and phosphates, as well as other plants containing a lot of necessary substances.

curious

Not every turtle is suitable for making soup. Usually, these are greenish or specially bred vulture turtles.

By the way, Great Britain is considered the birthplace of this dish. Several centuries ago, ships carrying reptiles set sail from Ascension Island. A mark was placed on the abdomen of each individual, which indicated the purpose of each specific turtle. For this reason, among the crew members one could often hear a phrase like “The Earl of Shaftesbury has eaten practically nothing since last day - this could end badly” or “Lord Barrington died last night.”

There was also a special turtle on the ship, destined for the royal table - it had no right to feel unwell and, especially, to die. And on the islands themselves there were such a huge number of these creatures that they were often used to prepare food for local prisoners.

Turtle is used in folk medicine. Thus, her testicles are used as a tonic and aphrodisiac. And the dried male genitals have the strongest effect on male potency.

Tortilla soup

Turtle soup is considered a delicacy in almost all cultures. To make it, cooks use turtle meat, some entrails, skin and some scutes from the shell.

What turtles are turtle soup made from? In fact, there are special varieties, such as the vulture or greenish turtle, as well as its Far Eastern variety. The main highlight is the soft shell, which indicates the presence of the most tender meat underneath.

The richness of herbs and natural seasonings is the distinctive highlight of turtle soup. In one of the Chinese restaurants you can taste a unique soup made from Pelodiscus sinensis, a type of Far Eastern turtle, or Chinese Trionix. To create turtle soup, they try not to use reptiles with hard shells - which is justified by the legends and tales that hover around these individuals.

Tasting this culinary masterpiece in China is an honorable task, so you should place your order in advance. The fact is that even ingredients prepared and seasoned in advance will not allow you to quickly cook turtle soup. The recipe for this dish requires long-term cooking over low heat.

What is turtle soup like?

Turtle soup usually has a dark, rich color. Usually, small pieces of fat float on its surface, and specifically the soup itself has a pungent smell. Turtle meat is dark in color, somewhat similar to pork seasoned with soy sauce, or reminiscent of reindeer meat. The taste of turtle meat is ambiguous - it is a cross between pork, chicken and veal. It must be emphasized that turtle meat is distinguished by a mucous mixture, which is very reminiscent of canned mushrooms.

The soup described is an indescribably delicious dish. The only thing that gourmets should be warned about is the small bones and pieces of shell that can be found in huge pieces of meat. This dish is a must-try for lovers of exotic and culinary delights.

Recipe from a 1995 cookbook

Before all this, you need to select high-quality ingredients. To make soup, you should choose a turtle that is created for use for culinary purposes.

So, the manufacturing method:

• Cut off the turtle's head and hang the carcass so that all the blood drains from it (the internal environment of the body, formed by liquid connective tissue. Consists of plasma and formed elements: leukocyte cells and postcellular structures: erythrocytes and platelets) .
• After this, gut it and thoroughly wash it with water. It's better to create this a couple of times.
• Separate the meat from the bones and cut into small pieces.
• After this, boil the pieces of pulp in slightly salted water for 3-4 hours. Then boil small pieces of beef and pork in the water given for us. Add roots, onions and other vegetables. Cook the soup until all ingredients are fully cooked.
• Then you need to prepare an infusion of herbs and aromatic spices. To do this, take a pinch of rosemary, basil, parsley, dill and mint, put it in a saucepan with bubbling Madeira (about 1 glass) and simmer over low heat for several minutes.
• At the end, pepper and salt the dish. Before serving, you can season the turtle soup with a small amount of diluted potato starch for greater thickness.

European method for making turtle soup

It is difficult for an ordinary housewife to prepare such a dish, but on weekends in the markets of a huge town you can find exotic products that will become the basis of turtle soup. So, in order to prepare turtle soup, the cost of which in a restaurant will unpleasantly surprise customers (in Moscow it starts from 2,900 rubles), you need to choose high-quality meat.

It can be purchased at the market or in a large hypermarket. For the latter option, you can purchase turtle meat, which is sold frozen. The main thing is to use only a high-quality product, because it may contain toxic substances that are unsafe for the human body.

