Category: Seafood

Shrimp Risotto

Being an Asian, rice has been a stable for me since young. My family enjoys rice in different forms: steamed, stewed, fried and boiled (porridge and congee). Recently, my hubby and I decided to go without rice in attempt to reduce our carbohydrate intake. It has been for 2 weeks. So far so good…. But today I decided to break it because I am making RISOTTO!


Risotto is an Italian dish, usually served on its own before an entree. It is cooked in broth and white wine to a creamy texture. The creaminess comes from the starch released during the cooking process hence it is very important to stir the risotto frequently. I have always enjoy risotto, especially with shellfish because it is sweet. 

There are a few things to take note when cooking risotto:

  1. Use only short grain rice. Usually Arborio or Carnaroli. Carnaroli is considered to be the best as it is less likely to be overcooked. 
  2. Do not wash the rice. You need the starch. 
  3. Stir frequently during the cooking process to help to release the starch from the rice. 
  4. Make sure the stock is simmering in another pot so you add in hot stock into the risotto. 
  5. Do not overcooked. Best to be al dente and grains are separated. 

Recipe (For 2 servings)
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup Arborio rice
  • 2 shallots, chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup Dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 cup of Chicken stock (You can use seafood stock)
  • 8 medium shrimps, shelled, deveined and halved
  • 1 clove Garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan Reggiano
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • A small bunch of Flat Parsley, chopped (Optional)

Steps:
  1. In a small saucepan, simmer the chicken stock. 
  2. In a heated pan, add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and garlic. Saute the garlic till fragrant. Add in shrimps. When it just turns pink, add a splash of white wine. Simmer for 1 minute and remove from heat. Set aside for later use. 
  3. Using a larger saucepan over medium heat, add in shallots. Cook till it turns translucent. 
  4. Add in the rice. Stir well for 2-3 minutes. You will see the grains turning translucent at the ends.
  5. Add in 1/4 cup of white wine. Stir well. When the rice has absorbed the wine, add in 1/2 cup of stock. Add in the juice from the cooked shrimp to add extra flavor. Stir well. 
  6. When you observe that the rice has absorbed the liquid, add another 1/2 cup of stock. Repeat this until the rice is Al Dente. During this process, stir the risotto frequently. 
  7. Add in the cooked shrimps, salt and grated cheese. Stir well for 1 minute. Remove from heat. 
  8. You may add in chopped parsley. 
  9. Enjoy!
by Categories: Rice, Seafood Leave a comment

Crispy Wasabi-Mayo Shrimps with Mango Salsa

Our club just had our second meeting this evening and it is a themed Potluck session. It is titled “Taste the World” and each club members have to bring a self-prepared dish representative of their country. There were about 13 of us who turned up and 8 nationalities were represented.  Cool isn’t? I was thinking to myself that no restaurant in this world would be able to serve me such great authentic cuisines from different countries all in one seating. (Ok, forget about those international eat-all-u-can buffet thing!)

 


We had a little dinner roadmap printed as our place-mat. We could scribble our comments of each dish on it. It was really fun because it is like going through a maze exploring different countries using our taste buds. Many of us were intricate by the spices and ingredients used by different cuisines. 




So what did I bring for the party?
This dish is something I learnt from Chef Sam Leong at his cooking studio. It is fairly simple to make and often loved by most people. Well, except old folks who do not really like mayonnaise. If you do not like wasabi, you can go without too. The mango salsa is a good match for the shrimps as it gives a contrasting taste to tickle your palate and refresh your taste buds for more. 


Recipe 
Ingredients
A) Shrimps

  • 15 – 18 Jumbo shrimps, shelled and deveined
  • 1 Egg white
  • 1/2 Salt
  • 1/4 tbsp Sugar
  • A dash of Sesame oil
  • 2 tsp Corn flour
  • 1 cup Corn flour for coating 
  • Oil for frying
B) Wasabi-Mayo
  • 150g Mayonnaise
  • 25g Condensed milk
  • 15g Wasabi paste
  • 1 piece Fresh lemon, juice
  • Green colouring

Steps:

  1.  Marinate shrimps with egg white, salt, sugar, sesame oil and 2 tsp corn flour for 20 minutes.
  2. Mix mayonnaise, condensed milk, wasabi, lemon juice and green coloring together. Keep in fridge.
  3. Heat saucepan with cooking oil.
  4. Coat shrimps with corn flour lightly and deep fry about 1 minute.
  5. Mix shrimps into wasabi-mayo immediately. Serve immediately. 



C) Mango Salsa

  • 2 whole mangoes, cut into dices
  • 8-10 mint leaves, chopped
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
Steps:
  1. Mix the ingredients together. 
  2. Before serving, drain the excess water away. 
Serve the shrimps with mango for a heavenly match. I think it will go well with white wine too!
by Categories: Fruits, Seafood 4 Comments

Fantastic Traditional English Fish Pie

Recently, I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programme with a farmer. Basically, this programme works such that a farmer offers a certain number of “shares’ to the public and each share is typically a box of vegetables (farmers) or 6 lbs of fish (fishermen). This programme helps the farmers to sustain their business and motivate them to farm as they know they are ready customers to purchase their harvest. The customers, like me, will enjoy ultra fresh food and explore new ways of cooking different kind of food. 


