The Old Days

Australian Freshwater Yabbies are not only great fun to catch they are an absolute seafood delicacy. Known for their sweet and succulent meat many Aussies rate them higher than lobster in a taste test.

In years gone by, I’d catch these with my boys, mainly just using a piece of meat tied to a string. This was a great method and kept my boys, when they were young, interested for hours….in later years they seemed to be more interested in girls and technology, go figure.

My past method of cooking was very simple. Just drop the yabbies in boiling water and when they turned red, like lobsters, just pull the tails off, peel the shell and eat them. This was how all my mates cooked them and the results were always Beautiful!

The New Days

Times have moved on and cooking has become a little more refined. For the last 5 years we have changed the recipe a little and the results have been fantastic. If you want to excite your taste buds, and cook a few yabbies yourself, here’s a simple recipe to follow:

Ingredients

•             1 kg fresh Australian yabbies

•             2 lemons, quartered

•             4 cloves garlic, crushed

•             1 tbsp olive oil

•             1 tsp salt

•             1 tsp black pepper

Cooking Instructions

1.            Begin by bringing a large saucepan of water to a boil.

2.            Once the water is boiling, add the yabbies and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until they turn a bright red colour.

3.            One hack I learnt was that while the yabbies are cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Once the yabbies are cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer them to the bowl of ice water. This will  stop the cooking process and make them easier to handle.

4.            Once the yabbies have cooled, you can pull the tails off or use a pair of kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to cut them off.

5.            Peel the shells off the tails, exposing the juicy, pink meat inside.

6.            As with prawns and lobster, it is best to rinse the tails in clean water to make sure they are clean.

7.            In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

8.            Heat a frypan over medium-high heat.

9.            Once the frypan is hot, add the yabbies and lemon wedges to the pan.

10.          Brush the yabbies with the garlic and oil mixture, and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown and crispy.

11.          Serve the yabbies hot, with the lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over the top.

The Result – Hero Status

This recipe turned me from a low ranking cook into a master chef. I grew 10cm taller, looked as jacked as Arnold Schwarzenegger and my pay increased by 30%. My mates thought I was ready to open a restaurant….and I think my fishing even improved!

…..OK, this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but if you want to impress family and friends and taste some amazing Aussie seafood, have a go at catching and cooking some yabbies.

 You’ll be happy you did.