Simple Fried Shark Recipe (Yes It’s Really Shark Meat)

This fried shark recipe is tasty and simple to make, once you have properly prepared the shark meat.

Enjoy it with fry bake or any other fried treat.

Here’s how to make it.

What is in this fried shark recipe

For this recipe, I used:

• cleaned, skinless shark pieces
• Caribbean green seasoning with garlic, ginger, pepper, chadon beni and broad leaf thyme leaves.
• salt
• turmeric
• flour
• lime juice
• oil for frying

Here’s a photo of the shark used in this recipe. I believe it is a smalltail shark.

Sharks urinate through their skin, so when the fish is being processed, it will have a strong urea-like smell. My local fish vendor usually processes the meat for me by washing the shark, removing its guts, and allowing the blood to drain out.

With amazing finesse and precision, he deskins the shark, washes it again and cuts it into smaller pieces. Since this one was only two pounds, he couldn’t debone it without causing damage to the meat.

He’s really experienced with processing fish, so the shark had no scent and was ready to be used right away.

Pro tip: The fish vendor suggested to wash the shark when I got home with flour only and not lime. He noted lime makes the shark meat tougher and chewier.

Do Trinidadians eat shark

Although endangered, Trinidadians eat shark meat from smalltail sharks, blacktip sharks, Caribbean and Brazilian sharpnose sharks and hammerhead sharks. The meat is most often battered, fried and served with fry bake, vegetables and condiments like chow, chadon beni sauce, and chutney.

Bake and shark is a favorite meal in Trinidad and Tobago, enjoyed mainly for breakfast or at the beach. The kind of shark used in the bake and shark depends on what is available to the vendor. However, most bake and shark stalls serve readily available catfish and tilapia in place of shark.

Is shark safe to eat

Sharks are apex predators and so can contain high levels of toxins and heavy metals. As a result, pregnant women and young children are advised against eating shark meat. All other persons should eat shark sparingly.

From my own anecdotal experience, one of my relatives consumed bake and shark several times over the course of her pregnancy. Unfortunately, her child had complications including tumors in her body. Her doctors believed eating shark may have been a factor in her health issues. Thankfully, the kid is fine now :). So, I highly recommend to heed the warning and avoid shark meat while pregnant.

 Don’t forget sharks urinate through their skin, so be sure the meat is properly cleaned and prepared before consuming.

How to make this fried shark recipe

After purchasing the shark meat from the fish vendor, I made this recipe as soon as I got home. Here’s what I did:

Wash the shark meat

As per the fish vendor’s instructions, I rinsed the shark meat and mixed in two tablespoons of flour. After a minute or so, I rinsed the flour off.

Season the shark

Next up, seasoning the shark. Here I used salt, turmeric and Caribbean green seasoning made with garlic, ginger, pepper and fresh chadon beni and broad thyme leaves from my garden.

Cover and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Batter

Before battering the fish, I added a teaspoon of lime juice (although the fish vendor said not to). The juice didn’t affect the meat since I added it right before frying.

Coat the shark pieces with flour. You can add paprika, garlic powder and other seasonings to the flour if you like.

Fry

While battering the fish, place a saucepan on medium heat. Fill it with enough oil for frying the pieces. Leave to heat up.

Once hot enough, fry the shark pieces in the oil for three minutes. Flip over and cook the other side for another three minutes. For larger slabs of shark meat, add two to four more minutes per side

Remove from the oil and set on thick napkins to soak up the excess oil.

Serve hot.

What to eat with fried shark

These shark pieces were small, so you can serve them with fries and other fried treats.

For larger pieces and fillets, serve the fried shark with fry bake, lettuce, tomatoes, and pineapple chow. Chadon beni sauce, garlic sauce and mango chutney are great condiments that go so well with bake and shark.

Check out this fry bake recipe too:

Fried shark recipe

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