Easy shellfish meal

This year the fish market has good supply of shellfish, my favorite. As I like their texture and the mild Umami natural flavor, cooking is on the minimum. Which make it easy to prepare for gathering, each course come slowly, accompanied by white wine or sake, to be enjoyed slowly so that there is ample time for talking and reflecting on the idea exchanged.   

Some dishes below to choose from, depending on what is best in the market.

Squid noodle in clam ginger soup

Squid noodle in clam ginger soup

Blanch a dozen of clams in just enough to cover water, season with ginger and spring onion, pick out immediately when open and keep the broth. 

Blanch for a couple of seconds squid tubes and legs to harden. Being a bit firmer, it is easier to slice the body thinly.

Just before serving, reheat the broth, warm up legs and place in individual bowls, then place all squid noodles in a sieve and sink into the broth for a couple of seconds, separate into the bowls, add some broth into each bowl and garnish with spring onion.

Cuttlefish in ginger spring onion sauce

Cuttlefish in ginger spring onion sauce

Blanch cuttlefish body in boiling water for 5 seconds, legs, cut up into segments for 10 seconds, they are still raw and transparent inside, overcooking will make cuttlefish very tough.

Grate a little ginger, cut up spring onion finely, season with salt and olive oil, mix with cuttlefish.

abalone with Duxelle

Lobster or abalone with Duxelle

I like to use mushroom as a side dish to go with shellfish, like lobster, scallop and abalone, so that they don't look lonely on a plate, and the mild savory flavor of mushroom will not mask the mild sweetness of shellfish.

Cut brown mushroom or shitake mushroom, red onion into small pieces, slow cook in oil until water evaporated, season with salt. Cut kaffir lime leave finely, mix with Duxelle or sprinkle on dish later. 

Lobster with Duxelle

Blanch small lobster in boiling water for 1 minute, remove from heat and wait for another 2 minutes, so that the centre is still raw and transparent. Cut into slices.

For abalone, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, trim the frilly black edges, cut into thin slices.

Place Duxelle in the center of plate and arrange lobster/abalone slices around.

baked Flower crab

Baked crab

Both Flower crab (lovely fully sweet flesh) and 3 dots crab loaded with fat (good Umami taste) are in season. For medium size crab, bake at 200˚C for 15 minutes, small size ones for 12 minutes.

While baking crab, a simple salad of lettuce and sliced apple can be served to clear the palette.