Have you gotten up wanting to taste a different dish? Sometimes we have those days when we want something special, a delicious lunch or dinner, but with the comfort of being at home. As something special, for example, we can enjoy one of the most delicious seafood on the market from the comfort of our home. There are unique and intense flavors, such as barnacles, that transport all the essence of the sea to the palate.
Therefore, we propose you this crustacean delight. Of course, if you want to enjoy this dish to the fullest, you should do it when it is still hot, that is, freshly cooked. Not sure where to start? Take note of this recipe that we propose to you in this article and learn how to cook barnacles.
Ingredients:
- 300 grams of barnacles.
- 1 liter of water (see if possible).
- 3 tablespoons of coarse salt.
- 2 bay leaves.
You will need to:
- Casserole.
- Platter to serve the barnacles.
- Clean cloth.
Steps to follow to make this recipe:
This is a very easy dish to make, which can clash with the food itself, as it is one of the most difficult seafood to find. That is why it is so in demand in the market and, in addition, it is considered an exquisite seafood of very high quality because its flavor of the sea is intense. Before you start, make sure when you buy the barnacles, or when you go to remove them from the freezer or refrigerator, that they are in good condition. Here we explain how to identify spoiled shellfish.
- Let’s now go to the first step for cooking barnacles. The first thing you will have to do is prepare the casserole and add a liter of water. The recipe that we show you serves for a small portion or barnacle cover, but if you want to make more, a kilogram, for example, you would have to add about four liters of water and 240 grams of salt, in proportion.
- Once the water is boiling, add the three tablespoons (tureens) of coarse salt and the two bay leaves. Important! If you have the possibility that the water is from the sea, take advantage of it, because the final result will be spectacular and the barnacles will better preserve that sea flavor so characteristic of them. If not, cook them with normal water and the indicated proportions of the rest of the ingredients, which will also be delicious.
- Once the water has boiled by adding the salt and bay leaf, add the barnacles. The cooking time for barnacles is very short, you only have to wait a few minutes, exactly until the water boils again. Then, remove them and place them in a dish, which you can cover with a cloth or other large dish to prevent them from cooling until serving shortly.
- How to eat barnacles? As we have pointed out previously, freshly cooked and hot barnacles are better, to fully notice their flavor, than if they are allowed to cool. What is usually done once we have removed them from the pot is to cover them with a cloth, to preserve the temperature.
- Heat, as we have said, is a very relevant factor in the tasting of the barnacle, so it will be served in small portions to prevent it from getting cold. Once we have them on the plate, we will enjoy opening them to eat them.
- Finally, we want to explain how to heat cooked barnacles. The process is very simple and is similar to cooking it: you simply add the leftover barnacles to a saucepan with boiling water, let them heat for a few minutes and remove them, as the first time, immediately, and cover them with a cloth. However, we insist that this is not recommended because if you reheat the barnacles you will not enjoy their flavor one hundred percent. It is better to calculate the quantities by adjusting them as much as possible and, in this case, stay a bit short, than to have a lot of barnacle left over.
- This delicious food is one of the most valued, of now and of yesteryear, because already in modern times, barnacles were the preferred option of people during Lent. The quality of the crustacean depends on the waters in which it has formed, preferring those that have developed in the warm ones. Furthermore, sun barnacles are considered to be the fattest and tastiest. These grow on rocks that are constantly in the sun. It will be the task of the percebeiros, the professionals who dedicate themselves to the arduous task of finding these crustaceans, to find the best. As you can see, they are very difficult to obtain, but easy to prepare.
Tips.
- The barnacles should not be seasoned with other ingredients, such as lemon. The barnacle, which is of quality in itself, does not need any additives.
- We recommend that the barnacle is not put in the refrigerator already cooked because it would lose its characteristic flavor. The ideal is to taste it freshly cooked, not after.