COOK: Endless possibilities

2009/11/07

SU AZIZ

The great thing about seafood is that it is ideal for a range of palates, as SU AZIZ finds out.

AS much as I love prawns, if they’re served with their shells, I’ll never eat them. This is the result of a small childhood trauma. When I was old enough to help with preparing meals, my job was shelling prawns. In fact, shelling all the prawns my family consumed for an entire week.

And boy, did my family consume a lot of prawns! They still do, by the way. Those were the days when supermarkets hadn’t caught on to selling de-shelled prawns or gutted fish.

Although it wasn’t kilos and kilos of it, for a small child, it seemed like a lot.

So much so, for two days in a row, my hands would be giving out whiffs of a fishy smell. No amount of soap, detergent nor fragrance could take the smell away.

Only time would rid me of the sickening pong. And only time would plump out my wrinkly hands due to being soaked for hours from the de-shelling work.

Nowadays, my favourite part of the supermarket is the chiller. There’d be all sorts of seafood that have been gutted, de-shelled and cleaned.

Rows and rows of gorgeous prawns, scampi (sometimes), fleshy shrimps and fishes of all sorts — the light of my meals.

So, happily, I now consume moderate heaps (an oxymoron, I know!) of ready-to-cook seafood bought from supermarkets. Apparently, most markets also gut the fishes you buy — this is the life, I tell you! There are plenty of choices out there, ranging from seafood from the cold North Sea, our own variety from warmer waters and favourites from the vast Pacific Ocean.

Now, the question is, how do you choose? The answer is in your palate. Let’s make a quick comparison. I’ll use prawns here. In my opinion, our prawns are sweet and perfect to flavour dishes such as fried rice and its shells made into stock.

On the other hand, prawns from, let’s say, Norway, are juicy and crisp and are more suited to be eaten in its pure form without much seasoning or accompaniments — as in a prawn cocktail with minimum dressing. For me, the same applies to crabs too. For light steaming, I’d go for the Norwegian variety, which is fleshy, crisp and with a persistent salty-sweet flavour.

Tomato king crab

I apply that rule of thumb with seafood I buy. To cook heavily seasoned dishes, I prefer our own variety, while for dishes with minimal cooking and seasoning, I’d opt for the the cold-water variety.

To make it more fun, I have included a couple of recipes here. What you can do is try them with Norwegian seafood. And then try a heavier method of preparing the seafood, such as your favourite curry! This way, you can contrast and compare and let your palate decide.

Sweet and Sour Salmon Before you roll your eyes and think, “not another sweet and sour sauce”, give this one a chance. It’s unique, light and it’s rather Scandinavian! So, to begin, you’ll need: • 900g of water • 450ml of vinegar • 450g of sugar • 2 tsp of white pepper • 2 tsp of cloves • 2 tsp of mustard seeds • 5 bay leaves Bring water, sugar and vinegar to a boil. After which, remove from stove and add white pepper, cloves, mustard seeds and bay leaves to the sauce. Leave to cool.

Next, get together: • 1kg of salmon • 225g of onions • 175g of salt Clean and salt salmon. Let it set for a couple of hours. Then scrape off salt and cut salmon into cubes. Layer salmon cubes and onions in a small pan.

Pour cooled sauce over the salmon and let sit for 24 hours in a cool, dry place — perhaps on the highest shelf of your fridge.

Serve with an assortment of breads, sour cream and leafy salads.

Tip: If you want to be adventurous, you might want to replace the salmon with Norwegian shrimps. It could be an interesting appetiser, if not a light meal.

Salmon Malai This recipe is from The Taj restaurant that serves Northern Indian cuisine. A little heavier than the other dish and definitely more familiar in terms of flavours! So, to begin, you’ll need: • 500g of salmon, cubed • 150g of cashewnut paste • 240ml of cream, preferably fresh • 50g of ghee • 20g of ginger paste • 20g of garlic paste • 3 pcs of green cardamon • 5g of coriander leaves • a pinch of safforn • salt and white pepper to taste Sautee the ginger, garlic and cashewnut paste in the ghee. Then add the salmon cubes, along with the cream, cardamon, saffron and seasonings. Simmer on low fire until the fish is cooked.

Serve with steaming white rice or lightly toasted pita. Yumm! Tip: Go easy with the salt and pepper. Too much seasoning, I find, kills the already distinct flavours of the salmon.

With this one, be daring and try replacing the salmon with prawns or crabs (although I have yet to try it!).