Lemon Ginger Shrimp in Parchment Paper

US wild jumbo shrimp frolicked in my dreams last night. Oh yes, not only in costume but performing silly dances and unbelievable acrobatic feats. Better than a nightmare, this exhibition just might have been inspired by a package of Gulf shrimp that should have been last night's dinner. But the cook was lazy, reheated some spicy soup, and went to bed quite early. Hmmm, maybe I should blame the evening's entertainment on that spicy soup. Today those frisky crustaceans shared the spotlight with some Asian flavors and starred in Shrimp en Papillote... aka Lemon Ginger Shrimp in Parchment Paper.

Local groceries and big box stores offer frozen shrimp sourced from a variety of countries, but I know very little about these other fisheries. Lacking specific knowledge of or confidence in foreign catch and processing methods, I choose US wild seafood, especially Pacific Northwest products, whenever possible. Lucky for me, Seattle holds several quality fish markets with impeccable fresh and frozen seafood. I have previously used this simple method with fish fillets, but admittedly not often. Surprising, since the results were so popular.   

Fish Fillets en Papillote

Sturgeon in Parchment

Why not cook shrimp en papillote? Somehow other favorite shrimp and prawn dishes tend to muscle parchment pouchs out of the limelight.

Cajun BBQ Prawns,

Greek Shrimp Taverna, 

Lime and Sweet Chili Prawns,

Piccata Prawns & Pasta, 

Shrimp & Grits  

No more understudy role for shrimp in parchment; this dish is ready for star billing.    

Shrimp en Papillote

for 2 servings

1/2 cup Napa cabbage, julienned (or substitute baby bok choy)

1/2 cup cooked rice

1/4 cup green or white onion, sliced thin

1/4 cup carrots, julienned

2" fresh ginger, peeled & cut into 8 coins

10-12 wild jumbo shrimp (size 16-20/lb), shelled & cleaned

salt and white pepper

1/2 lemon, sliced into thin rounds

2 TBS mirin

2 TBS sesame oil

1 TBS ponzu sauce (or use lemon or lime juice plus soy sauce)

2 pieces of parchment paper, roughly 15"x24"

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Set out a baking sheet, ready to transfer the parchment packets to the oven. Fold each parchment sheet in half (now 15x12) and cut a large, fat heart shape.

Spread half of the cabbage shreds on one open sheet of heart-shaped parchment close to the fold line. Spread it out, but leave an inch or two bare along the cut outside edge. Top with half of the rice, onion, carrots and coins of ginger. Add half of the shrimp on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and arrange half of the lemon rounds over the shrimp. Sprinkle with half of the mirin, sesame oil and ponzu sauce. (Short version: layer half of the ingredients on the paper and sprinkle half of the liquids evenly over the top.)

Fold the other half of the heart over the top, lining up the edges. Begin with the top of the heart (the fat part) at the fold; fold over a short section, pleat and pinch together, press down to seal and repeat the fold/pleat/pinch/press as you work around the edge to the bottom point. Twist the final section to seal and tuck under the pouch to secure it. 

Repeat with the remaining ingredients to create a second packet.

Move the packets onto a baking sheet and place in the center of the preheated oven. Reduce the oven temp to 400 F and bake for 15 minutes (only 10-12 minutes for smaller shrimp). The packets should puff slightly as they cook. (I suggest opening one packet a few minutes early to check for doneness - you don't ever want to overcook shrimp!) 

To serve, transfer each packet to a dinner plate; use kitchen shears to cut an X on top to fold open. The aroma is tantalizing. Serve with lemon slices and/or Sweet Thai Chile Sauce to drizzle over the packet contents if you like. (I prefer mine plain.) 

Japanese Cabbage and Shrimp Pancakes - Okonomiyaki revisited

My iPhone camera roll is out of control! Too many pictures in too few albums make it impossible to locate anything quickly. Last week I decided to tackle the disorganized mess, discard the surplus shots and organize the rest. Like several other ambitious plans, an enthusiastic start soon bogged down in the details. Progress slowed as I gazed at each shot, flooded with memories of the occasion. So many photos recalled special friends, fun adventures, brief moments of scenic beauty, tasty meals, etc. Gazillions of shots still need organizing, but I did find a cache of food photos, perfect for menu planning inspiration. Those colorful restaurant food shots reminded me of countless tasty meals, prompting an online search for recipes. 

