Mantis Shrimp are tasty!

[Ben314z]

So here's some food for thought. Not to long ago I had the chance to live in Spain from Jun 2002 to Jul 2004. It's a really wonderful country and I HIGHLY recommend visiting at least once during your life. I lived in a few places during my 2 years there. I lived in a few places while I was there. First I lived in the capital, Madrid for about 2 months. Then I went to Gandia for 6 months. It's a little town about 45 minutes south of València along the coast. Then I moved further north and lived in a suburb of Barcelona called Cornellà de Llobregat for another 7 months or so. From there it was back down south to Elx, then to Murcia, then back close to València where I ended my time in the country living in Castelló de la Plana. Visca Catalunya!

 

 

Anyway, moving away from the travel log, the very first meal I had when I went to Gandia was with some mutual friends. We went over to their apartment and they had been preparing a local dish called Fideuà. It's similar to Paella, but instead of rice, it's made with small macaroni style noodles called fideos. It's also made strictly with seafood. I was excited to try it cause it looked really good and smelled even better. When we sat down at the table, our friends told us the story of how Fideuà came about.

 

Back in the 50's-60's some local fisherman in the Gandia were pretty poor (back then fishing was one of he main industries in town. Now it's tourism lol.) They were so poor they ran out of rice and didn't have the pesetas to buy more. They were stuck using what they had, which happened to be fideos. Now being fisherman, they also ended up with alot of by-catch when they pulled in their nets. This by-catch mainly consisted of smaller prawns/shrimp, tiny crabs, other small animals, and galeras, or as we know them here MANTIS SHRIMP!!

 

Basically they took their noodles, their by-catch and simmered it all in fish broth till it had cooked down and the noodles had started to get chewy.

 

Now this was before I really knew much about reef tanks. I knew I wanted one, but I hadn't done much research about them, nor was I really in a point in my life where I had the time to start one up. Anyways, the very first place I came across a Mantis Shrimp (though I had no idea what one was at the time) was on my plate. The funny part was when the friends we were eating with referred to Mantis Shrimp as "las cucarachas del mar" or "cockroaches of the sea."

 

 

Now the normal shrimp and little crabs were great, thought the crabs were too small to get any meat off em. Basically all you could do was bite them on the rear end hard enough to crack their shell so you could suck the broth out of their insides. But the noodles are wonderful and perfectly chewy!

 

But the galeras, e.g. Mantis Shrimp are really tasty too! But they are a bit tricky to eat. First you gotta separate the head section from the tail. The tail is really the only part you can eat, but you can suck the broth outta their heads if you want. Next, you gotta take their little flippers off their back ends. That makes it easier to get the meat out of the tail.

 

At this point all you have left is the tail section. Put the whole tail in your mouth, holding on to the end where the flippers were with your fingers. Then you carefully pull the tail out of your mouth, using your lower teeth to ease the meat out of the tail. See the meat in the tail is stuck between the top shell and a membrane that covers the soft underside. It's kinda the same technique you would use to eat artichoke petals, but done alot more gently.

 

The reason you gotta be gentle and go slowly is the along the shell are spines the poke out to the sides on each shell segment. So unless you want to tear up the corners of your mouth or get severely poked, you gotta be careful. It's an art really and takes a few shrimp to get used to it, but they are worth it cause they tasty!! For those of you who have a Mantis that you would like to be rid of, or for those of you who are just really adventurous, here is a decent recipe for Fideuà with mantis shrimp adapted from www.spain.info:

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Ingredients for 6 people:

 

600 grams small fideos.

3 cloves of garlic, pealed.

2 really ripe smaller tomatoes. (vine ripened tomatoes are best here)

1.5 liters fish stock.

6 galeras (mantis shrimp.)

6 small prawns

300 grams unpeeled small shrimp.

2 medium cuttlefish.

Olive oil

Lemon Juice

40 grams diced fresh parsley.

A good size pinch of toasted saffron or other yellow coloring.

5 grams paprika

Salt

 

Peal the small shrimp and set them aside. Sautee the heads and shells from the now peeled shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil till they turn a nice red color. When they are done place them in a blender with a small amount of fish broth and blend until smooth and there are no large pieces of shell left. Reincorporate your shrimp-shell smoothie back into the rest of the fish broth.

Wash and dry the prawns and galeras. Lightly salt them and set them aside.

Clean and chop the cuttle fish into small pieces.

Peal and chop the tomatoes.

In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic, parsley, saffron, and lemon juice.

