Thai-style BBQ Seafood Comes to an Expat Family's Dinner Table in Taipei
In summer, you just feel like having something boldly flavored that won't leave you so stuffed you feel sick of it!
On a summer night, BBQ seafood with ice-cold beer, a bit of breeze blowing in through the window, the insects chirping loudly, and ice-cold beer going down - ah! So refreshing!
Ingredients:
-Zhumeng Lake toxin-free aquaculture Zunwang shrimp, 10-12
-3 large American scallops
-About 10-12 pieces crab leg meat
-Fresh red chilies, medium, about 2-3
-About 15 multicolored peppercorns
-Fish sauce, 3 tbsp
-Olive oil, 2 tbsp
-Extra virgin olive oil, about 1 tsp
-A big handful of fresh basil or Thai basil
-Half a shallot
-About 6 cloves garlic
Method:
After peeling the shrimp, removing the tails and deveining them, cut each shrimp in half (the shells and heads can be collected in an airtight container and frozen; once you have gathered a certain amount, simmer them into a concentrated stock, then pour it into an ice cube tray, and once frozen, put the individual shrimp stock cubes in a ziplock bag and freeze them. If you need shrimp stock for cooking later, just take it straight out of the freezer and use it - very convenient!). Cut the large scallops into quarters, then put them together with the crab leg meat and the halved shrimp in a container.
Slice the fresh red chilies (if you are worried it will be too spicy, you can remove the seeds first) and chop the shallot; put the sliced red chilies, multicolored peppercorns, most of the fresh basil or Thai basil (save some to chop with a knife and stir in after the seafood is cooked) and the peeled garlic into a mortar and crush with a pestle (if you do not have a small tabletop cooking pestle and mortar at home, you can use the flat side of a chef's knife to crush them).
Pour the crushed red chilies, peppercorns, Thai basil or basil, garlic and shallot into the container holding the seafood, then add the fish sauce and olive oil and mix together well. After mixing, let it sit and marinate for about 8-10 minutes.
Heat a cast-iron skillet, and when it is hot enough to almost smoke, place the marinated seafood on the cast-iron skillet. After the meat starts to turn red, flip it over, and sear both sides until they have a bit of a ”caramel” color - that is enough. The cast-iron pan is very hot, and seafood cooks quickly, so do not cook it too long; overcooked seafood does not taste good - dry and tough. When it is cooked just about right, turn off the heat and let the residual heat in the meat "cook" it a little more, so that when you eat it the seafood will be springy and juicy.
After plating the seafood, drizzle on the extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on the reserved chopped Thai basil or basil, open a bottle of ice-cold beer, scoop a bowl of rice, and serve!
The recipe is also published simultaneously at Goya's Kitchen