To be more accurate, I signed up a fortnightly CSF (Community Supported Fishery) programme with local fishermen. This is my second collection (out of five). During the collections, I would go to Harvard square farmers’ market to collect the fresh fish with my recycled shopping bag. I signed up for a ‘whole fish’ programme despite there is option for me to opt for ‘fillet’. So I have to clean and scale the fish. I guessed it turned out to be such a problem for me. The kitchen was in a mess and the whole apartment smelled like the ‘sea’. Luckily, the fish were extremely fresh and not much of a stench. 

It is really amazing that with this programme, I explore more ways of cooking different kinds of fish.The first week, I have got Dabs. I tried cooking it two ways, baked with potatoes and pan-fried. It was so delicious. This week I have got Pollock. Pollock is a white fish, considered strong flavoured. It is considered a cheaper version of haddock and cod.    

I have been thinking about making a traditional English fish pie for some time and finally I got white fish in my hands. I am going to make this pie a little more luxurious with prawns and vegetables. I referred to a few different recipes and also consulted my palate. Here’s my version of Traditional English Fish Pie.

Recipe (4 servings)
Ingredients
3 large potatoes
500g fillet of pollock (salmon and cod is fine), cut into big chunks
6-8 large shrimps, shelled and deveined
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into small dices
1 stick of celery, cut into small dices 
2 eggs, hardboiled and quartered 
1 handful of parsley leaves, chopped
3tbsp of grated Cheddar cheese 
1 cup Fish stock 
1 cup of Fresh Milk 
1/2 cup of Heavy cream
1 Bay leaf
1/2 lemon, juiced
4 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp of plain flour
1/4 tsp Paprika
Salt and Pepper

Steps:
  1. Cut the potatoes into quarters. In a pot of boiling water and 1/2 tsp of salt, boil the potatoes until soft. You can use a fork to test it. Remove, drained and peel the skin. 
  2. Mashed the potatoes and add 2 tbsp of butter and 1/2 cup of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put aside and keep it warm. 
  3. In a small pot of boiling water, blanch carrots and celery for 2 minutes. Drain and put aside.
  4. In a large pan, bring the fish stock and bay leaf to boil. When it starts boiling, bring the heat to low. 
  5. Add in fish chunks and prawns to poach for 5 minutes. Remove. 
  6. Keep the poaching liquid. Dispose the bay leaf. 
  7. In a saucepan, melt 2 tbsp of butter in low heat. Add in plain flour slowly. Stir evenly and prevent the roux from browning. Add enough flour to form a dough like substance that doesn’t sticks to the sides of the pan. 
  8. Add in the poaching liquid into the roux slowly. Using a whisk, stir well. you will see the liquid thickening. Bring it to a light boil. 
  9. Add in milk and heavy cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. 
  10. Add in carrots, celery, parsley, lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. 
  11. Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius. 
  12. In a baking tray or earthenware, lay the fish, prawns and eggs evenly. Pour the prepared cream sauce for it. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top.
  13. Spread the mashed potatoes over it.
  14. Placed in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until crispy and golden on top.
  15. Serve piping hot with lovely green salad.      



You can always add other seafood into the dish. Scallops and clams will be great!

by Categories: Seafood 2 Comments

Coriander-Lemon Crab Prawn Salad with Avocado Bits

I am sure everyone has this urge to duplicate the recipe when you chanced upon an excellent dish.
It was my hubby’s birthday and we went to DB Bistro Moderne at Marina Bay Sands. The service was excellent and we were introduced to “Crab Salad” as it was the special of the day. As expected, we enjoyed it thoroughly. “I wish I could make that!” I said to myself.

I surfed the net and browsed Daniel Boulud’s links. After some research, I came up with this recipe. It tastes refreshing and definitely a keep! Great for a warm day or evening appertizer!


Recipe (for 5 servings)
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of Crab meat
  • 8 medium-sized Prawns, boiled till cooked (turned red), cut into 1/2 cm dices
  • 1/2 Cucumber, remove seeds and cut into 1/2 cm dices
  • 1/2 Avocado, cut into 1/2 cm dices
  • 1 small Red Onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoon of chopped Coriander leaves
  • 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
  • A dash of Parprika
  • 1/2 tsp Grated Lemon Peel
  • 4 tbsp of Mayonnaise
  • 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup of shredded iceberg lettuce
Steps:
  1. Prepare the ingredients.
  • Crab: Steam 2 live medium-sized crabs for about 7-8 minutes and deshell them to get approximately 1 cup of meat. You may opt to buy ready-deshelled crab meat available in Cold Storage.
  • Prawns: Boil prawns in a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. Remove and deshell.
  • Avocado: Drizzle 1 tsp of lemon juice to avocado to prevent it from browning (Oxidize).
  1. Mix crab meat, prawn, cucumber, avocado, chopped coriander and onion in a mixing bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl, prepare the sauce. Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, parprika, lemon peel, salt and black pepper.
  3. Mix the ingredients with the sauce well. Do not stir too vigorously as the crab meat will disintegrate. You want to ‘eat’ the crab meat.
  4. Keep in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
  5. Lay the plate with shredded iceberg lettuce, top with the prepared salad.
  6. You may drizzle the sauce at the side of the plate.
  7. Serve cold.


by Categories: Seafood Leave a comment