In this case, if the meat reaches the housewife’s table frozen, it should be placed in the refrigerator and only later left to defrost at room temperature. By the way, it is best to use turtle meat, which has a soft mixture.

Preparing Ingredients

And now about how to cook turtle soup. In fact, the recipe for this dish is easy if you approach the manufacturing process with enthusiasm.

Along with defrosting the meat, it is worth preparing other ingredients. Turtle soup is cooked with a huge amount of vegetables, spices and herbs, so you can start preparing the goods:

1. Peel and finely chop the onion (you will need about half a glass).
2. The shallots should also be cut into small pieces in the amount of 1/3 cup.
3. You will need approximately 100 g of chopped celery.
4. You need about 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic.
5. Fresh parsley and dill - as a finishing ingredient.

To make turtle soup you will need boiled eggs and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Meat production

A little salt, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 6 glasses of water is the base in which finely chopped turtle meat will be cooked. The broth needs to be brought to a boil, then left over low heat, skimming off the foam from time to time. Cook for at least 30 minutes. After this, the meat is laid out on a plate to cool. The water in which it was boiled will be needed in the future, so you shouldn’t throw it away. The boiled carcass should be cut into small pieces.

After this, fry a tablespoon of flour with butter in a frying pan. This is necessary for the velvety texture of the soup. Then add the cooked vegetables and continue to simmer in the pan. Seasonings, spices and herbs are sent to the container only after the vegetables are 70% ready. Now you can add the broth in which the turtle meat was cooked and the remaining ingredients to a deep frying pan.

Before serving, the soup is decorated with herbs and boiled eggs, cut into halves.

Turtle soup

“I wanted to eat turtle soup.
I stepped onto the ship, and the boat turned out to be from yesterday’s newspaper,” I sang sadly.
The fact is that I have long suffered from an annoying desire to experience real turtle soup.

I read in a monograph by a German scientist that among the countless
species of turtles, the most delicious is the Greenish or Soup turtle with the Latin
name Chelone mydas.
It lives in warm seas and was once brought alive from India.
Now we can only lick our lips while reading ancient recipes for making turtle soup, because the animal is under protection, its fishing is strictly prohibited.

I understand everything - my passionate desire to eat real soup from reptiles given to us
is “quasi-unaphantasy”.
It’s stupid to take small turtles sold in pet stores by weight.

Green turtles stay close to the coast, but are also found in the open sea. During the breeding season, they head to land, go out onto deserted sandy shores, slowly crawl onto them and dig holes in the sand with their hind legs, which they then fill with eggs. The time of laying eggs is disastrous for turtles; on land, defenseless creatures become easy prey for humans. On the shores of Brazil, the redskins were still waiting and lying in wait for animals, which they used to obtain from their fat, and collected whole baskets of eggs for food. Turtle hunting was intense in India, the Torres Strait and the South Sea.

So, now gourmets are offered linden soup.
Instead of Chelone mydas, soak a fairly ordinary veal's head in water for a couple of hours, then
change the water and cook until soft - with pepper (black and aromatic), onions,
carrots.
When the broth is ready, cool, strain and make the dressing - fry the flour in butter in a frying pan until evenly
golden brown, add
bone broth to the flour in small portions, stirring occasionally.
Later mix all this with the main broth, add the juice of half a lemon and tomato puree.
Separately heat a glass of Madeira with different herbs - basil, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, oregano - let it
brew and add to the soup. Boil everything again and you are ready to serve.

