Alright, listen up, y’all! Today, we gonna talk about cleanin’ seafood with salt water. Don’t go thinkin’ this is some fancy city folk trick, naw, this is good ol’ common sense stuff. Been doin’ it for ages, and it works like a charm, believe you me.
First off, why salt water? Well, it’s simple. Them critters come from the sea, right? And the sea’s salty! So, usin’ salt water is like givin’ them a little taste of home. Helps them loosen up all that grit and sand they been carryin’ around. Think of it like this, when you been workin’ hard all day, you wanna take a nice bath, ain’t it? Same thing for them seafoods.
Now, what you gonna need? Nothin’ fancy, I tell ya.
- A big ol’ bowl or somethin’. Big enough to hold your seafood and the water. Don’t be stingy with the size.
- Salt. Any kind will do, but the cheap stuff works just fine. Don’t go wastin’ your good stuff.
- Water. From the tap is good enough.
- A spoon or somethin’ to measure the salt, don’t need to be too accurate.
Okay, so here’s how you do it. It ain’t rocket science.
First, you gotta fill that bowl with water. Cold water, mind you, not hot. We ain’t cookin’ ‘em yet, just cleanin’ ‘em. Then, dump in a bunch of salt. How much? Well, that depends. You want it salty, like the sea, but not so salty it’ll pickle ‘em. I usually just eyeball it. A good handful or two for a big bowl should do it. If you really wanna get fancy, some folks say use about half a cup for a gallon of water. But I say, just taste it. If it tastes like the ocean, you’re good to go.
Next, you dump in your seafood. Clams, shrimp, fish, whatever you got. Make sure they’re all covered up good with that salty water. Now, you gotta let ‘em sit. How long? Well, that depends on what you got. Clams and mussels need a good long soak, maybe an hour or two, to spit out all that sand. Shrimp and fish don’t need as long, maybe half an hour, just enough to loosen up any dirt or whatever. You’ll see the water gettin’ dirty, that’s all the gunk comin’ out. That’s a good thing, means it’s working!
While they’re soakin’, you can give ‘em a little stir every now and then to help things along. Don’t be shy, get your hands in there and swish them around. Just make sure your hands are clean, you don’t wanna make things dirtier.
After they’ve soaked long enough, you gotta rinse ’em off good. Take ‘em out of the salty water and run ‘em under some cold water. Rub ‘em a little to get off any extra grit. For fish, you gotta pay special attention, make sure you get inside and out. Get rid of all them guts and scales and whatnots. Some folks like to use a little vinegar or lime juice too, to help get rid of that fishy smell, but I think just good old plain water is good enough.
And that’s it! You got clean seafood, ready to cook. See? Wasn’t so hard, was it? Just good ol’ common sense. Now you can fry them up, boil them, grill ‘em, whatever you want. They’ll taste a whole lot better now that they ain’t full of sand and grit, I promise ya.
Now, a couple extra tips from this old gal. If you’re cleanin’ clams or mussels, and they don’t open up after soakin’ and rinsin’, don’t you go eatin’ ‘em! That means they’re dead, and you don’t wanna eat no dead seafood, trust me on that. Toss ‘em out, it ain’t worth gettin’ sick over.
And another thing, if you’re cleanin’ fish, keep an eye out for any bones. Sometimes them little bones can be tricky, and you don’t wanna be chokin’ on ‘em at the dinner table. Use your fingers or a pair of tweezers to pull ‘em out. Better safe than sorry, I always say.
So, there you have it. Cleanin’ seafood with salt water, the easy way. Don’t let nobody tell you it’s gotta be complicated. Just remember, keep it simple, keep it salty, and keep it clean. And you’ll have some mighty fine seafood to enjoy, you betcha.
Tags: [“seafood cleaning”, “salt water cleaning”, “how to clean seafood”, “clean clams”, “clean shrimp”, “clean fish”, “seafood preparation”, “cooking seafood”, “kitchen tips”, “saltwater soak”]
