When picking up fish at the Santa Barbara Fish Market for the main course of a dinner, we are often tempted by the shellfish displayed in their right-side counter. Usually, they have a couple of sizes of shrimp, scallops, clams, as well as some mussels for sale. Sometimes we get a little bit of each and make a stew to precede the main course (perhaps with some home-made nigiri sushi, too, if the Market has local sushi-grade fish).
So far we've used two types of sauces - a European-style sauce and a south-east-Asian-style sauce - for this (shell)fish stew, both with great success. And both are inspired by recipes in James Peterson's books, as it turns out: the Mixed Shellfish Fricassée on page 348 of the 3rd edition of Sauces, and the Braised Sriped Bass Fillets in Green Curry from page 33 of the 1st edition of Fish & Shellfish (both great books, by the way, assuming you do not require many illustrations and photos). In what follows, we will combine the two into a general set of instructions for a (shell)fish stew.
1) STEAM - Shellfish is best steamed in some mixture of water, white wine, and fish broth, which you can make, e.g., by simmering shrimp shells in water for a few minutes. Half-a-cup to a cup-and-a-half should be enough. Mussels take less time to open than clams (~7 min instead of 12), so you can remove them from the pot sooner or add them in later. (Shelled shrimp cooks even faster, so we poach it later.) If using a lobster, steam it after removing mussels and clams until it turns bright red, about 10 minutes. Remove the meat from the lobster once it's ready.
2) BAKE - If using thick pieces of fish, such as the Striped Bass in Peterson's recipe, you'd probably want to bring the broth to a simmer, place the fish into it, cover with foil, and bake in a 350F-degree oven until ready, ~10 min per inch of thickness. (Skip this step if only using shellfish.)
3) MIX SAUCE - After setting aside cooked fish and shellfish - they can go directly into serving bowls, perhaps lined with cooked rice - the residual cooking liquid is turned into a sauce by mixing additional ingredients and bringing the mix to a simmer.
(a) For a European-style sauce, add chopped tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce, add cream, and simmer for a few minutes more to concentrate the flavor.
(b) For a south-east-asian-style sauce, add coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste, and some chopped greens, such as basil, cilantro, lemongrass, and mint.
4) POACH - If using (shelled) scallops and (peeled and deveined) shrimp, they can be poached in the sauce until ready, usually not more than 3 minutes. (Alternatively, they can be added in step 1 towards the end of steaming.)
5) SERVE - Arrange all the fish and shellfish in soup bowls or plates, optionally with rice underneath, and pour the sauce over them.
some of:
- up to 2 lb of fish fillets, such as striped bass
- 4-12 clams or cockles
- 4-12 mussels
- 1 lobster (~1.5lb)
- 4-8 scallops
- 4-8 shrimp, peeled and deveined
European-style sauce:
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
South-east-asian-style sauce:
- 1/2 cup (unsweetened) coconut milk
- 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp green or red curry paste
- 1-3 Tbsp basil, chopped finely
- 1-3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped finely
- 1-3 Tbsp mint, chopped finely
- 1 Tbsp lemongrass, chopped finely
Broth:
- 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cup of water, white wine, or (shell)fish broth
So far we've used two types of sauces - a European-style sauce and a south-east-Asian-style sauce - for this (shell)fish stew, both with great success. And both are inspired by recipes in James Peterson's books, as it turns out: the Mixed Shellfish Fricassée on page 348 of the 3rd edition of Sauces, and the Braised Sriped Bass Fillets in Green Curry from page 33 of the 1st edition of Fish & Shellfish (both great books, by the way, assuming you do not require many illustrations and photos). In what follows, we will combine the two into a general set of instructions for a (shell)fish stew.
1) STEAM - Shellfish is best steamed in some mixture of water, white wine, and fish broth, which you can make, e.g., by simmering shrimp shells in water for a few minutes. Half-a-cup to a cup-and-a-half should be enough. Mussels take less time to open than clams (~7 min instead of 12), so you can remove them from the pot sooner or add them in later. (Shelled shrimp cooks even faster, so we poach it later.) If using a lobster, steam it after removing mussels and clams until it turns bright red, about 10 minutes. Remove the meat from the lobster once it's ready.
2) BAKE - If using thick pieces of fish, such as the Striped Bass in Peterson's recipe, you'd probably want to bring the broth to a simmer, place the fish into it, cover with foil, and bake in a 350F-degree oven until ready, ~10 min per inch of thickness. (Skip this step if only using shellfish.)
3) MIX SAUCE - After setting aside cooked fish and shellfish - they can go directly into serving bowls, perhaps lined with cooked rice - the residual cooking liquid is turned into a sauce by mixing additional ingredients and bringing the mix to a simmer.
(a) For a European-style sauce, add chopped tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the sauce, add cream, and simmer for a few minutes more to concentrate the flavor.
(b) For a south-east-asian-style sauce, add coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste, and some chopped greens, such as basil, cilantro, lemongrass, and mint.
4) POACH - If using (shelled) scallops and (peeled and deveined) shrimp, they can be poached in the sauce until ready, usually not more than 3 minutes. (Alternatively, they can be added in step 1 towards the end of steaming.)
5) SERVE - Arrange all the fish and shellfish in soup bowls or plates, optionally with rice underneath, and pour the sauce over them.
some of:
- up to 2 lb of fish fillets, such as striped bass
- 4-12 clams or cockles
- 4-12 mussels
- 1 lobster (~1.5lb)
- 4-8 scallops
- 4-8 shrimp, peeled and deveined
European-style sauce:
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
South-east-asian-style sauce:
- 1/2 cup (unsweetened) coconut milk
- 1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp green or red curry paste
- 1-3 Tbsp basil, chopped finely
- 1-3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped finely
- 1-3 Tbsp mint, chopped finely
- 1 Tbsp lemongrass, chopped finely
Broth:
- 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cup of water, white wine, or (shell)fish broth