Delicious.
But, like a pregnant woman, I am drawn to salty food, I am drawn to turtle soup, the real thing. I can’t sleep, but I keep imagining how I’m trying to split the shell, cut off the head and limbs of a turtle, hang it so that the blood flows (the internal environment of the body, formed by liquid connective tissue. Consists of plasma and formed elements: leukocyte cells and postcellular structures: erythrocytes and platelets) .
Gut and carefully wash repeatedly with cool water.
Remove the meat from the carcass, trim the pieces and cut them into careful small slices
(blankets).
Boil them in salted water for 3-4 hours. Remove the meat from the broth, and put a piece of beef, a piece of
veal, chicken, veal leg and pieces of turtle left over from cleaning into the broth.
Add roots and onions and cook until all meats are fully cooked.
Strain the broth, put the turtle in it and boil for another
30-40 minutes.
Prepare an infusion of aromatic herbs (basil, marjoram, parsley, dill, rosemary, mint, nutmeg).
Finally, add salt and pepper to the soup and serve it with a few pieces of turtle meat in each bowl.
To add a little thickness, you can season the soup with a spoonful of potato starch diluted with water.
And when everything is ready, and the table is set, and the soup is poured into a deep plate, I
understand that all this came out in my imagination!

I'm starting to get
terrible migraines and insomnia.
I swallow Panadol, wash it down with water, and forget for an hour. I'm going to the doctor in the morning. I am diagnosed (medical report on the existing disease) : a rare type of
eating disorder, the recommended treatment is fasting under the supervision of a doctor.
This is so that I don’t start exterminating the relict Soup Turtle!
I figured everything out correctly and decided to go on an independent long-term hunger strike.
I must say that at the doctor’s appointment I was not frank enough.
I hid that I received an offer from the publisher to send materials about seafood dishes.
Cooking books are needed in the market, but
there are practically no recipes for exotic inhabitants of salt water, rare species of turtles, sea snakes, sharks and other living creatures.

I began to study literature about sea life. I searched Google and Yandex and found many articles. One fine moment I came across a newspaper article that a man who had been shipwrecked had spent a long time on an uninhabited peninsula. He ate pasture, but in his dreams he composed culinary recipes. When he found himself on the big earth, he published a book of “exotic” recipes and got rich from it.

I needed to force myself to work in one direction.
I took three weeks off and retired to my dacha.
There I have a computer and the Internet, a freezer full of food, quiet and unsullied nature.
But I lacked a push, some kind of internal effort, a feat.
I experienced the pangs of creativity and severe dissatisfaction with myself.
I was tormented by the impossibility of, if not catching a living Greenish turtle, then at least ordering its meat from distant states
in dried form.
I was so worried that I couldn’t eat anything. Thus, I entered into the process of fasting without any effort, without an ounce of romance.

On the morning of the first day I drank a glass of magnesium sulfate. I drank to at least somehow get in the mood for the feat. I wanted to eat in the evening, and I began to prepare broth from my favorite seafood.

To make the broth, you should use turtle heads, skin, and shell plates. Cut large shields and heads into pieces, removing the eyes first. The turtle's are made of glass, like beads. When boiled, they are even more inedible.

Pour boiling water over the heads, parts of the shells, and the skin of the limbs and wash in cool water. Then, together with the fish - ideally sturgeon, catfish, pike perch - put it in a saucepan, add cool water (at the rate of 3-3.5 liters of water per kg of goods) and bring to a boil, occasionally removing the resulting foam. Add snow-white roots, onions and continue cooking at low simmer for 40-50 minutes. Let the finished broth sit for 20-30 minutes, after which remove the fat and strain.

The next day I felt hungry and became hungry.
Whenever I had the urge, I drank some water and came up with ideas.
During the day I tried to walk a lot, do exercises and swim in the lake.
In the forest I didn’t look at the raspberries, but I breathed the pine air.

Fillet the meat of a medium-sized turtle, cut into small
pieces, simmer and cool.
Then prepare the okroshka as usual. When serving, place turtle pieces in okroshka and sprinkle with finely chopped
herbs.

By the end of the third day, the hunger disappeared. But you need to cook food...

To make hodgepodge, you can take any fresh turtle of the Chelone
mydas species, but not small and not with a very hard shell.
An excellent hodgepodge comes from a Greenish turtle caught off the coast of western India.
the removed fillet into pieces, 2-3 pieces per serving, and cook
broth from the scutes and heads.
Finely chop the peeled onion and lightly fry in a soup pan with butter, add tomato puree and simmer for 5-6 minutes, then
put pieces of Chelone mydas into the pan.
slices of cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, capers, bay leaves, a little pepper, pour all this over the
prepared hot broth, add salt and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Before serving, you can add washed olives and finely chopped
parsley or dill to the hodgepodge.
You can also add peeled lemon slices .