Photo: Okonomiyaki plate at Arnie's in Edmonds

This amazing okonomiyaki luncheon plate shown above, an October 2014 daily special from Arnie's in Edmonds, topped my newly-inspired "must make" list. Two airy pancakes, plated atop braised spinach and a puddle of tangy sauce were so tasty I didn't want to share a single bite... though I probably offered, just to be polite. 

This week Hilary ran across the okonomiyaki recipe in my Food52 cookbook and recalled enjoying this Osaka specialty treat during a recent trip to Japan. 

I have made these savory cabbage and shrimp pancakes before (link), but wasn't thrilled with the results. Now, with renewed photo inspiration and a kitchen helper, it was time to revisit this delicious savory treat.

Hilary mixed the ingredients, aiming for a loose egg batter that would produce crispy, crepe-like pancakes. Ron grabbed a spatula and joined the party at the stove. We soon had two skillets heating on the cooktop, the oven warmed and a bowl of dipping sauce mixed and set aside. Let the okonomiyaki cookoff begin. 

The most successful technique involved adding 1/4 cup batter to a hot, oiled skillet and smooshing it out flat with a large spoon. Flatter pancakes cooked more evenly and were much easier to flip than those that held mounds of filling.

The smooth surface of the cast iron pan accounted for easy release and flipping, while the small ridges on the bottom of a Circulon skillet resisted releasing the pancakes. Messy, but doable.
  

We ended up with plump pancakes rather than flat, crispy edged crepes. No matter. The pancakes were delicious; tangy, crunchy, eggy little disks packed through with toothsome cabbage and shrimp. Tasty enough on their own, their flavor really popped with the addition of the dipping sauce. Hilary added more sriracha, Ron reached for the sweet Thai chili sauce, and I claimed more dipping sauce for myself. Win, win.

The iPhone camera roll still awaits organization, but now I'm eagerly looking for the next food inspiration as I begin to sort through the photos. 

Cabbage and Shrimp Pancakes - aka Okonomiyaki

based on a recipe at Food52.com

Yield: 12 medium pancakes

Pancakes:

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons lime Ponzu (or soy sauce and a splash of lime juice)

1 teaspoon hot sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional, I find the Ponzu salty enough)

1/3 cup AP flour

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage shreds (we substituted 1/2 cup carrot shreds and red cabbage for some of the green cabbage) 

6 green onions, sliced thin

1 cup salad shrimp (or chop larger shrimp into small pieces)

Minced pickled red ginger, to taste (optional, but it adds a nice bite)

Canola oil for the skillet
Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Dipping sauce*

1. Whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients and set aside while you make the pancakes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 F, to hold the finished pancakes as you make several batches.
3. Using a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, Ponzu, spicy sesame oil and salt. Add the flour in several batches, whisking to blend completely after each addition. Fold in the cabbage, green onions, shrimp and pickled ginger(optional).
4. Drop a few tablespoons of canola oil into a cast iron or nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Give the batter another stir or two to mix in any egg mixture that might have settled out; add a heaping serving spoon of batter to the pan. Smooth out the batter to an even thickness, tidy up the edges, and cook for several minutes until golden brown. Flip carefully and cook a few more minutes until the second side is golden brown. Keep warm, covered, in the oven as you work with the remaining batter.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup lite Best Foods mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lime Ponzu sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha, adjust more or less to your own taste (we recommend more)

Note: use as a dipping sauce or add to a squirt bottle and squeeze over the pancakes.

Green Sauce for Salad and Prawns

Fresh Alaskan spot prawns, caught that same day, cooked briefly then shock-chilled in ice water, ready to peel and eat with your fingers – OH MY GOODNESS! That’s good eats!!

