Conch Fritters

[vanwingen]

I am looking for a great Conch Fritter and SAUCE recipe.
Any restaurant "copy cats" recipes as well?
I had these in Florida last year for the first time and loved them.
The other day a friend of mine asked me if I would make some.
Now I HAVE THE CRAVING TOO !!!! heehee !!
Does any know if conch is available year round? I'm up in Michigan.

-thanks!

[bobngreen]

Hi:

A Bahamian from Norhern Eluthra showed me this recipe - it is the best.!!!


Yield: 20 fritters

3 eggs, well beaten
6 ounces beer
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
peanut or canola oil for deep-frying
1 small finely diced onion
1-2 finely diced jalapeno pepper
1 lb finely ground conch
Salt and pepper to taste
Lightly saute conch, onion, jalapeno in butter - let cool
Combine all ingrediets except flour.
Gently incorporate flour into the egg mixture until smooth. Let batter rest for about an hour at room temperature.
Heat oil to 360°F, drop batter into the oil, a spoonful at a time. Turn once and remove from the oil when they reach
a nice golden brown color.

[amber]

That recipes sounds great. I've had conch fritter in the Bahamas and they were awesome. I've never seen it sold here in Maine though.

[GB]

I had them in the Bahamas as well. They were soooo good. I also had conch made many different ways in Jamaica and loved every preparation. I have never seen conch outside of the tropics though.

[buckytom]

mmmmmmm, conch fritters.

i'm sure you can get frozen conch shipped to you.

if you have to order a lot and don't want to eat all fried stuff, try italian recipes for scungilli. conch, aka scungilli, fried or sauteed is great with a spicy sweet and/or garlicy tomato sauce.

[Constance]

We've had conch fritters in Key West and Sanibel, Florida. I love them. I don't remember what kind of sauce we had to go with...seems like it was just a simple cocktail sauce at the place in Sanibel. Key West is a little fuzzy...

[auntdot]

Buckytom, used to love scungilli many years ago in Little Italy in NYC, yes, and in Umberto's Clam House (even grew up with one of the women that was in his party when JG met his demise).

Have never seen scungilli anywhere else, drat.

Googled and it seems the 'scungilli' whelk may be somewhat different than the conch used in fritters.

Would it work? I have no idea.

But since I can't find either one it makes little difference.

Used to love conch fritters when we lived in FL, but have not seen them, or the meat, anywhere else.

But if anyone knows, would love to try either dish again.

[buckytom]

that's the place auntdot. unberto's rocks. i usually get the 1/2 scungilli, 1/2 calamari in spicy sauce over spaghetti when i go there. dw loves to dine al fresco on the sidewalk, but after sitting in traffic all day every day, the last thing i need to do is eat in traffic, the street in little italy being so small and always jammed, and always hot and smelly. nothing fresco about it, imo.

then it's off to shop in chinatown before getting dessert at ferrara's.
actually, our favourite place down there is taormina's, another old jg hangout. saw him there a few times.

my adopted grandparents (sicillian/calabrian) used to use conch in place of scungilli, because it was available locally, and fresh in florida. it was often simmered in the same pot of sauce as the crabs that we caught that morning.

[Constance]

May I ask, who is jg?

[auntdot]

Joey Gallo, sorry.

Often referred to as Crazy Joe Gallo, he was a fairly high ranking mafiosi who was gunned down while dining at Umberto's.

Probably was the best thing that ever happened to the restaurant because after the shooting people flocked to the place, although it was very popular before the incident.

Must say it made pretty good Italian food, and probably still does, although we have not been back to NYC in many years.

Actually there was a place down the street I preferred but cannot for the life of me remember the name. But Umberto's I cannot forget.