I recently had a cold seafood dinner spread for the family one Sunday which prompted me to do an impromptu left over shoot the next day. Cold seafood is one of the primary reasons I go to any self-respecting hotel buffet…you get to enjoy the fresh seafood (which is totally 100% necessary when having a cold seafood spread) and the wonderful dip combinations found on the spread. I would like to share a very easy way to make a cold seafood spread and the my favorite dips to go along with it:
Easy Cold Seafood and Dip for 2-3 people
2 fresh crabs, killed and washed
2 fresh slipper lobsters, washed
6-8 pcs fresh shrimp or suahe, washed in cold water
10 pcs clams, washed and kept in water for about 30 minutes
10 pcs mussels, washed and kept in water for about 30 minutes
16 cups of water
1/2 cup salt
2 lemons, sliced
1. Over medium heat, in a stockpot or dutch oven, mix together the water, salt, lemon juice and the squeezed lemons and allow this mixture to boil. Put in the crabs and wait for it until it turns fully red which is about 6-8 minutes depending on the size of the crab. Remove the crab from the stockpot and then put in the slipper lobster. Again, you can wait for this to turn fully orange which is about 2-3 minutes depending on the size of the lobster. Fish out the lobster. Dunk them in ice water for 10 seconds and set them aside to cool.
2. Still using the boiling water, you can boil the shrimp until it turns orange (which happens quite fast) and fish them out. Dunk them in ice water for 10 seconds after fishing them out. Drain and set these aside as well.
3. Cook the clams and mussels in the same broth until they are open. Remove them from the pot and dunk them in ice water for 10 seconds.
4. Before making the dips, put the cooked seafood in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Choose your dip! I didn’t include the usual mignonette dip since I think a lot of Filipinos aren’t into this dip anyway.
Ketchup and Wasabi dip (sounds crazy but tastes great with shrimp and clams!)
1 tbsp wasabi paste
1/4 cup tbsp ketchup
1. Mix the two together until they fully incorporated and set aside.
Lemon Dill Mayonaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup japanese mayonaise
2 tsp dill, chopped
pinch salt and pepper
1. Mix all the ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste (make sure you add salt and pepper to bring out the best flavors!)
Pineapple Salsa
1/4 cup pineapple, chopped finely
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped finely
3 tbsp onions, chopped finely
3 tbsp cilantro, chopped finely
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside. Make sure you set this aside for a while so that the flavors may incorporate.
Honey Lemon Butter Sauce
1/2 cup butter (please use real butter!), melted
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste
1. Mix the lemon juice and honey together in a bowl. Add the butter and salt and pepper. Mix until fully incorporated (you might what to beat it with a fork or whisk).
The assembly:
Lots of crushed ice
2 lemons, quartered
A big deep dish
1. Use a deep dish large enough to hold the ice and the seafood. Arrange the seafood on top of the ice and and lemons as well.
2. Set up your sauces and dips..Enjoy!
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