How to cook and eat a crocodile

Crocodile fillet stir-fried with Ancho chili, coconut and basil


Sorry about the misleading blog title.
I should have called it "croc around the clock" as this dish has been on my lunch and dinner menus in a few different incarnations. Croc is pretty available as it's produced in Asia, US, Australia, New Guinea, China and Africa and is often stocked frozen by 'progressive' suppliers and supermarkets.
There are different cuts, but I always go for the tail fillet and then slice it thinly across the grain.
Crocodile has a mild flavour and the texture its meat and fat is similar to pork.
It's well worth a try - but don't overcook it.
A short burst of high heat is great, and you should cut it thinly, and not cook too much at one time so the pan doesn't lose its heat.
The picture above was taken a couple of years back - I had red capsicum and snow peas etc in there. It didn't need it. The picture and recipe below is the evolved version. Simple, tasty and minimalist. Give it a try.
If you can't find or catch a crocodile, then you can use pork. 


Ingredients

• 220g Crocodile tail fillet, thinly sliced
• 50g   Green beans, sliced thinly
• 50g   Onion, sliced thinly
• 1/2    Large red chilli, thinly sliced if you like
• 1      Dried Mexican Ancho chili. (soak in a little boiling hot water for 5 minutes, then blend or pound to a paste)
• 125ml Coconut milk (half cup)
• Sweet basil leaves
• Fish sauce
• Black pepper, freshly crushed or ground
• Oil for cooking
• Sweet basil leaves, picked off the stalk

Method

1. Heat a wok or pan until hot
2. Add a little oil, it should come to almost smoking
3. throw in the first 4 ingredients: Croc, beans, onion and chilli
4. Stir-fry over high heat for 1-2 minutes only
5. Add ancho chilli paste. Stir fry for 10 seconds then add coconut cream to stop it from burning.
6. Working quickly, stir it around and toss to combine, toss the basil leaves through, then season to taste with fish sauce and black pepper. In this one minute period, the coconut and Ancho chili should have reduced to a sexy sauce thick enough to coat the crocodile, onion and beans.
7. That's it. Serve with potato crisps or sweet potato crisps. Cook them fresh - don't use Lays or Pringles! ;-)

Serve with rice, or freshly cooked potato crisps or sweet potato crisps, or a bit of both. The rice is great for mopping up the delicious gravy. And the crisps are just great for no particular reason. (actually, for textural contrast if I were to give a professional reason)