THESE FISHBALLS ARE GATHERING STEAM

 

Chinese bamboo steamer in my Spanish kitchen.

Look what I’ve got! A Chinese bamboo steamer, inherited from a friend. I’ve never used one before. Steaming foods is not a thing in Spanish cooking. 

Searching for ideas, I pulled out the only Chinese cookbook in my collection, The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook by Gloria Bley Miller (Grosset & Dunlap; 1970). Besides a useful how-to section, I found lots of recipes for steamed food. One of them sort of clicked, because it sounded so Spanish—steamed fishballs. The recipe calls for Sherry, but no soy sauce. With only a few adaptations, I turned it into a Spanish dish worthy of any tapa bar. 

Steaming makes very moist and delicate fishballs, so it’s a perfect technique for lean and flaky white fish such as sole or hake. I used (fresh) cod (which comes to Spain by air from Norway). The fish is not minced, but hand-cut into thin, short strips, so the balls have texture. I’ve added shrimp to both the fishballs and the sauce. 

Fish balls on two tiers cook over simmering water in a covered bamboo steamer.

Steamed fishballs, ready for plating. They are made with cod and shrimp, Sherry, mushrooms, serrano ham, red bell pepper, parsley.

Fishballs are served with sauce of shrimp stock and sherry with a few shrimp.

Steamed spinach goes nicely with the sherried fishballs.

A three- or four-tiered steamer, of bamboo or stainless steel, is perfect for cooking several foods at one time. If you don’t have a steamer, improvise with a heatproof colander or a shallow bowl set on top of an inverted cup in the bottom of a lidded pot. If using a bamboo steamer, to prevent foods from sticking to the slats, line the steamer baskets with leaves, such as cabbage, lettuce or grape, or cut a disk of baking parchment and poke holes in it for steam to pass through. 

Use a pan/skillet/wok wide enough to set the steamer in. Add water to the pan so it just comes up to the bottom rim of the steamer. Don’t let water into the basket where foods are placed. Bring the water to a full boil, turn heat down to a simmer, place the steamer with lid in the water, and allow the food to steam. The fishballs need 8 to 10 minutes. You may have to remove the lid and take one out to test it. For longer steaming, replenish with hot water so the pan never cooks dry. 

Steamer for vegetables too.

A steamer, of course, is great for simply steaming vegetables. I cooked a bunch of fresh spinach in it to go with the fishballs. If foods to be steamed include marinades, sauce ingredients, oil, place them in a shallow bowl and set the bowl in the steamer. 

The recipe for fishballs in the Chinese cookbook calls for dried black mushrooms, smoked ham, bamboo shoots, Chinese cabbage and ginger root. I have substituted dried níscalos (Lactarius deliciosus), serrano ham, red bell pepper and chopped parsley. I used olive oil to make the shrimp stock, adding a decidedly Spanish touch to the fishballs.

Steamed Fish and Shrimp Balls with Sherry Sauce

Albóndigas de Pescado y Gambas al Vapor, con Salsa al Jerez 

Sherry, Spanish ham to flavor fishballs.

Makes about 22 (1 ½-inch) balls

For the shrimp stock:

8 ounces small whole shrimp

Fish bones and trimmings (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 slice onion

1 clove garlic

4 cups water

½ teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

For the fish balls:

¼ cup dried mushrooms

1 pound skinless cod fillet

1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon dry Sherry

1 egg white

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped red bell pepper

¼ cup chopped serrano ham

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Leaves or baking parchment to line steamer

For the sauce:

1 cup shrimp stock

3 tablespoons dry Sherry

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

Shrimp

Chopped parsley 

Use shrimp heads, shells for stock.

For the shrimp stock:

Shell the shrimp, saving the heads and shells. Refrigerate the shelled shrimp. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the heads and shells, the slice of onion and the clove of garlic, lightly crushed. Fry the shells for 2 minutes. Add the water, salt and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, simmer 20 minutes, until liquid is reduced by half. Strain the stock and reserve it. Discard the solids. (Only 1 cup of the shrimp stock is needed for the sauce. Save the remainder for another use.)

Make the fish balls. 

Cover the dried mushrooms with hot water. Soak them for 10 minutes (or according to directions on the package). Drain the mushrooms (the water can be added to the shrimp stock). Chop them finely.

Cut fish in slivers; chop shrimp.

Slice the cod very thinly, then chop or sliver it. Set aside some of the shrimp to use in the sauce. Chop the remaining shrimp. In a mixing bowl, combine the cornstarch, Sherry and egg white. Add the cod and shrimp and stir to mix well. Add the parsley, mushrooms, red pepper, ham, salt and pepper. Combine well. 

Line bamboo steamer baskets with strips of cabbage leaves or a circle of parchment paper. (If using the parchment, poke holes in it with a skewer so steam can rise.) 

Form balls by hand.

The fish mixture will be quite squishy. Make walnut-sized balls of it by pressing in the palm of the hand. Place them in the steamer baskets about an inch apart. Stack two or more tiers, as necessary. Add enough water to the large pan or wok to come up to the bottom rim of the steamer basket. Place on high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat so the water simmers. Place the steamer in the pan of water and cover the steamer with the lid.