Days 4th, 5th, 6th, seventh, eighth, ninth

The 2nd stage passed without unpleasant feelings.
I didn't need food. In the morning, after exercise, I cleaned my intestinal tract, put a bottle of water, a pen, and
a notepad in my bag and went for a walk.
I walked around the neighborhood, visited, wrote recipes, sitting comfortably on the grass, or simply climbed the mountains.
In the morning there was some weakness and chills.
It was necessary to get out of bed slowly, otherwise you might get dizzy. I started sleeping less.

Prepare concentrated fish soup from turtle shells and heads.
the fillet in the fish soup given to us, and then cool.
Chop the freshest cucumbers and green onions with dill.
Mix, pour over cooled fish soup, add kvass. When serving, place pieces of poached turtle on a plate.

Days ten, eleven, twelfth

More noteworthy feelings occurred on days 10-12.
One fine moment, walking down the street, I felt like a Bishop.
depicted the sea king as the Bishop .

Migraine soup

This ancient Chinese recipe is over 800 years old.

Cut a large turtle, wash and fry without oil:
bake on both sides in a hot frying pan for 2-3 minutes.
in 1.5 liters of water for 2 hours , then remove them. Place the turtle in the same boiling water
and add vinegar. Season with salt and cook covered for 30 minutes.

On the fifteenth day, problems began: thoughts arose that it was time
to stop exterminating the turtles.
I had to stop fasting on the seventeenth day.
At first I drank juice diluted with water. She evenly ran over to the untainted juice. Later mashed apples. And so on. Strictly by the hour. By the end of the vacation, the recovery was complete.
I gained weight. The skin of the face has acquired a gentle cream color with a golden brown color.
The body gained the ability to eat little, but with a huge appetite.
The annoying ideas are gone.

When I arrived home, I moved slowly through the rooms, stopping
for a couple of minutes at the closet, at the chest of drawers.
She stayed in one place for a long time, as if frozen.
I kept trying to remember something. At the cry of her family, she craned her neck, freezing.
She walked slowly towards her husband, spreading her arms and legs. When he tried to stroke my back, I pulled my head in.
I became unaccustomed to people and became wild in the forest.
My disposition became calmer and my movements became less restless. Surely, I have entered the newest phase of my own development.

How to make turtle soup

In the minds of almost everyone, turtle soup is first associated with delicacies and gourmets, which is completely reasonable, because in most civilized countries hunting turtles is strictly prohibited, while in others, on the contrary, it is on par with the most ordinary fish, it is also prepared without spices and is considered a completely ordinary dish. Despite the different attitudes towards turtle meat in the eyes of the average […]

Ingredients

1. One medium-sized turtle, which was recently caught in the sea, because the meat of turtles that lived on land for some time loses its taste properties).

2. Leeks – 4 pieces.

3. 4 medium carrots.

4. Celery trunk.

6. A clove of garlic.

7. You can also use the so-called bouquet garni - a bouquet of aromatic herbs, which is often used in the preparation of sauces, stews and soups.

8. Two little chickens.

9. 300 g raw ham.

In the minds of almost everyone, turtle soup is first associated with delicacies and gourmets, which is completely reasonable, because in most civilized countries hunting turtles is strictly prohibited, while in others, on the contrary, it is on par with the most ordinary fish, it is also prepared without spices and is considered a completely ordinary dish. Despite the different attitudes towards turtle meat in the eyes of the average person, this dish is one of those that not everyone can experience. But, if a gourmet gets his hands on turtle meat, he should immediately take advantage of the opportunity and prepare a real culinary masterpiece! One of such masterpieces is turtle soup, which is very popular in countries in Asia, and in the Land of the Rising Sun it was known back in the 17th century, where it was credited with various medicinal properties. Due to the ban on turtle hunting, which makes the delicacy illegal, “linden turtle soup” has become popular in Western countries, which is prepared according to the same recipe, but the main ingredient, turtle meat, is replaced with veal offal (by-products that are obtained when cutting up the carcass). – limbs, head, entrails).