It all began when we invited a couple from a boat anchored nearby in Gut Bay (link) to join us for an evening of chili, cornbread and conversation. They arrived with a bottle of wine and a plastic bag bursting with some of their just-pulled and cleaned Alaskan spot prawns. Wow, what thoughtful hostess gifts! These jumbo beauties were perfect to turn a plain green salad into something extra special. The dressing, adapted from one found in a Food & Wine cookbook,  “Soups & Salads”, was delicious on the greens alone as well as on the prawns. Think green goddess with an attitude.

Note: the extra sauce made a second appearance as a cracker and vegetable dip later in the week. There were no extra prawns.

Are you thinking about serving the prawns as a stand-alone treat, an appetizer perhaps with sauce on the side? Peel the cooked and cooled prawns if you feel you absolutely must. I favor the peel and eat as you go method with prawns; it’s messy but utterly delicious. Fastidious friends might use knife and fork or even chopsticks, but fingers are hard to beat for efficiency. Besides, you get to lick the sauce off the prawns and your fingers as you go.  

Great Green Dressing for Salad and Shrimp

Inspired by Food & Wine “Soups & Salads” recipe  

6 anchovy fillets

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Grated zest of 1 small lemon

½ cup mint leaves and stems (or dried mint)

4 ounces olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juce

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 medium avocado

2 tablespoons water, more or less as needed to adjust consistency (optional)

Pinch of ground white pepper

Add the first 8 ingredients (anchovies through avocado) to a blender jar. Pulse to chop, then blend continuously until smooth. Add water as need to thin as needed. Taste, then season with pepper (and salt if desired) to suit your taste.

Okonomiyaki - Japanese Cabbage and Shrimp Pancake

Okonomiyaki - references to it kept popping up all over the place this month. I skimmed the new Food52 cookbook at my local library and immediately stopped at their photo of this dish. (Note: If you haven't found Food52 online before, you should go there, right now, or at least soon!) Their okonomiyaki recipe was voted the "Best Street Food" by their readers in 2012. Washington Post columnist David Hagedorn featured these Japanese pancakes in his recent article, scads of Yelpers from coast to coast sought advice on the best place to eat okonomiyaki, and a Google search yielded a gazillion recipes for differing versions. I had to try it... couldn't get it our of my mind. Hopefully this pancake would turn out better than my first attempt at a Korean green onion pancakes.

What is okonomiyaki? Sources agree it is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. That's where the agreement stops. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region, and the preferred size and thickness also vary. The pancake is variously referred to as a thick Japanese pizza and described as a crisped crepe; it can look more like a flat omelet or frittata. Its appearance reminds me of an Asian-flavored spaghetti pie minus the pasta. Even its origins are hotly debated, as noted in this February article in RocketNews. 

My version of this cabbage and shrimp pancake produced a strongly-flavored flat frittata with a zippy sauce. It worked both as finger food or more neatly consumed in smaller pieces with fork or chopsticks.  I sampled a saucer-sized round and found it too unevenly cooked with a soggy center and crunchy edges. Mmmm, those crisp bits on the edges were pretty tasty, I might work on smaller/thinner/crispier. Smaller, flatter pancakes were an improvement, but the eggy batter still masked the cabbage and shrimp. Next time I might thin the batter, use less flour or adjust the filling-to-batter ratio. 

Okonomiyaki may not top the list as my favorite finger food, but I did enjoy them as something different for lunch. There will be a next time with these savory pancakes, as I search for a lighter, more crepe-like pancake or wrap.

Photo: ingredients for a Japanese Cabbage and Shrimp Pancake

Photo: side one of an okinomiyaki sizzles in the pan

Asian Cabbage and Shrimp Pancakes

inspired by a recipe found online at Food52.com

Yield: 6-8 medium pancakes

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon lime Ponzu (or soy sauce and a splash of lime juice)

1 teaspoon hot sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt (optional, I find the Ponzu salty enough)

1/4 cup AP flour

1 cup thinly sliced cabbage shreds

2 green onions, sliced thin

1/2 cup salad shrimp, or chop larger shrimp (or substitute crab or sausage, or use mushrooms and go meatless.)

