About Spearos Kitchen
Spearos Kitchen is an ocean to table education platform focused on helping the recreational spearfishing and fishing communities responsibly utilize their catch through recipes, species guides, fillet tutorials, and educational content.
What Are Fried Snapper Collars & Ribs?
Fried snapper collars and ribs are two often-overlooked cuts that come from areas surrounding the head and belly of the fish. The collar is the triangular section located just behind the gills, while the ribs are found along the belly cavity and attached to the rib bones. When fried, these cuts develop a crispy exterior while the meat inside remains tender, juicy, and packed with flavor. Many spearos consider them hidden delicacies because they contain more natural fat and connective tissue than traditional fillets.
Frying is one of the most popular ways to prepare snapper collars and ribs because the high heat helps render the fat and create a delicious crunch around the edges. The result is rich, flavorful meat that can be pulled directly from the bones and enjoyed with simple seasonings, dipping sauces, or a squeeze of fresh citrus. Saving and cooking snapper collars and ribs is an excellent way to get more value from every fish while enjoying some of the tastiest cuts that are often discarded.
Fried Snapper Collars & Ribs Recipe
This was a recipe that believe it or not, I accidentally discovered by chance. I had just made my Mutton Snapper Dumplings recipe the day before and I was planning on doing something with the collars and ribs from the same fish. When I looked in my refrigerator for some ingredients to make a good sauce, I realized that I had a bunch of leftover sauce from the dumplings! After thinking about how moist and juicy the fried snapper collars and ribs were going to be, I figured this sauce would pair perfectly!
Because the sauce already had so much incredible flavor, I wanted the fried snapper collars and ribs to be fairly plain. For this reason, I just used a basic all purpose flour and corn starch batter, instead of adding some of my usual spices. The result was mouth watering! The fish came out so tender and juicy! I poured half of the sauce on top, and reserved half to serve on the side. For information on how to remove the snapper collars and ribs, please see our tutorial on how to break down a mutton snapper.
How I Got This Mutton Snapper
I got this particular mutton snapper while out spearfishing off Dania Beach on my kayak. I was coming up from a dive when I saw him on top of a rock with 2 other big snappers. I quickly aimed and took a shot at him that unfortunately ended up tearing out. He made a run for the rocks and after about 15 minutes of searching for him, I was able to locate him.
He was definitely shaken up from the first shot and was still skeptical of me but I was still able to put a good holding shot in him and bring him to the surface. I knew the first shot I got on him messed up the fillet, but it didn’t do as much damage as I had originally thought. Even though the shot wasn’t ideal, bleeding him out and gutting him right after I got my hands on him, really salvaged the fillets!
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Mutton Snapper Recipes You Might Like
We have a full database of recipes that would be suitable for preparing this fish, we also have a few species specific recipes. Every part of the fish is delicious, be sure to check out our recipes for all of the different parts!
Fried Snapper Collars & Ribs
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
Nutrition
One response
-
Soooo good!
Leave a Reply