Man Eating Crocodile

Pun included..! There are 2 ways to read the title;

Man Eating Crocodile could mean a Crocodile was caught eating a man(human). Or it could also be read as a Man was eating a Crocodile.

In my case, it more likely to be Woman Eating Crocodile. After watching Flavours of Life on Okto! last Thursday where they were showing how crocodiles are bred and harvested for the meat to be use as an ingredient for restaurants, I decided to make some soup with it.

I found out that the supermarket above my store sold frozen Crocodile meat. So I bought a packet and also a pack a chinese herbs to cook with it. The last time we had crocodile meat dish was several years ago when Natasha was very little. She had asthma and was told to eat crocodile meat related dishes to prevent asthmatic reactions like wheezing and shortness of breath. To help her to enjoy it, I had to cook it in an interesting way and make sure the whole family eat it too so she won't think she eating medicine.

Back then, I don't understand how the meat was to be cut or sliced or which cuts of it serves a better way of cooking. And I remember all not too fondly that it smells like as if we are eating handbags made of crocodile hide.

After this TV program, I had a better idea. Its meat along the belly, or hind legs or further inside(away from the skin) should be use for stir fries. For meat nearer to the skin, those can be use with chinese herbs to hide the smell.

With this new found knowledge, I decided to make soup with the slab of meat.

I bought the herbs from NTUC for reliving cough, phelgm. This is how the package looks like. Costs about S$4.00


Since I only had 250g of meat, I reduce the package of herbs to use by a quarter.

Here's my Woman Eating Crocodile soup..


Double Boiled Crocodile Soup

Ingredients
250g crocodile flank meat(fresh or frozen, not dried)
a packet of Chwee Song herbs(use only 1 quarter of all contents)
600ml water
salt to taste

Method
1. Boil water in a sauce pot with herbs. Once it starts boiling, turn off the fire.
2. In a separate large sauce pot, add water(about 1 litre). Put a tonic pot in the centre.
3. Put the sliced meat in the centre of the tonic pot.
4. Pour the hot herbs with water into the pot.
5. Cover the tonic pot and then cover the sauce pot.
6. Turn on the stove(fire) on high. When you start to hear crackling or rocking noises, it means the water is boiling.
7. Lower the fire and continue to double boil for 1 hour.
8. Turn off the fire, add salt to taste(usually just a pinch will do)
9. Serve HOT.

If you cannot finish the soup, you can keep it in the fridge/chiller. To reheat, just double boil again. Do not reheat by direct boiling as its too hot and may evaporate all the water content.

My mom said that if you have chronic asthma, you should take this kind of tonic soup every 2 weeks for a period of 6 months.
Soup is easier to swallow and drunk.

The meat tastes like cooked pork loin. It doesn't have any smell of crocodile.

My asthma has suddenly 'disappeared' after taking this soup for the last 2 days.

Enjoy!