Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms which means that they have spiny skin and “tube feet”.
Starfish is considered a delicacy in some countries. People eat starfish of the species Linckia laevigata (blue linckia), but it is not considered safe to eat because of harmful poison that can cause paralysis of arms and aches throughout the body.
However, if you want to try this food , you must be careful not to get sick after eating this food.
This starfish can be cooked in several different ways from fried to grilled.
Some Delicious Recipes of Starfish
Fried Starfish
Ingredients:
-10 Sea Stars
-flour as needed
-eggs as needed
-breadcrumbs as needed
Clean the starfish, removing the top pointy part of each arm. In a large pot boil water and cook sea stars for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork.
In a bowl mix flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in that order. Coat each fried star in this mixture and fry over medium heat in oil until browned.
Sassy Starfish
Ingredients:
14 – 6 inch sea stars cleaned
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
Preheat the oven broiler on high. In a large pot boil water and cook starfish for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork.
Brush each starfish with olive oil and season with salt and garlic. Place on a baking sheet and broil about 5 inches away from the heat source for 4 to 5 minutes.
Royal Starfish
Ingredients:
-5 Sea Stars
-1 small onion, finely chopped
-1 tsp garlic salt
-olive oil as needed
Clean the starfish. In a large pot boil water and cook sea stars for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork. In a pan over medium heat saute onion in olive oil for about 1 minute.
Add garlic salt and cook for another minute. Brush each starfish with olive oil and place in a pan with onion mixture. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until they are crispy on the outside, but not burnt .
Sammy Starfish
Ingredients:
-5 Sea Stars
-Salt and Pepper to taste
Clean the starfish. In a large pot boil water and cook sea stars for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork.
Grill slowly for about 5 minutes on each side, brushing occasionally with butter . Sprinkle it with salt and pepper before serving.
Brazilian Starfish Pepper
Ingredients:
-10 Sea Stars
-1 tsp garlic salt (or more to taste)
Clean the starfish. In a large pot boil water and cook sea stars for 10 minutes or until they are easily pierced with a fork.
Drain cooked sea stars and place them in a bowl of ice water. Boil enough water to cover the sea stars and add the garlic salt.
Pour boiling water over sea stars and let stand for about 1 minute before draining again. Place the bowl in the refrigerator until cold, then serve with Brazilian pepper sauce (see below).
Brazilian Pepper Sauce:
Ingredients:
-½ tsp olive oil
-¼ white onion minced
-3 cloves garlic minced
-1 fresh red or green hot pepper minced or 1 tsp crushed red pepper
-2 ripe tomatoes, peeled and cut in half
-salt to taste
Heat oil in a saucepan. Add onion , garlic, and pepper; saute until tender. Using your fingers, rub the softened seeds from the tomato halves into the saucepan. Discard the seeds. Add tomatoes and season with salt .
Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let stand at room temperature until ready to serve.
Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons of hot water to each sea star and pour sauce over each when serving.
Starfish Grill
Ingredients:
-10 Sea Stars
-Garlic Salt to taste
-Olive Oil as needed
Clean the starfish. In a large pot boil water and cook sea stars for 10 minutes. In a container mix some olive oil with garlic salt and brush onto cooked sea stars. Broil on high about 5 inches away from the broiler for about 5 minutes or until beginning to brown.
Asterina Starfish
Asterina starfish are small, flattened sea stars with short arms.
Asterina’s can reproduce by splitting in half like all sea stars do.
They also release both sperm and eggs into the water at specific times of the year so that fertilization takes place outside of their bodies. This means they are most likely to reproduce when they are older, at least 6 years of age.
Purple Starfish
A purple starfish is also called an ochre starfish. They live on rocky reefs, kelp beds, and even some soft bottoms of sand.
The reason they live in so many different environments is that they have a special way to survive. They eat by surrounding their prey with their arms and using the tube feet on their arms to grab onto it.
Then they push food into their mouths which are located around the center disk of the starfish. When the purple starfish eats, it takes in water and food at the same time.
Basket Starfish
The basket starfish is shaped like a basket. They live on the seafloor and are found in deep water because this keeps their fleshy arms free of silt so they can use them to filter-feed.
This starfish also has poison in its little hooks to keep predators away from them.
The basket starfish looks like a small cluster of white balls when they are young.
When it grows older and bigger more arms stretch out of the ball shaped mass and it becomes a fully grown 5 foot wide basket shape!
Rowan Starfish
The rowan starfish has a small body size. This means that they are not very threatening to predators, but their bright colors work as warning signs.
They have arms full of poisonous cells so they can ward off predators from eating them.
Rowan Starfish also have two stomachs in their throats which helps them eat much larger prey.
Typical cooking method of Starfish
The fastest and easiest way to get it cooked is following:
1. To start, remove the legs from the purple starfish. You can do this by gripping one of the legs between your thumb and forefinger until it is easy enough to slide out. The skin of a leg may come off with it, but you should be able to pull it off with tongs if it is still attached.
2. Use a knife to make several small incisions in the body of your starfish, and then boil it for about 7 minutes.
3. While the starfish is boiling, chop several stalks of celery and add them to a stir fry pan with some canola oil. Also add an onion if you have one available on hand. If not, just add some bell peppers instead.
5. Once the starfish is cooked, drain it and chop it into small pieces while still maintaining its shape as much as possible with your knife work. It should look like purple shrimp if you do this right.
6. Add the starfish to the pan with celery and onions and saute for 5 minutes or so.
7. Serve with lemon wedges, and enjoy!
Conclusion
So Can you eat starfish?
The exact answer to the question is obviously YES.
Starfish or Sea star can be eaten in many countries, either for food or as traditional medicine. Their meat tastes good and is nutritious. Most types are safe to eat and tasty too!
However, eating the wrong type of sea stars can lead to paralysis and even death . Starfish is not suitable for children under 5 years old or for pregnant women.
Only two types of sea stars are safe for eating: blue linckia (a type of starfish) and rainbow star (brittle star). They’re safe to eat because they don’t contain poison like most sea stars do.