Steam the fishballs until they are firm, 8 to 10 minutes. (Remove the lid and take out a fishball to test it for doneness.) Remove the steamer from the heat. Remove the lid to release the steam. Using protective gloves, lift the steamer out of the pan of hot water. 

Steamer basket is lined with baking parchment that has been perforated so steam can rise. The other basket is lined with pieces of cabbage leaves. 

For the sauce: 

Heat the shrimp stock with the Sherry until the alcohol has cooked off, 2 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water. Whisk the cornstarch into the shrimp stock and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add the reserved shrimp. Stir in the reserved chopped parsley.

Serve the fish balls with the Sherry sauce. 

Fishballs with Sherry/shrimp sauce.

Here are some more sauces that would complement the steamed fishballs: 

Sour Orange Sauce.

Green Chile Sauce (Mojo Verde).

Garlic Mayonnaise (Alioli).

Ham and Mushroom Sauce.

Caper Dressing for Fish.

Olive Sauce.

Tartare Sauce with Seaweed.

Not Spanish, not Chinese, I'm going to slather those leftover fishballs with some creamy horseradish sauce. 

Another recipe for steamed fish: Hake Steamed with Seaweed.

BEST SEAFOOD ON THE COSTA

 I rarely post about restaurant meals. That´s because I don´t eat out very often. Over the years, my eating-out gang has pretty much dispersed. Besides, I don´t like paying for just ordinary food that I could probably prepare at home for half the cost. Although I enjoy dining out at Indian, Japanese, Middle Eastern or other restaurants—and, believe me, there are plenty of restaurants in my area—I stick to mostly Spanish food for the blog posts.

This week, my friend Lars Kronmark, a chef-instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone (St. Helena, California) was visiting. Although he´s been to the Costa del Sol many times before, he had never eaten at the restaurant with the best seafood on the Málaga coast, Los Marinos José in Carvajal-Fuengirola. Chef Lars recently did a workshop on seafood, so he was keen to sample Málaga techniques.

Display of fresh seafood. In the front are turbot.

What´s amazing about Los Marinos is that the kitchen doesn´t use any radical techniques or avant-garde creations. Málaga is justly famous for its fried fish, seafood grilled on a plancha and fish baked in salt. What distinguishes Los Marinos José is the absolute obsessive dedication to product—the best and freshest fish and shellfish sourced directly from fishing vessels. The menu changes daily. The variety is astonishing. On the day we lunched at Los Marinos, there were ten different big fish listed on the menu.

Los Marinos José began as a chiringuito, a beach shack, serving local fish and shellfish. (There is nearby a Los Marinos Paco, run by another branch of the family.) A number of years ago it moved across the street to a brick and mortar restaurant with a terrace facing the sea. While you would never turn up for lunch in a bathing suit, as you can on the beach, still it´s relaxed and casual dining.

Cigalas are sea crayfish also known as scampi, Dublin Bay prawn or Norway lobster.

These are a delicacy--huevas de calamar, the roe from squid. 

Does this borriquete (a kind of bream) have our name on it?

Even the tomatoes are of highest quality. These are served chopped with tuna belly for the only salad on the day's menu. Fried artichokes was the only "vegetable" offered. The day we lunched at Los Marinos, there was no meat on the menu.

Carabineros are Jumbo shrimp.

Los Marinos was where, years ago, I first tried carabineros, enormous bright red, shrimp. Grilled in their shells over coals, they were messy to peel and extract, but exquisite in flavor. Carabineros are still on the menu at Los Marinos—priced at €14 per 100 grams (almost $16 for 3 ½ ounces). Three of them at lunch would have cost us more than €60. Los Marinos is expensive, but worth it. 

There were three of us at table. We began with five shared starters and a main dish of a whole borriquete, a kind of sea bream. 

Concha fina clam, served raw.

A Málaga specialty—conchas finas also called “bolos” (venus-shell clam). They are served raw on the half-shell with only lemon to accompany. Sweet and chewy, filled with essence of sea. 

Croquettes with a filling of shrimp and octopus. Piping hot, these were crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside.

Morsels of squid roe, lightly floured and fried. Like a puff of sea-flavored cloud.

Gambas de cristal or "glass" shrimp.

Two dishes served at the same time, small white “glass” shrimp (gambas de cristal) and small squid grilled on a plancha. The glass shrimp (Pasiphaea sivado, a deep-sea species, not the same as the freshwater glass shrimp sometimes used in acquariums) were dusted with flour and crisply fried. The whole shrimp is edible—head and shells give a slight crunch. Very sweet. 

Barely coated in flour, the glass shrimp can be eaten with shells and heads.

Perfectly-grilled squid were tender but al dente, with a slight resistance.

Fish in parts-- filleted chunks are heaped on the fried skeleton with the whole head on the side. (Photo by Ben Searl.)