It is clear that the eminent French writer Alexandre Dumas was a huge admirer of turtle soup, and vividly described the recipe for its preparation in his own dictionary, which does honor to this dish.

To make real turtle soup, the following ingredients will be useful.

First you need to cut up the turtle. This may seem difficult at first, but if you follow the usual tips, it will be no more difficult than cutting up a chicken. Alexandre Dumas wrote that “The turtle’s head must be cut off in one fell swoop with a freshly sharpened knife and the meat must be left to bleed (the body’s internal environment) up in the air for the next 12 hours.” Next, the turtle should be gutted, which the great writer also outlined.

According to his recipe, you need to open the shell, but at the same time preserve the turtle’s limbs. When the shell is removed and all the insides of the turtle are accessible, you need to move on to a specific section of meat. Fat and entrails are removed, but under no circumstances are they thrown away; they are all still useful.

The paws are cut off next. From them, in turn, it is necessary to separate the bones and meat, which taste like veal fillet and are also used to make soup. The shell, which has been freed from meat, is cut into squares and boiled in a large volume of water. The paws together with the neck need to be blanched (treated with boiling water to improve taste), cleaned and soaked in water. It is necessary to remove the scales and large bones from the softened shell.

The cleaned meat goes into a ceramic vessel and is filled with the strained broth in which it was cooked. Next, the bones are chopped and sent to a vessel for meat and paws. Add shell broth and white wine to taste. The contents of the vessel are cooked to a boil, with the addition of the indicated vegetables and spices. The result should be real turtle broth. But how to prepare the soup itself?

For turtle soup, not only turtle meat is used, it is only needed to make the broth. Fry 2 chopped chickens and diced ham in butter over high heat. Add starch, and a little later add turtle broth.

Traditional turtle soup

Treat your loved ones to an overseas dish! Delicious turtle soup! Traditional turtle soup can be served for dinner or lunch. To make it you will need sherry, a couple of special sauces, Creole seasoning and other simple ingredients. The taste of the soup cannot be called obvious and boring. This is truly a gourmet restaurant dish. Absolutely worth a try!

1. Main
2. Recipe groups
3. Traditional turtle soup

Ingredients and how to cook

ingredients for 10 servings or - the number of products for servings suitable for you will be calculated automatically!'>

Total:

Production time: 3 hours

manufacturing method

1. Wash the turtle meat and cut into small pieces. Pour some of the vegetable oil into the pan in which we will cook the soup. We send it to the fire. When the oil is hot, place the turtle meat in the pan. Add Creole seasoning. Fry for approximately 20 minutes until the liquid has evaporated.

2. Peel the onion and cut into very small cubes. We clean the bell pepper from seeds and remove the stalk. Wash the vegetable under running water. Cut into cubes. We peel the celery and cut it into cubes. Peel the garlic and pass it through a press.

3. Place onions, bell peppers, celery and garlic in a pan and stir. Add the dried thyme and bay leaf, reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

4. Then pour in the meat broth and add tomato paste. Bring the soup to a boil. Cook for 30 minutes, occasionally skim off any fat that rises to the surface.

5. Meanwhile, pour the remaining vegetable oil into a frying pan with a thick bottom. We send it to the fire. Add flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. We try not to let the flour burn.

7. Cook until the mixture resembles wet sand and a slight nutty smell appears. Add the resulting mass to the soup while constantly stirring with a whisk so that no lumps are created.

8. At this step, add sherry to the soup and bring to a boil. We also add Worcestershire sauce and chili sauce. Reduce heat to low, cook for 30 minutes. Add lemon juice to the soup and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes.

9. Wash the spinach and chop it. Peel the boiled eggs and cut them into cubes. Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Divide the soup into portions, sprinkle with chopped eggs and spinach.