In a pallera, heat the olive oil over medium heat. (A paellera is a large pan used to make paella. Click here to see what one looks like. If you do not have a paellera you may use a very large frying pan.)

When the oil is hot, lightly fry the galeras and prawns, then remove them from the pan and set them aside.

In the same oil lightly fry the cuttlefish, then the chopped tomato, then the paprika. It is important that it done in this order.

Once the cuttlefish, tomato, and paprika are fried, add the fish stock and salt to taste.

When the stock begins to boil, add the noodles. After five or six minutes, give the noodles a stir, then spread the garlic and parsley paste you made over the noodles. Now add the galeras and prawns.

Reduce your heat slightly and let it continue to cook for another 15-17 minutes.

After this time, take the pan off the heat and let it rest undisturbed for 5-7 minutes to let the noodles soak up the cooking liquid.

 

Presentation: Typically the entire paellera is brought to the table where all seated eat family-style (in other words everyone eats from the paellera-no plates allowed! ) You may arrange the galeras and prawns in a nice pattern radially around the pan on top of the noodles. Be creative. If the pan is too large (see photo below lol) or too heavy to be placed on the table then a more traditional individualized place setting may be used.

 

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If you chose to use a frying pan for this recipe, I would not recommend using your favorite pan as it is common for the noodles to stick a bit to the bottom. This is one of the tastiest parts of the dish, but to get it off your pan some soaking/elbow grease is required.

 

Anyone hungry?

 

~Ben

[epicfish]

Mmmmmmmmmm, yum.

[CGNano]

That sounds really good, actually.

 

I'd do itttttttt.

[HeyLookItsCaps]

thats like eating my dog!

[Seanfg89]

I was watching Bizzare Foods w/ Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel and he ate Mantis Shrimp (or as he referred to it, Mantis Prawn) in Vietnam. He says it has the taste of lobster but the texture of crab, either way, it didn't look half bad and I wouldn't mind eating it.

[Ben314z]

thats like eating my dog!

 

Aww sorry Caps. I didn't mean to hurt ya. If it makes you feel better, I no longer eat any shrimp or any other animals for that matter. One of those vegetarian votes up there is mine. Mantis shrimp are pretty fun animals though. Eventually I'd like to have a separate tank for one. I saw a blue one that was really pretty!

[HeyLookItsCaps]

mantis shrimp are the only reason im considering keeping biology as my major. theyre the most intrigueing animal ive ever had the chance to see

[justinl]

absolutely i would! I have two mantis tanks, but im also a bit of a food freak. Mantis is just one of those dishes... but if Im going to do it, i think i would want to do it right and go to Thailand or something to get the really good stuff. ...or Spain for that matter... thx for the recipe, sounds delicious!

[Ben314z]

You go for it! We need way more marine biologists to help us all fix this mess we've gotten ourselves into with over fishing, industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, treating the ocean like a landfill/sewer... the list goes on and on sadly.

[HeyLookItsCaps]

ive seriously debated it.

[stiltman]

There seems to be a lot of people facinated with mantis shrimp. What's the attraction? I have not seen one in real life, just the internet.

[Ben314z]

There seems to be a lot of people fascinated with mantis shrimp. What's the attraction? I have not seen one in real life, just the internet.

 

I think it has something to do with the fact that they pwn pretty much anything out there other than fish that are specifically designed to eat them (e.g. puffers.) Most shrimp to be honest, though fascinating, are kinda wussy. Sure they are great additions to a CUC and they help keep fish parasite free. But Mantis Shrimp are really intriguing. They have personality, they're elusive, they're really good hunters; their claws are even as fast at a .22 cal bullet!! I haven't had firsthand experience, but some have even said they are intelligent.

 

Check out these vids to see these little death machines in action:

 

Wild Mantis Shrimp vs. Octopus. Guess who wins?

 

Mantis vs. Crab

 

Hand feeding a Mantis Shrimp

 

This is a spearer in action. Watch his eyes tracking the Damsel... O.O

 

 

Pretty neat huh? They gotta be intelligent to outsmart an octopus...

 

~Ben

[mfp1016]

I simply dont like the taste of shrimp so I feel the choices didnt represent me well.

[Ben314z]

I simply dont like the taste of shrimp so I feel the choices didnt represent me well.

 

Wouldn't that fall into the "No way!" category? The good news for you is they taste more like lobster anyway.

