Can You Eat Alligator Snapping Turtle? This Is the Best Way to Make Alligator Snapping Turtle Soup
The alligator snapping turtle, also known as the snapping turtle or alligator turtle, is a reptile found in Guangdong, Guangxi, Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places. It has relatively high dietary therapy value and nutritional value, so can you eat alligator snapping turtle? How do you make it taste better?
1. Can you eat it?
The alligator snapping turtle is edible. Every part of the alligator snapping turtle is useful. Its shell has functions such as nourishing yin, subduing yang, tonifying the kidney, strengthening bones, enriching the blood, and benefiting the brain. Its gallbladder mainly treats eye swelling and amenorrhea; turtle blood can treat rectal prolapse and bruises from falls, while the alligator snapping turtle shell and meat can resist cancer, detoxify, and prolong life.
2. Benefits of eating it:
1. Effects and functions:
Rich in high protein, high amino acids and many other nutrients, low in fat and low in calories, it nourishes the blood and boosts qi, and is an excellent food for people with long-term illness and weakness, anemia and insomnia, and brain decline
(1) Alligator snapping turtle meat: contains more than 20 kinds of amino acids, and both the variety and content exceed those of other turtle and soft-shelled turtle reptiles. It is not only delicious, but can also supplement qi and blood, nourish the heart and lungs, strengthen sinews and bones, and drive out damp pathogens. It has special therapeutic effects on diseases such as asthma, cough, rheumatism, and diabetes.
(2) Alligator snapping turtle eggs: rich in benign cholesterol, they can eliminate fat inside blood vessels and help keep blood vessels clear.
(3) Alligator snapping turtle gallbladder: detoxifies and clears heat, and can be used as an adjunct treatment for bone cancer and bladder cancer.
(4) Alligator snapping turtle liver: can nourish yin and support the liver, improve eyesight, and is beneficial for senile cataracts, vision decline, and so on.
(5) Alligator snapping turtle heart: activates blood and resolves stasis, unblocks vessels and relieves pain, improves the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular circulatory system, and can be used as an adjunct treatment for coronary heart disease, angina, and so on.
(6) Alligator snapping turtle oil: clears meridians and collaterals, unblocks vessels and relieves pain, refreshes the mind, and especially has a moisturizing and hydrating function for the skin.
(7) Alligator snapping turtle kidney: can tonify the kidney and secure essence.
(8) Alligator snapping turtle shell: can soothe the liver and relieve depression, harmonize the spleen and stomach, and contains powerful anti-cancer substances and growth factors that prevent the formation of new cancer tumor cells. The cancer-inhibiting effect of this factor is tens of thousands of times that of other reptiles.
(9) Alligator snapping turtle blood: according to research published by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, it contains antibacterial substances even more powerful than all antibiotics discovered so far. It can not only kill germs, but also eliminate molds and even some viruses. That is, humans have already seen hope from alligator snapping turtle blood for anti-cancer viruses and HIV.
(10) Alligator snapping turtle penis: Japanese researchers found that the aphrodisiac effect of alligator snapping turtle penis is more miraculous than “Viagra”, and it also has no side effects.
2. What can it not be eaten with?
(1) Alligator snapping turtle meat should not be eaten with alcohol, fruit, melon, pork, amaranth, cutlassfish, pomfret, or whitebait.
(2) Alligator snapping turtle meat is incompatible with ginseng. Eating alligator snapping turtle meat while taking ginseng or sand ginseng can cause adverse reactions or affect efficacy, so turtle meat should not be eaten while taking ginseng or sand ginseng.
3. Introduction to ways of eating it:
1. How to eat it?
(1) Braised alligator snapping turtle
Ingredients: 1 piece of pork belly, 1 fresh alligator snapping turtle, ginger slices, garlic cloves, wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, star anise, and garlic sprouts as needed.
Method:
① Wash the fresh alligator snapping turtle clean, place it in a pot of boiling water and blanch it briefly, then take it out, remove the scaly shell parts on its body, clean it thoroughly, and chop it into small pieces for later use.
② Cut the pork belly into thick pieces and stir-fry it in the pot first until oil comes out. Scoop off part of the oil, then add ginger slices and garlic cloves and stir-fry until fragrant.
③ Put the alligator snapping turtle meat into the pot and stir-fry for a while. Then add wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, two star anise, and an appropriate amount of water, and simmer until the meat is tender.
④ Add fragrant garlic sprouts, stir-fry until cooked, and take out of the pot.
(2) Ginger and scallion alligator snapping turtle
Ingredients: 200-300g alligator snapping turtle meat, 6-8 thin slices of ginger, 3-4 scallions (cut into sections), 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a little salt and sugar, 3 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon Huadiao wine
Method:
① Prepare the seasoning. The specific method is 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, a little Huadiao wine, and a little sugar and salt.
② Cut the alligator snapping turtle meat into small strips, add the marinade and marinate for about 30 minutes. Before cooking, add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce, and mix evenly.
③ Heat oil in a wok, stir-fry ginger and scallion until fragrant, pour in the marinated alligator snapping turtle meat, and stir-fry quickly. Add the seasoning. Stir-fry the alligator snapping turtle meat until cooked, and it is ready.
(3) Braised alligator snapping turtle with shiitake mushrooms and garlic
Ingredients: 1 alligator snapping turtle, about 4 liang shiitake mushrooms, 1 jin garlic, an appropriate amount of soy sauce, 5 large pieces of ginger, an appropriate amount of salt and MSG, a little chili oil, an appropriate amount of sesame oil, 5 dried chilies.
Method:
① First kill and wash the alligator snapping turtle clean, separate the shell from the meat, and use the shell separately with pork ribs to stew soup. Stew the shell separately for soup, slice the ginger, and also soak the shiitake mushrooms. After cutting the meat, blanch it briefly and scoop it out.
② Stir-fry the shiitake mushrooms, ginger, sesame oil, chilies, and chili oil until the color changes, then pour in the meat and stir-fry, add a little water from soaking the shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry with the lid on for a while, then put it into a pressure cooker. After stir-frying, put it in the pressure cooker and braise for a short while. Once done, stir-fry the garlic until it turns black, then put the braised meat back into the pot and stir-fry until black, and it is ready.