Shells

Steam Chinese Marrow with Clawfish

Ingredients:

• 2 Crayfish, meat removed from shells
• 1 Chinese Marrow or Hairy Gourd (节瓜）
• 20 Wolfberries (枸杞子), soaked to soften
• 150g Stock
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste
• Cornflour mixture (thickener)
• Cooking Oil

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
• 1/2 Egg White
• 1 teaspoon Corn Flour

How to do it:

1. Cut crayfish into smaller pieces.
2. Marinate the crayfish meat for 20 minutes.
3. Skin the Chinese Marrow and cut into equal thickness.
4. Remove the center seeds by using a circle cookie cutter or just a spoon.
5. Blanch Chinese Marrow rings in hot oil for 1 minute. It helps keep the rings in shape and seal in the sweetness. Skip this step is you like.
6. Add in the wolfberries to the stock.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Drain the rings and add into the stock
9. Simmer for 3 minutes or till soft, depending on your taste.
10. Retain the stock.
11. Drain crayfish meat from marinade and stuff in the rings in a deep dish.
12. Steam for 12 minutes or till crayfish is thoroughly cooked.
13. When steaming the rings, prepare the sauce.
14. Add sugar to taste to the previously used stock for simmering the rings.
15. When the sauce starts to bubbles, gradually stir in the thickener to thicken the sauce.
16. Pour sauce over the steam rings with crayfish and serve.

Note:

• You can replace the crayfish with prawns.
• Remove heads and shells of prawns. Slit the back of prawns, devien and clean them before use.
• You can curl your prawns like what I did for this dish or simply use it as it is.
• Just place the back in the ring, that is, tail pointing up.
• DO NOT add egg white and corn flour in the marinade if using whole prawn.
• If using smaller prawns, you might want to consider either getting smaller/thinner Chinese Marrow so there the prawn can fill up the hole or shell the prawns and cut into smaller pieces like what I did with the crayfish.
• Adjust the steaming time accordingly as prawns takes a shorten time to cook. Over cooking will make the prawn tough.

  Spicy Clams

  
  Ingredients:
  
• 600g Clams, cleaned
• 3 Shallot, chopped
• 4 clove Garlic, chopped
• 2 fresh red chilli, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon Fermented Soy Bean Paste
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cooking Wine
• 1 tablespoon Oil
• Cornstarch mixture (thickener)

How to do it:

1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Stir fry shallot, garlic amd chilli till fragnant.
3. Add in clams.
4. Stir fry for 1/2 minute.
5. Add in fermented soy bean paste, sugar and wine.
6. Continue cooking till all the clams are opened.
7. Guadually add in cornflour mixture to thicken the sauce.
8. Serve.

   Scallops with Assorted Vegetables

   Ingredients:
   
9. 12 (Canned) Ginkgo Nuts
10. 5 Fresh Shitake Mushroom, half,
11. 1/2 Bell Pepper, sliced
12. 6 Sweet Peas
13. 12 Scallops
14. 2 tablespoon Broth
15. 1 teaspoon Cooking Wine
16. Light Soy Sauce to taste
17. Cornflour Mixture (Thickener)
18. 2 tablespoon Oil

How to do it:

1. Heat wok with oil.
2. Add ginkgo nuts, bell pepper, sweet peas and mushroom.
3. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add scallops and stir fry for 1/2 minutes.
5. Add in the broth and cooking wine.
6. Stir to mix well and add light soy sauce to taste
7. When sauce begins to bubbles, stir in the thickener.
8. Stir to coat well.
9. Dish and serve.

Note:
You have to remove the stem in the ginkgo nut before cooking it otherwise it will be bitter. You can do so by inserting a toothpick in the middle.

Baked Mussels with Cheese

It's easy to make too. You just need mussels, tomato based pasta sauce and mozzeralla cheese.

Steam the mussels for 3 minutes first. If you don't partially cook it first to remove the liquid, when you bake it later, it will be very wet. Then the sauce and cheese with flood of the mussels.

After steaming the mussels, drain them. You can retain the liquid as seafood stock. Spoon pasta sauce to cover fill the shell. Top with shredded mozzeralla cheese. Sprinkle some chopped pasley if you like.

Now bake at 180C for 10 minutes or till you see the sauce bubbling out or the cheese and that the cheese has melted.

Served it hot. It won't be nice once it's cold. Oh, do try with carbonara sauce too. Though, I strongly recommend tomato sauce. I don't know about you. I always feel that seafood (pasta) taste better in tomato based sauce. ;)

Grilled Mussels with Garlicy Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 30 Mussels, brushed and cleaned
• 2 tablespoon Butter, melted
• 5 tablespoon Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper, coarsely grounded
• 2 teaspoon Fresh Parsley, chopped (optional)

How to do it:

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Place mussels in a pot with 50ml water and cover.
3. Cook for 5 minutes or till mussels open up.
4. Drain and discard those that remained close (they are bad).
5. Snap the empty part of the shell off.
6. Place the other shell with the mussels on a oven-proof dish.
7. Mix the remaining ingredients together.
8. Place some of the butter mixture on top of each mussel.
9. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top if you like.
10. Grill till the mussels are sizzling and the top mixture are golden.
11. Serve immediately.

    Clams in White Wine

    

    Ingredients:

12. 500g Soft Shell Clams, soaked in salted water for them to ‘split out’ the sand and brushed to clean the dirt on the shells
13. 4 glove Garlic , sliced
14. 4 tablespoon White Wine
15. 1 teaspoon oil
16. 1 bunch Basil Leaves
17. Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Heat wok with oil.
2. Add in garlic and stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the clams
4. Stir fry till the clams have open. Throw away those which are not open (Do not force open. They are probably bad)
5. Add in the wine and simmer till cooked.
6. Throw in the basil leave and salt to taste.
7. Stir fry for another 10 seconds.
8. Dish and serve.

Note:
Try soaking them in 3 tablespoon of wine (Chinese cooking wine or white wine) after the clams are cleaned for half an hour. Mix around once a while, so every clams can get drunk. hehe ... Taste better.

Soft Shell Crabs in Butter Cereals