[organism]

I've eaten mantis shrimp at the sushi bar before, they taste phenomenal. kind of like a tougher, sweeter lobster tail

[HeyLookItsCaps]

In my personal opinion. The stomatopod is one of the most highly advanced animals on planet earth. They have 2 eyes per stalk, that can swivel 360 degrees, and see 16 diffrent colors in the spectrum. Humans only see 3, red blue and green. They have one of the fastest movements in the animal kingdom. In 1/126th of a second a mantis can generate enough power to actually cavitate water into an air bubble, hit his prey with his rapts, and the air bubble that was created also hits his prey, stuns it, and will go back to regular position. In 1/126th of a second! Also, they communicate using polarized light. Light the naked human eye can't see. They blink lights at eachother, no one has found out what they're communicating *territory, mating et etc* but that's how they interact.

 

I just went completely off the reservation. Sorry bout that. But now you see how crazy I am. Haha

[CoreyK]

They gotta be intelligent to outsmart an octopus...~Ben

I agree, Mantis Shrimp are very cool, but I dunno if I'd go as far as to say that video one "won" against an octopus, or "outsmarted" one.

I'm no expert on Cephalopod behavior, but if I had to guess I'd say that octopus was not particularly interested in that mantis as food (though I know stomatopods are a favorite dish for octopus).

 

Anyway, I think stomatopods are worthy of fascination simply due to their physical anatomy. Having the most complex compound eyes on the planet, as well as the quickest moving body part(s), is pretty incredible.

[stiltman]

Thanks Ben, they are very intersting

[Ben314z]

Thanks Ben, they are very intersting

 

You're welcome!

[Nick's Reef]

Sounds yummy! They are really cool animals. I go snorkleing alot (live in florida) and see mantis shrimp all the time i've even seen em take out a small blue crab(really fun to watch). But when i'm lookin for fish or inverts to sell to the lfs and ya flip over a rock and see one itll scare the crap outta ya!

[lanceleaderx]

only $3.99 IB at my local supermarket alive, also they are about 6'' to 8'' and my parents love it ~~

[disaster999]

back home in hong kong, people eat mantis shrimp too. the direct translation from chinese to english for mantis shrimp is "####### shrimp" not sure why its called that...i guess it squirts?

[justinl]

since we all love vids, here's a vid of a peacock mantis killing and EATING (eating not shown... but it happens afterwards. all is eaten but the beak) a bluering octo. and in case you're not familiar with blue rings, they are among the deadliest organisms in the ocean. their toxin (TTX) can paralyze and then kill a full grown man in under twenty minutes.

 

i also want to point out the mantis' behavior which is highly evolved. look at the way the mantis keeps turning the octo so the beak is facing away from the mantis. it isnt shown but after the kill, the mantis ate the octo and no one knows how it dealt with the TTX.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/vid/bluering/bl...ng_content.html

 

oh, btw, this isnt my video... it's a research video taken by Dr. Caldwell from berkeley

 

disaster: if you throw a mantis into a pot and boil it, it urinates in death. so after a while, people figured out that you have to stab it first, let the bowels empty out and then cook it. hence "####### shrimp"

[epicfish]

Whoa, that video is pretty freaking cool!

[CoreyK]

since we all love vids, here's a vid of a peacock mantis killing and EATING (eating not shown... but it happens afterwards. all is eaten but the beak) a bluering octo. and in case you're not familiar with blue rings, they are among the deadliest organisms in the ocean. their toxin (TTX) can paralyze and then kill a full grown man in under twenty minutes.

 

i also want to point out the mantis' behavior which is highly evolved. look at the way the mantis keeps turning the octo so the beak is facing away from the mantis. it isnt shown but after the kill, the mantis ate the octo and no one knows how it dealt with the TTX.

A lot of animals have evolved resistance to powerful toxins in their environment; it's an example of an "evolutionary arms race". The predator/prey species are constantly "one-upping" each other in each successive generation, ie. the predator's toxicity must increase in order to be effective, as does the resistance of the prey species in order to resist it, etc. That's how many toxins get to such ridiculously dangerous levels, where you are having a poison that can kill 100 men with one bite, but that same bite may not even be lethal to a local prey species.

Seeing as stomatopods (mantis shrimp) are a favorite meal of octopus, it would make sense for them to have developed a resistance to tetrodotoxin.

 

And remember that tetrodotoxin is actually a product of certain bacterias that the octopus does not metabolize - bacterias which are also present in many other fish and inverts (tetradontiformes, for one). If any of them are on the mantis's menu, they would be likely to build up a resistance on the predatory side of the equation as well.

 

That is a neat video though - the mantis may also be turning the octopus to avoid being inked.