OK, I admit it: This is not the most common skill you will ever need. I mean, how many Americans even eat frog, let alone catch their own — especially outside of the Deep South?
But you should eat more bullfrogs, especially if you live in the West, as I do. Bullfrogs, native to the Southeast, are aggressive, nasty invaders elsewhere. Here in California they are a scourge.
So to do our civic duty Holly, my friend Joel and his wife Mandy headed out to the ponds and marshes around Lake Tahoe. You heard right: Tahoe. At 6,600 feet. This was some high-altitude frog giggin’. You can read more on that, and get my recipe for fried frog’s legs here.
Suffice to say we came home with 14 big bullfrogs. I’d cleaned a frog exactly once before, when I was working in a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. I remember it being slimy, but not hard. I was correct.
Most of the meat on a bullfrog is the hind legs — you can eat other parts, but most people don’t. And you don’t want to eat the skin, which is a) loose, b) very slippery and c) really, really strong. So you need to skin and dismember your amphibians.
First, make sure your frogs are actually dead. Being amphibians, they are insanely tough. They will rarely be fully dead when you spear them. They will only be mostly dead. And yes, this is a lot like that scene in The Princess Bride. Whacking them against something hard, like a rock or concrete or the side of your truck, works pretty well. So does stomping them. Sorry, but it’s a tough thing to kill a bullfrog. They don’t die easy.
Once they are all dead, some people drive a nail through a board to impale the frog’s head; this is said to steady the frog while you skin it. I find this step unnecessary. All you need is a cutting board, and a willingness to grab a dead, slimy frog.
You’ll also want kitchen shears, a small, sharp knife, a set of pliers, water to wash the legs, a bowl for the legs and a trashcan nearby.
Start by snipping off the feet. Some people keep the feet on, but I don’t.
Now on to the only hard part in the whole process: Slicing the skin around the frog’s “waist.” This isn’t really that hard, but the skin is very loose and very tough. I use either the kitchen shears or a knife, depending on my mood.
Once you have the skin cut all the way around the frog, the rest is easy. Just take the pliers and grab the loose skin on the frog’s back. Anchor the frog with one hand and yank the skin off with the other. It’s like pulling the frog’s pants down. Ew. I know…
Almost done. Now use the shears to chop the legs off (as a pair) right at the waist.
Chop again to separate the legs. I also trim any organ-y looking bits around the middle of the legs. There you have it! Easy-peasy. Once you get the hang of cleaning frogs, you can do one in a minute or so.
When you’re all done, separate the legs into 1 pound bags or so, seal and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to a year.
I get my frogs from the Asian market. Whole and alive. The fish monger skins, heads and guts the frog. $7.99 per pound. I coat them in a light flour/corn flour breading, lightly seasoned. Fry the whole frog. Front legs have meat. Belly is thin , gets crispy. Frog has a backstrap, worth eating. Whole frog, same flavor as the back legs, throughout. Waste not want not.
Dressed in flour and fried they are pretty good. I’ve used a cane pole with about 6-10 feet of line and a treble hook with a piece of red cloth hooked on it to catch frogs in New Mexico outside of Albuquerque when I was in high school but it has been many years ago. The article certainly brought back memories.
I love how people that read your blog dont miss a beat when you write about how to prepare frogs. I think that is one of the reasons I like it so much. Keep it real!
I always leave the feet on. Pull the skin to the ankle then cut the feet off. Makes less mess.
Hank, I found a website about Hawaiian frogs and it says they were introduced from California as a food source. Who knew?
Rory: Not sure about Hawaii. Everything’s different out there. Sorry!
Ive Done alot of giggin in my days and I’ve always just kept the hind legs and fried them. This past weekend I went out and got some of the biggest frogs I’ve ever seen. This time I cut around the head and kept the rest of the body. I think I’m gonna grill them and hopefully they turn out ok. FROG GIGGIN IS AWESOME! !!!!
Are there any types of big frogs you can’t eat. I live in Hawaii and we have big bullfrogs all over but don’t know if they are good for eating.
Dip them in a little whipped egg/milk,then onto a plate with Shore Lunch brand flour mix. Into the deep fryer for 5 minutes or so until crispy brown on the outside. Onto a plate with a paper towel and salt them up.
I live in Arkansas and frog giggin is my favorite thing to do (other than duck hunting of course). Our favorite thing to do with frog legs is to simply roll them in cornmeal and flour seasoned with Tony’s and fry them up crisp in peanut oil! Can’t beat it on flavor and it is super simple! Here in Arkansas, frog legs are usually a staple on any good catfish buffet and that is usually how they are done. Might I suggest, however to use a single pair of fish skinning pliers. With those and a pocket knife you can make short work of a pile of frogs.
Good stuff. I had frogs legs yesterday. What’s funny to me is the frog you’re cleaning tells me, as you already know, they don’t really have any predators out there… It’s a bigun, but for its body to be so big it’s legs are pretty small. Looks like they don’t have to use them very much… My son’s daycare has an aquarium with a frog and a turtle both about the same size. One day someone brought in a baby redear turtle, and the next morning the ladies at the front were frantically searching for the baby turtle. I told them they better look in that bullfrog’s belly if they wanted to find it…Ha! Looking incredulous at me she asked “he wouldn’t do that, would he?”
We love froglegs, my son and I made a video awhile back. I’ll give you the link to look at.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOPlSZ_gSPE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUYj7somcLjSeiT5yZE1_EAw
I, too, have been frog-gigging only once, just outside of Klamath Falls OR. The four of us worked in pairs; I held the burlap bag for the more experienced gigger, both because he was experienced and because I just wasn’t up to killing. Sadly, the gigger wasn’t up to the task either: that burlap bag bounced all around the back of the Jeep, where I was sitting, as we made our way back to town. It may be my imagination that the clearly still-alive frogs were vocal in their anger, but they were sure physically active. The next night we went to the frog leg feast, but I was able to eat only one
I had frog as the appetiser at a Slovenian feast in Ljubliana. The taste? As the Irish itenerant said, when asked what hedgehog tasted like, ‘Somewhere between chicken and cat’.
I think I may go through some flies on my nine weight for these guys. Can you dispatch them with a knife to the brain like you can a fish? I am a little afraid I might not smack them hard enough to do them in.
Believe or not , we have a cat that catches them in our pond and brings to us. Unfortunately, he only brings one a day.
Only been out for frogs once, when I was living in southern Oregon. brought back about 15lbs of hoppers, cleaned them and my friend’s ma dredged them in buttermilk, breaded and fried them like chicken they were alright! I also remember them being super tough to kill. Looking at you and blinking while impaled on your spear.
A Chinese restaurant in NJ had great frog. I don’t remember the name of the place or of the dish — garlic, chilli, sweet soy … nicely browned with a tasty sauce.
I like my legs pretty simple. I do ‘popsicle’ them, but then I saute them simply in butter with a little garlic, parsley and salt!
Hard to beat breaded and fried, but simmered in white wine, olive oil and garlic a very close second!