Tag: seafood
Shrimp Tempura
Shrimp Tempura
Tempura is one of the most famous Japanese food items outside of Japan. The batter is light and crispy without absorbing excess oil. Shrimp is one of the most popular ingredients to fry in tempura batter. Like all tempura frying ingredients, the shrimp need to be pat dry before dipping in the batter. They will only take a total of 6 minutes. Drain oil on a rack instead of paper towels to maintain the crispiness.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb 26/30 count shrimp tail on; peeled and deveined
- 1/2 cup cake flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup ice water
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix together all of the dry ingredients.
- Mix in the water.
- Heat up 3” of cooking oil in a pot over medium high heat(350 degrees). Pat dry the shrimp. Dip in the tempura batter. Drop in the oil. Make sure to not over crowd.
- Fry for 3 minutes a side. Drain grease on a rack.
Mofongo
Mofongo
Mofongo is a popular Puerto Rican dish consisting of fried mashed plantains with bacon, garlic, and chicharons. There are numerous versions of this dish in Puerto Rico as well as the rest of the Caribbean. This version has the mofongo with a creole shrimp sauce. So shrimp and 2 types of pork. I’m sold. Just a heads up: this recipe isn’t for beginners. There are a lot of steps to making mofongo. It’s actually a huge pain in the ass. It creates a lot of dishes. But it is absolutely worth the time once once you try it. Patience.The shrimp sauce is fairly simple. Sauté the shrimp. Sauté the vegetables. Cook down the tomatoes. Add in chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat, then add the shrimp back in. Cook the bacon. Drain the grease, then add in olive oil and garlic. Cook for another minute, then set aside.When choosing plantains, you want to use unripened ones. They are more starchy and are closer to a potato in flavor and texture. Ripened plantains will be too sweet and taste closer to bananas. They will need to be fried in vegetable oil for 4 minutes a side until crispy. Drain the grease on paper towel and season with creole seasoning.To assemble, mash a little bit of the bacon, garlic, oil, and chicharon together in a mortar. Then add a couple of the plants. Start smashing them with the bacon mix. Slowly start incorporating layers of the plantains, garlic bacon, and chicharon; smashing them into oblivion. Press the mofongo to the mortar to mold it to shape. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can add the ingredients to a food processor and pulse it a few times. Then you can press it into a small bowl to get the dome shape. You can make 1 large one like I did or 2 smaller ones if eating as a side dish. Place a large ladle of the shrimp sauce without any shrimp in the center of a plate. Flip the mofongo over on top of the sauce. Remove the mortar. Place a couple of the shrimp on top of the mofongo. Ladle the rest of the shrimp sauce around the mofongo. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Servings: 2
Equipment
- mortar and pestle or food processor
Ingredients
Shrimp Sauce
- 1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1/2 tsp creole seasoning
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 large white onion diced
- 1/2 cup green and red bell pepper diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 small tomatoes diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
Mofongo
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 plantains unripened
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tsp creole seasoning
- 1/4 cup chicharon
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
Shrimp Sauce
- Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the shrimp. Season with creole seasoning. Sauté for 2 minutes a side. Remove from the pan.
- Add in the other tbsp of olive oil. Sauté the onions, bell peppers, and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add in the tomatoes, cumin, and smoked paprika. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Take off the heat. Stir in the shrimp. Set aside.
Mofongo
- Sauté the bacon in a small skillet until crispy. Drain the grease.
- Pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil and the garlic. Cook for 1 more minute and set aside.
- Heat up 1/2” of vegetable oil in a pot over medium high heat. Fry the plantains in batches; 4 minutes a side.
- Drain the grease on paper towel. Season with creole seasoning.
- Take a 1/4 of the bacon and garlic and 1/4 of the chicharon and place in the bottom of a mortar.
- Give them a few smashes.
- Toss in a few of the fried plantains. Mash them with the bacon mix. Start adding in layers of the fried plantains, garlic bacon, and chicharon until they are all mashed together.
- Press the mofongo tight into the mortar to mold it’s shape. Alternatively, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor, then mold into a dome shape in a small bowl.
- Place a large scoop of the shrimp sauce in the center of a plate.
Green Curry Shrimp Fried Rice
Green Curry Shrimp Fried Rice
If you happen to have a couple extra tablespoons of curry paste left but not enough to make a batch of curry, it goes great with rice. 2-3 tablespoons is enough paste for 3 cups of fried rice. Simply fry the paste for a minute. Add in coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce. Simmer that for 3 minutes. Add in your protein and veggies, if any. Shrimp will take 3 minutes, chicken 6 minutes. Add in the rice and cook for 3 more minutes, breaking up all of the lumps. You can use either red or green curry paste. There is no wrong here.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 12 large shrimp peeled and deveined
- 4 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp green curry paste
- 2 tsp palm sugar chopped
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 6 kaffir lime leaves julienned
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots defrosted
- 3 cups day old white rice
- 1/2 cup Thai basil chopped
Instructions
- Marinate the shrimp in 2 tsp of fish sauce for 10 minutes.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the green curry paste for 1 minute.
- Pour in the coconut milk, sugar, and the rest of the fish sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add in the shrimp, vegetables, and lime leaves. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the shrimp are 75% cooked through.
- Add in the rice. Break up all of the lumps. Toss in the curry sauce, making sure that all of the rice is evenly coated. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the basil.
Green Curry Paste
This paste has the same base as the red curry paste, with the substitution of green chilies for red chilies, and the addition of cumin and coriander seeds, and basil. Since this paste uses fresh green chilies, it can get real hot if you add too many. 10 is a good number for a medium spicy. Store anything that’s not used within a week in the freezer.
Equipment
- Blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle
Ingredients
- 10-15 thai green chilies
- 1/4 cup shallots
- 1 head garlic peeled
- 3 tbsp lemongrass
- 1 tbsp galangal
- 2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp cilantro stems
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 15 thai basil leaves
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
Instructions
- Dry toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Add them to a spice grinder with the white peppercorns. GRIND!
- Add all of the rest of the ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- Blend until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated within each other.
