raw shellfish

[Raw Kyle]

Oysters are commonly eaten raw even by SAD eaters. Tons of raw fish can be found in Japanese restaurants  in sushi or sashimi. But what about crustaceans like lobster and crab? I love those fish cooked, does anyone here eat them raw? I remember on "Castaway" when the main character catches his first crab and opens it up the meat or whatever just oozes out of the broken limb, and he is only able to eat it after cooking it.

Always looking for new animals to eat raw. Oh and another thing, who eats reptile or amphibian meat? I heard there was a market somewhere in Philadelphia (near me) that sells alligator and snake meat, among other rarities.

[TylerDurden]

Here's a US website offering exotic meats:-

http://www.exoticmeats.com/home.aspx

(Don't buy the kobe beef, as it's grainfed - the cows are raised in cages, forbidden to exercise, and are also fed alcohol).

Re lobsters/crabs:- I've eaten raw lobster and raw crab, before. I have to buy them live, as the fishmonger(from my local farmer's market) refuses to sell them raw and dead, only raw and live or dead and cooked.  I take them home(the claws are already held within rubber-bands), and then I stuff them into the freezer for a few hours which puts them into a state of torpor/suspended animation. I then take them out, put a meat-knife on the notch above the lobsters' head(or lengthways down the middle of the crab's shell) and then use a hammer on the knife to cut it up -  I then do the same with the claws etc.

The raw lobster and raw crab taste very good indeed - the crab I rarely get these days, as the fishmonger is reluctant to sell them live instead of cooked, but it's so cheap(c. 3 UK pounds sterlin= c.6 US dollars per crab) that it's worth it - food is more expensive in the UK than the US, so this really is a good deal, from my point of view. The lobster is worth 17 pounds.

I also buy bags of raw oysters and raw mussels, among other shellfish. I use an oyster-knife to pry open the oysters, and use a metal walnut-cracker to crack open the mussels. The raw mussels are very acidic in taste, but I rather like them, and they cost only 4 pounds(=8 US dollars) per bag of c.200 mussels, so that's well worth it.

[Satya]

Raw shrimp is pretty common and scallops are popular as well.  You can make ceviche with either of them to transition into the raw forms.  The lemon denatures the protein a bit on the outside, but it is really good eating.  Oysters are great raw and unadulterated, aren't they?  I have not tried lobster or crab yet raw. 

I love that Castaway movie.  After seeing it, raw crab does not seem too appealing.  I also wonder how you would find raw crab, as most places sell the legs pre-cooked.