Frog legs

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A bag of frog legs from Vietnam.

Froglegs with garlic, ready to eat

Frogs' legs are one of the better-known delicacies of French and Cantonese cuisine. They are also eaten in other regions, such as the Caribbean, the region of Alentejo, in Portugal, northwest Greece, Piemonte in Italy, Spain and the Midwest southern regions of the United States. A type of frog called the edible frog is most often used for this dish. They are often said to taste like chicken^[1] because of their mild flavor, with a texture most similar to chicken wings^[2]. Frogs are raised commercially in certain countries, e.g. Vietnam. Frog muscle does not resolve rigor mortis as quickly as warm-blooded muscle (chicken, for example), so heat from cooking can cause fresh frog legs to twitch.

French cuisine

This dish is in the English-speaking world traditionally associated with French cuisine, and a favourite pejorative English nickname for the French is the Frogs. The frog legs are particularly traditional in the region of the Dombes (département of Ain) and in the region of Lyon, where they are traditionally prepared with butter, garlic and parsley sauce and often served only with a salad or steamed rice. The dish is common as well in French speaking parts of Louisiana, particularly the Cajun areas of Southern Louisiana as well as New Orleans. They were introduced to New Orleans by Donat Pucheu.

Only the upper joint of the hind leg is served, which has a single bone similar to the upper joint of a chicken or turkey wing. They are commonly prepared by frying or deep-frying, sometimes breaded and sometimes unbreaded.

Chinese cuisine

In Chinese cuisine, they are usually stir fried and mixed with light spices, stewed, fried, or made into congee, which is a famous dish in Cantonese cuisine. They are eaten off the bone.

Like their French counterparts, frog legs are not commonly found in restaurant menus, probably due to their unstable supply. They are a popular home dish, though.

Indonesian cuisine

In Indonesian cuisine, frog-leg soup is known as swikee or sweekee, most probably brought by the Chinese community in Indonesia. Swikee is mainly frog-leg soup with strong taste of garlic, gingers, and fermented soya beans, accompanied with celery or parsley leaves. Swikee is a typical dish from Purwodadi Grobogan, in Central Java province. We can also find grilled frog-legs or frog eggs in banana leaves. The Javanese also eat the dried and crispily fried frog skin. The taste is close to the fried fish skin.

Indonesia is one of the biggest exporter frog legs. Most of the supply in western Europe comes from frog farms in Indonesia.

United States

Frog legs are eaten in parts of the southern United States, particularly South and Central Florida. They are commonly eaten in the state of Louisiana.

Although rare to find in an eatery, people will go onto a river or pond/lake at night in a boat, shining a flashlight along the shore to see the light reflection in the frogs eyes (frog gigging).^{[citation needed]} The light reflect off of the eye retina and immobilizes the frog. Paddling to the location of the frog while one person keeps the light in the eyes allows spearing the frog with a trident spear. The frogs will usually not die and are placed in a bag until later the next day when they can be cleaned. A cleaning method that works quite well is to hold the frog mouth using pliers. A utility knife can be used to sever the skin around the frog neck. Another pair of pliers are then used to hold the lower body portion of the skin which is then peeled off the body. Two fingers can then be placed in the frog throat and pulled out ripping the entrails out of the frog body leaving the front legs, back, and legs as one large assembly. This method has been used to capture and clean in about 2 hours (CIRCA 1955) as many as 100 large grandfather frogs in one night from sloughs along the Columbia River in Longview, Washington.

Some methods of cooking include egg/cracker crumb breading. They are either fried or grilled. Deep fried frog legs can also be found at fairs. Other methods brought to America by Tuscany Italians (circa 1900) were to add the frog legs to a pot of tomato stew for spreading over pasta.

Portugal

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Frog legs are eaten in Portugal^[3]

Caribbean

Mountain chicken (Leptodactylus fallax) are frogs named for their habitat and flavor which are eaten in Montserrat and Dominica. The frogs are now critically endangered.

India

In many parts of Kerala, especially Central Kerala, frog legs are a delicacy. They are generally served in the fried form (commonly in local liquor shops known as toddy shops). Of late due to ban on poaching frogs, this dish has become a rarity and is available only illegally.^{[citation needed]}

References