# Advise me on cooking a turtle for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262 "2011-11-27T18:57:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/1 "2011-11-27T18:57:22Z")
So yesterday my girlfriend and I bought a whole, frozen turtle at a Chinese supermarket, just to be adventurous. Neither of us have eaten one before, and were surprised they are even sold here. It is a trionychid (soft-shell) turtle and weighs about a pound. I’ve been looking up turtle recipes on Google, but I’m finding many of them are American recipes that use different, larger species of turtle, and also assume that I will be killing the turtle myself. I would appreciate any recipes you know that are suitable for the kind of turtle I have. And if I’m starting with a whole frozen turtle, how much do I have to dismember it before cooking it? Can I prepare it without destroying the skeleton? (I’m a paleontology geek and would like to keep it to reassemble.) Which parts of a turtle are generally considered edible/inedible? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/2 "2011-11-27T19:12:19Z")
I have no idea how to answer your question, but I would like to register my approval of the creation of this thread and to announce I will be following it with interest. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/3 "2011-11-27T22:27:45Z")
The one and only time I’ve had turtle, it was snapper and it was diced and cooked in a stew. I recall it as being bland and rubbery. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/4 "2011-11-27T22:30:13Z")
I’ve killed and cooked both hard and soft shelled American turtles. I either fry them or make into turtle soup. Only the muscle/meat parts are used. You’d need to clean it like you would a chicken. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/5 "2011-11-27T22:38:06Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#): > > You’d need to clean it like you would a chicken. Chickens have shells where you live? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/6 "2011-11-27T22:51:55Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Advise me on cooking a turtle for the first time “Low and slow.” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/7 "2011-11-27T23:00:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Chickens have shells where you live? 😃 Very soft ones. Almost feather-like. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/8 "2011-11-27T23:28:22Z")
You need to find an old, old-fashioned cookbook, like an early Joy of Cooking. I had a fish cookbook by James Beard many years ago telling how to cook anything that swam, including turtles. I would bet plenty of those fish listed are now endangered if not extinct. Now that I’ve been of no help whatsoever, I would like to add I, too, want to know how the turtle experiment turns out. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/9 "2011-11-27T23:30:30Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Chickens have shells where you live? 😃 Well, to start with… ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/10 "2011-11-27T23:30:56Z")
No, but my turtles had bones! 😛 I attempted to contact my Dad, who is keeper of the official Family Turtle Soup recipe but he hasn’t returned my call as yet. ---
**Author:** ![Bleach23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bleach23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bleach23)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/11 "2011-11-28T00:43:04Z")
I love [food.com](http://food.com) (formerly [recipezaar.com](http://recipezaar.com)). I searched turtle and then narrowed the search to main dishes and here is what comes up: [Turtle Recipes - Food.com](http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/main-dish/turtle). ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/12 "2011-11-28T17:16:26Z")
So, I laughed like a loon at the second listing on **Bleach23** ’s link. Fried Cooter. Heh heh heh. Yes, I am 12. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/13 "2011-11-28T21:50:51Z")
So … how was it, OP? ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/14 "2011-11-28T22:46:49Z")
Still in the freezer. Thanks for the replies, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/15 "2011-11-28T22:48:11Z")
Ah yes, I had to explain what Cooter Hunting was to many a out of towner. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/16 "2011-11-29T01:58:07Z")
Coon hunting, I know. What is it? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/17 "2011-11-29T01:59:54Z")
A cooter is a [type of turtle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooter_Turtle) (genus _Pseudemys_). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/18 "2011-11-29T15:20:26Z")
A few years ago, my wife bought a frozen turtle and dumped it (shell and all) into a stew pot with some chicken and veggies. It smelled like the reptile house at the zoo, and neither of us had the guts to taste it. So I would suggest NOT doing that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fly\_Sparge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a698b9/32.png) [@Fly\_Sparge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fly_Sparge)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/19 "2011-11-29T17:29:18Z")
I don’t know if [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6xZyXjfegI) would help or not, but at least it provides you with some insight of the turtle’s hidden defenses. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262/20 "2011-11-29T18:24:02Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > A few years ago, my wife bought a frozen turtle and dumped it (shell and all) into a stew pot with some chicken and veggies. It smelled like the reptile house at the zoo, and neither of us had the guts to taste it. So I would suggest NOT doing that. 🙂 Holy … :eek: Pretty sure that if the shell is still on then it hasn’t had its innards cleaned out, meaning your wife boiled into the broth the gallbladder, intestines, etc. plus all their savory contents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advise-me-on-cooking-a-turtle-for-the-first-time/604262.md?page=2)