Chewy Langostinos

[jafy]

A few years back, living in the Washington DC area, I had some wonderful little shrimp/lobster like tails that I was told were Langostinos. I recently found some 'Frozen Langostino Tails' at a local fish market near my home in PA. No matter what I try (just letting them thaw in the refridgerator, putting them under warm running water, boiling them quickly, or boiling for about 10 minutes) they are like fish chewing gum. I havn't seen them at any other fish markets, so I assume my choice of brands is limited. Did I just get a bad batch, or is there some way of cooking them that will make them edible?

[elakin]

are they just the tails? or the whole langostine?

are the tails in the shell or out?

if they're just tails without shells, it's possible they're already cooked. if this is the case, they may have just been overcooked by the processor and there's not really much you can do.

the best you can do in this case is to chop them up and use them that way. maybe make like a crab-cake like thing out of them, or chop them fine and mix with a fresh tomato sauce and serve over pasta.

[jafy]

From what I understand, Langostinos only come from the cost of Chile, and they only come one way, precooked with the shells removed, and frozen. I guess I was hoping that putting them in a bisque or adding lemon or something while they cook would tenderize them. Thanks for your suggestions.

[zombie_chef]

Langostinos are like shrimp and lobster, if you over cook them, they are going to be rubbery. If you are going to boil them I would suggest no longer than say 2 minutes. Next time you cook them, try sauteeing them in butter for a very short time or if you are adding them to a sauce do it just before allowing only a couple of minutes before serving to avoid them being overcooked.



They say you are what you eat, does that make me an oreo cookie?

[elakin]

hi jafy

actually, langostines come from all over the world. they're prevailent in SE asian cusines and are found in the mediterranean as well.

it can be confusing because there are some variances, from place to place, and almost everyone calls them by a different name.

and maybe you can only find them precooked with the shells removed, but believe me, they don't come out of the water that way!

i've worked with them in chicago and we got them in whole, raw, and frozen. they were flash-frozen with a clear coating of ice all around them.

in italy i used to buy them fresh, still alive.

they are fabulously good when fresh or handled well. like lobster, but sweeter and more tender. at the restaurant i worked, we used to just split them lengthwise and sautee with olive oil and garlic, then hit the pan with fume, chopped parsely and salt and pepper, and toss the whole thing with linguine.

oh my god was this good....the liver kind of comes out and gets sauteed and gets into the sauce....the shells give their flavor into the mix..... it's making me want to go back.

it sounds like the source you have for them kind of sucks. i wouldn't buy any more like this. once they've been overcooked, there's not much you can do except chop them up fine or run them through your food processor. so the texture's either going to be rubbery or non-existant.

and usually if they've been treated badly, the flavor's not going to be there either.

my advice is when you're near the ocean.....eat as much as you can of the real deal. and then when you're not near an ocean....eat steak.