The Best BBQ Tarantula Recipe

The last time I was here, I posted about food. Because I like food. I think that comes across in my writing. Side note, I’m happy I made the reviewer hungry and I do promise that the I’m planning on getting back to the boys from Better with Bacon eventually. Once I work out where the next story is with them. In the meantime, I have Dragonslayer. There’s a lot of food in that, too, and, admittedly, most of it is BBQ, so I thought I’d bring you a recipe inspired by the world of Dragonslayer.

Ingredients

1 Tarantula, freshly caught, defanged.

6 Whole Prawns (Shrimp if you’re American, but they’re prawns dammit)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp fish sauce

Sweet Basil, shredded/finely chopped

1 birdeye chilli, finely chopped (seeds and pith removed if you’re not big on heat)

The rind and juice of one lime

Olive Oil

6 bamboo skewers. You can use more if you need a torture implement. Or have more prawns. You want one per prawn.

Step 1: Take your tarantula, put it on a plate, and set it to one side. Be careful not to touch the hairs with your bare skin. A lot of tarantula species have hair designed to be an irritant to would be predators and you don’t want it on your skin. Before you eat it. You’re going to want to singe off all the hair. Which conveniently, will crisp up and BBQ nicely.

“Duin’s tinder was put to use creating a cooking fire, and Adam and Duin were allowed to take charge of the cooking of the spiders, which as far as Adam could tell, consisted of cutting the head and poisonous fangs off the spider before charring the hairs off the rest of it. According to everyone who wasn’t Adam, spider was very good eating, but the spider’s hairs were known to cause an unsightly rash on human skin.” ­– Matthew Lang, Dragonslayer

Step 2: Soak your skewers in water for at least 30 minutes. If you can pre-plan, overnight is better.

Step 3: Take a clean chopping board which has been nowhere near the tarantula and shell your prawns. I recommend leaving the head on, but shell along the tail should be removed. Also, devein them, unless you want your diners to get a mouthful of sand. Or more accurately prawn poop, but it’s mostly sand. Promise.

Step 4: Toss the prawns into a bowl with the garlic, fish sauce, basil, chilli, lime zest, lime juice, and a good glug of olive oil—enough to coat all the prawns.

Step 5: With the tail flat, skewer your prawns from tail to head, one prawn per skewer. Ideally you want the skewer running vertically up the length of the prawn, right in the middle so it’ll cook evenly in the heat.

Step 6: Grill your prawns on a BBQ, or under a grill (I believe Americans would call it a broiler), turning the prawns once they go opaque. Ideally you want a crispy shell (if you’ve left the head on) that can be crunched through in its own right. Baste with the marinade mixture each turn if you have to leave them in longer. Serve with rice and stir-fried Choi Sum, or a fresh salad.

Step 7: Take your tarantula and put it in the garbage. Or bury it in the garden. Seriously. Unless you’re lucky enough to have an inexpensive supplier of food grade insects and arachnids, throw it out and don’t touch it. Incidentally if you’re allergic to shellfish, it’s best to avoid eating insects. They may be one of the most efficient and healthy protein sources we have, but until they come down a lot in price, just enjoy the prawns.

 

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Thanks for stopping by this fifth stop of my Dragonslayer Blog Tour! As part of the launch celebration, I’m giving away an ebook from my backlist here. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below and tell me the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten. One random commenter will win a book here—and keep following the tour for more chances to win. You can find me tomorrow, the 28^th of September, over at My Fiction Nook. Hope to see you there!

Dragonslayer

A Twitterlight Story

Kill the dragon, marry the princess, and rule the kingdom. It’s a fantasy come true… if you’re straight.

Adam is a chemistry student and martial artist, active in his local chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism. But none of that prepares him to be the savior of a faraway land locked in perpetual dusk.

In a world of shape-shifters, necromancy, and religious politics, Adam is fated to slay the golden dragon, Khalivibra, and defeat its mind-controlling sorcery to help Princess Esmeralda of Aergon retake her city. Tradition dictates he’ll rule by her side—but Adam is much more interested in Duin, a warrior who changes to beast form in the light of the sun… or fire.

Adam hopes he and Duin might end up together when their ordeal ends. But first, the reluctant hero, the spell-casting heir to the throne, the beast-shifting object of Adam’s desire, a six-legged cave lizard, and any allies they can gather must do the impossible… and live to celebrate their victory.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU| B&N | Kobo | DSP Publications

 

Matthew Lang likes being on the run. Sometimes for health, but more often to see another country or culture. Preferably in person, but more frequently in his mind’s eye through the written word. Matthew likes his men hot and spunky, his focaccia more Italian than British, and his vampires to combust when exposed to sunlight. His nurses say that rumours of him escaping his straightjacket are absolute nonsense and he definitely hasn’t been let loose amongst the population of Melbourne, Australia, no matter what the internet says.

Connect with Matthew: Twitter | Facebook | Website

Follow the Tour!

18^th September          MM Good Book Reviews – The Origin of Stories

20^th September          Sue Brown Stories – Why Fantasy?

25^th September          Nicki J Markus – The Offering

26^th September          Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words – Catch up with Matthew Lang

27^th September          Love Bytes – How to Cook Tarantula in 7 easy steps

28^th September          My Fiction Nook – The Winged Traveller Guide to Aer Goragon

1^st October                 DSP Blog – Do Haerunwoln Have Pouches?