Minced pickled red ginger, to taste (optional, but it adds a nice bite)

Canola oil for the skillet
Furikake or toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Dipping sauce*

Preheat your oven to 200 F, to hold the pancakes as you make several batches.
Use a medium bowl and whisk together the eggs, Ponzu, spicy sesame oil and salt if you are using any. Add the flour in several batches, whisking to blend completely after each addition. Use a large spoon (or chopsticks) to fold in the cabbage, green onions, shrimp and pickled ginger if you are using some.
Drop a few tablespoons of canola oil into a medium, nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Give the batter another stir or two to mix in any egg mixture that might have settled out; add a heaping serving spoon of batter to the pan. Smooth out the batter to an even thickness, tidy up the edges if you care, and cook for several minutes until golden brown. Flip carefully and cook a few more minutes until the second side is golden brown. Keep warm, covered, in the oven as you work with the remaining batter.

Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup lite Best Foods (or homemade) mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lime Ponzu sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha, adjust more or less to your own taste or substitute a bit of prepared wasabi
Note: use as a dipping sauce or add to a squirt bottle and squeeze over the pancakes.

Christmas Cioppino

I have childhood memories of Christmas Eve suppers with Mom’s homemade soup, usually a vegetable beef blend, simmered slowly on the stove and accompanied by fragrant loaves of white bread, still warm from the oven. Decades later I continue the family soup and bread supper tradition, but now we enjoy a NorthWest cioppino with crusty sourdough loaves. I tried to follow tradition for Christmas Eve 2012, but life got in the way.

On the morning of the 24th I made an early-morning run to my favorite seafood market, Mutual Fish, at least I thought it was early. Customers must have lined up very early that morning, long before the usual 8:30 opening. As I pulled plastic tag number 54 to mark my place in line, tag number 4 was called – and Mutual had run through an entire set of 100 tags once already prior to this round! The minutes flew by as I hung out, made new friends, compared recipes with strangers, and marveled at the patience and good cheer shown by everyone in that crowded market. Finally it was my turn at the counter. Soon small packages of cod, shrimp, crab, scallops, calamari and clams went into a sack and traveled home in my cooler. The seafood went directly into the refrigerator and I went directly to bed... damned flu bug! I should be recovering, not relapsing. Niece H phoned to report her last-minute call out on a 3-day trip, and our Christmas Eve supper was officially postponed until later in the week... whenever. 

About that fresh seafood... clams prefer an underwater life, don't like to hang out in the fridge very long, and certainly don't improve with age. So we had a simple supper that night, eating a few clams steamed with wine, diced chorizo, peppers and aromatics. The uneaten clams were scooped from their shells, the broth reserved, and all of the seafood tossed into the freezer until that indefinite later in the week. 

Fast forward to later in the week when H returned home and my flu bug was less pesky. We celebrated being together for the holiday and enjoyed a new recipe for an old favorite, cioppino. Fresh seafood is always the best, but recently-frozen worked out just fine for this holiday.

Christmas 2012 Cioppino

serves 6+

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

1 large leek, halved lengthwise and cut in half-moons

2 teaspoons salt

4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice

1 1/2 cups dry white wine

5 cups fish stock (or use clam broth and chicken stock)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon each fresh thyme and oregano 

2 pounds manila clams, scrubbed

1.5 pound firm fish fillets (halibut, cod, etc) cut into 2-inch chunks

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pound mixed scallops and calamari

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, rough chopped

Dungeness crab meat sauteed in butter  (optional garnish)

Heat the oil in a very large stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, red pepper, leek, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock, bay leaf, thyme and oregano. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until the flavors blend, at least 30 minutes. (I like to make the broth a day in advance, then reheat before proceding on.)

Add the clams and to the cooking liquid (or cook the clams separately and add to each bowl before serving.) Cover and cook until the clams begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the fish, shrimp, scallops and calamari. Simmer gently until the seafood is just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, a few minutes longer (discard any clams that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.

Optional topping: melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. When bubbling add chunks of Dungeness crab meat or additional prawns and cook briefly. Sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne or pimento if you like.

Ladle the soup into bowls, add the clams if you cooked them separately, sprinkle with the chopped parsley, add a small mound of warmed crab chunks and serve with crusty bread. Add a green salad and a glass of wine and there's a dinner to celebrate any holiday or special event.