HOW TO COOK A GLASS LIZARD

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• Obtain the following ingredients:

1 Glass Lizard (GL), obtained from a trusted source or familiar environment; avoid the risk of eating a Lizard that has eaten a poisoned insect.

• 1 box of cornbread mix
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• Splash black pepper
• 1/2" oil (depends on pan size)

Refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible. It can also be frozen. The meat's integrity remains intact, and the coloration of the skin is unaffected


1) Skin the lizard. Cut off the head, strip off the skin, and remove the guts of the dead GL.



2) Rinse the meat, and cut it into pieces with a sharp knife or poultry shears. Make the cuts between and at the same angle as the ribs to avoid cutting the ribs. If the ribs are severed, they may be difficult to remove from the meat after it is cooked. Some people prefer to soak the ready-to-cook GL pieces in saltwater for a day or two to remove any remaining blood or "gaminess" from the meat.



3) Dip the segments in a bit of egg white (milk would also do) before dredging them in a pepper and sweet cornmeal mix (or cornbread mix with some extra black pepper). Shake off the excess.

4) Heat about 3/4" (2cm) of canola, vegetable, or peanut oil in a heavy frying pan until quite hot. Add the lizard pieces one at a time to avoid from dropping the temperature in the pan too quickly. Use tongs to keep your fingers away from the sizzling hot oil, watch for dangerous splatters, and use a screen if necessary to prevent a mess. Turn the GL pieces just as the batter begins to turn golden - by the time it starts to brown the lizard will be overcooked. There's not much meat on the bones, and the muscles are thin and lean.

5) Drain and cool. Remove the lizard pieces before they're quite done - they'll continue to cook after removal from the pan - and set them on paper towels to drain and cool.

6) Serve your fried lizard bits warm, and provide napkins - this is finger food. Accompany with most anything you'd serve with fried fish.

7) Enjoy the lizard meat. There should be a line of muscle along either side of the spine; this is the thickest piece of meat on the lizard's body. The ribs are quite firmly attached to the spine, so scrape your teeth over them firmly to remove the rest of the meat from the ribs.

Dave Israel
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