IgnatzH

Seems oddly patronizing to the homeless...and the bit about canned bear and sea lion swimming in that brown gook they call "curry" isn't very respectful of native wildlife, either...

Thank for the information, SheenaGreena! I guess that you're saying that no preparation is necessary...just slice and eat? And they ate the little ones raw, as well as the big orange ones? Did you mom make Mideodok-chim, in which the're cooked with beef and a bunch of other ingredients? I just found out that these creatures are actually raised in aquaculture situations in both Japan and Korea, so there must me a pretty steady market for them.

I'm looking for information on a creature that's called Maboya in Japan, and Mideodok in Korea. The scientfic name for it is Styela clava, known as the "warty sea squirt in the English speakng world. In Korea it's used to make a dish called Mideodok-chim. I remember seeing some larger, orange sea squirts at sushi places in Japan, but not the little guys. Sea squirts are not to be confused with sea cucumbers, which in marketplaces are a more commonly seen group of organisms. Any information would be much appreciated. Nobody on the West Coast (where they've been introduced) of the U.S. seems to have the guts to try them! Thanks in advance.

That sure sounds like them. A photo of the species in question can be found at: http://convoluta.ucdavis.edu/research/ Come to think of it, I do remember a larger species related to the warty sea squirt that is indeed larger and orange on offer at a sushi joint in Japan. Any information that you could get me as to the proper way to prepare them, what to eat and what not to eat, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm trying to find some information about a creature that's served as a part of Korean cuisine, called mideokok in Korea. I think that it's also eaten in Japan, but I don't know the name. The technical name for this unattractive little beast is, I kid you not, the warty sea squirt (Styela clava). This species can now be found off the coast of California. Please post if you have any information about how to prepare mideokok and/or have ever eaten it. I understand that it also comes pre-prepared in jars with loads of garlic and red pepper...but that describes a lot of dishes in Korean cuisine.

Actually, the compound in the skin of skates and and some of their shark relatives (dogfish, for instance) is actually urea, not "urine". That's what you're smelling in the fresh examples. If you know it's fresh but it still smells a bit like urea, try a soak in some salt water for an hour or two, maybe three tablespons to the gallon. Seems to cut way back on the urea in dogfish, actually a type of shark, that has a lot of urea in the skin as well. By the way, I've heard that dogfish and skate are often used in fish and chips in England. Anybody know if this is true?

Anything rotten or moldy...blue cheese. Not nuts about "nam pla" or other rotted fish products...millions of people love this kind of stuff. Feh.

I'll eat, and have eaten anything that's fresh. That includes insects (only dependable protein source over much of the world, sorry) and all manor of other beasties unpalatable to most. However, I can't abide by anything that tastes spoiled or moldy such as many types of very expensive cheeses. The most horrible thing I've ever eaten was fermented shark in Iceland. Horrible...disgusting beyond words. The Invasive Species Cookbook: www.bradfordstreetpress.com

If you live in the wine country, you might look into finding a vineyard owner who'd like to get rid of some wild pigs. Some people have terrible problems with these...and I mean the four legged variety. If you know of anybody who's interested in having their pig population thinned, let me know! More than happy to share the final product. Wild pig produces some of the best pork that you'll ever have. It actually tastes like something, vs. the anemic wet cardboard that passes for store bought pork. Loads of recipes in the book.

Nutria are rodents, as are squirrels and beaver. You can download some nutria recipes (including some from Chef Parola) at the cookbook site: www.bradfordstreetpress.com Nutria are a terrible nuisance, and the dope who first released them (following a failed attempt to establish them in captivity as a fur-farm animal) should hold a place of infamy in the ecological history of this country. In addition to eating what's left of the marshes of Louisiana, they also burrow holes in dikes and dams to the obvious detriment of anybody living downstream.

Maybe you've been exposed to better recipes than most, but the majority of people do NOT like the taste of nutria. At least not the one's I've come across. The general consensus is that it can get incredibly gamey tasting based upon the fact that they eat all sorts of garbage. Maybe if they started farming grain fed nutria, they'd taste better, but... farming them would sort of miss the whole 'invasive species' point. ← Hope I don't sound harsh, but you're operating under a couple incorrect presuppositions here: Nutria don't eat "all sorts of garbage", they're strict vegetarians. This is part of the problem that they present for places like the Mississippi delta, as they eat the grasses and reeds that help hold what little silt and mud that hasn't yet been washed out to sea. As for the flavor of nutria, I think that the main problem is that people can't get past the idea that they're just a big rodent. It's a psychological problem, rather than an actual one concerning how they taste. I don't find nutria gamey at all, certainly no more than well-prepared venison, and the taste is closer to dark meat turkey than anything else. Philippe Parola serves it at his restaurant, as do many other regional chefs. Have you personally tried it?

There are places in Oregon where I've collected sackfulls of Procambaras clarkii, (one of the species for which you guys pay top dollar down in Louisiana), with no competition in sight. People in the Northwest just can't seem to bring themselves to cook up those mudbugs, and didn't know how if they did. And thus the need for the cookbook. Now you guys need to get busy on all those nutria, politely called "ragoudain" by the region's chefs, that you have down there. Sure, they're not pretty to look at but they’re certainly tasty. We got several leading chefs, including Philippe Parola, to give us their best recipes for nutria and I can personally attest to how good they actually are.

Published in 2006: The invasive Species Cookbook: Conservation through Gastronomy is available at www.bradfordstreetpress.com

The invasive Species Cookbook: Conservation through Gastronomy is available at www.bradfordstreetpress.com The idea of the book is to increase interest in the issue of invasive species and to reduce them in number by eating them in as many interesting ways as possible.