The platter of bream included the fish spine, fried shatteringly crisp; the head with nuggets of flesh in the neck and cheeks, and chunks of fillets, lightly floured and fried. A mayonnaise with smoked pimentón was the accompanying sauce. Borriquete (my favorite fish guide, The Tio Pepe Guide to the Seafood of Spain & Portugal, by Alan Davidson, gives the English name as “rubber-lip grunt”) is not one of the more esteemed bream, such as dorada (gilt-head). But, treated with expertise in the kitchen, it is terrific. 

“Mayonnaise” at Los Marinos is confected by pressing head and gills of a grilled fish to extract all the juices, then whisking them with extra virgin olive oil. The natural gelatins in the fish emusify the oil. That´s it. No salt or lemon juice is added.

And, there in front of us, on a glorious day in February, was the beach and the blue Mediterranean. What a treat. 

Los Marinos José is in Fuengirola (Málaga). See the web site for contact information. http://www.losmarinosjose.com/

More seaside meals:

Fish Baked in Salt.

Borriquete and Clams, Fishermen´s Style.

Lunch at a Chiringuito.

Seaside Lunch.

Los Marinos.

 

SALMON, FOR EVERYDAY AND HOLIDAY

 

Salmon fillets on a bed of leeks and potatoes with crisp frizzled leeks. Special enough for a holiday meal.

Many years ago, I was thrilled when fresh salmon began appearing in markets in Spain. I had learned to love salmon while visiting family and friends in Seattle. Although in my Mediterranean markets I had an incredible array of fresh seafood, I didn’t have salmon.

The salmon shipped to Spain was—and is—farmed Atlantic salmon from Norway. (Where I shop, the label says it is sustainably farmed in Norwegian fjords without the use of antibiotics.) But I gradually became disenchanted with it--it just didn’t compare to the wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest and I stopped buying it. (Some wild salmon are still found in Asturias and Cantabria, northern Spain, but their numbers are diminishing.) 

Now that the price of fresh seafood in Spain has skyrocketed (even more so in the lead-up to Christmas feasting), I find that farmed salmon is a super bargain (€7.50 per kilo, or about $4.15 per pound). I buy a whole fish and have it filleted. Some of it I prepare fresh; some I freeze. Some I poach to use in fish cakes. 

I cook the salmon simply—oven-roasting a whole, thick fillet or pan-grilling individual portions—then I add a sauce—mayo-Dijon-dill-caper being my everyday one. Now that I am eating salmon more frequently, I’m searching for some different ways to showcase it, maybe special enough for holiday meals.

Today, I was inspired by a simple Basque recipe for leek and potato soup, porrusalda, to which bacalao, salt cod, is sometimes added. I turned the leeks and potatoes into a combination side dish/sauce for the salmon. 

A Basque Txakoli would be a good wine with the salmon. If not available, a Galician Albariño. 

Plate the vegetables and salmon with just a little of the pan juices.

Alternate way to prepare the dish: cut salmon in bite-size chunks and cook it with the leeks and potatoes.  Ladle into shallow bowls with lots of the savory juices. 

Serve the soupy version of the leeks, potatoes and salmon with a crisp-fried tangle of sea spaghetti. It makes a crunchy contrast. 

Salmon with Leeks and Potatoes

Salmón con Porrusalda

Individual portions of salmon can be pan-grilled and served atop the mélange of leeks and potatoes or, alternatively, cut into bite-sized chunks and cooked right in with the vegetable mixture.

Crispy fried leeks or fried sea spaghetti (seaweed) as a garnish add contrast in texture. 

Serves 4

4 (5-ounce) salmon fillets

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound leeks (3-4 without tops)

¼ cup olive oil + additional to cook salmon

1 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup diced carrots

20 ounces potatoes, cut in pieces

¼ cup white wine

2 cups chicken or fish stock or water

Pinch of thyme

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

Frizzled leeks or fried sea spaghetti, to garnish

Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper and allow it to come to room temperature.

Discard green tops from the leeks. Wash the leeks well. (If making the frizzled leeks, cut 2 (2-inch) pieces of leeks and reserve them.) Slice the leeks crosswise into ¾-inch pieces.

Simmer leeks and potatoes in wine and stock.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic on moderate heat, 5 minutes. Do not let them brown. Add the sliced leeks and sauté 5 minutes more. Add the potatoes and carrots and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the wine. Let the alcohol bubble off. Add the stock or water, pinch of thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, covered, until potatoes are very tender, 20 minutes. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy skillet. Brown the salmon fillets on both sides. Cook the salmon until it just flakes. (Alternatively, salmon can be cut into bite-size pieces and added to the leeks and potatoes.)

Stir the parsley into the leeks and potatoes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them onto dinner plates. Place a salmon fillet on top of each and garnish with frizzled leeks or fried seaweed. (Alternatively, ladle the leeks, potatoes and bites of salmon into soup bowls.)

For the frizzled leeks:

Slice leeks into matchsticks.

Fry leeks until golden.

Crisp frizzled leeks.

   Cut the white part of a leek crosswise into 2-inch segments. Cut them in half lengthwise. Slice into thin threads. Fry the shredded leeks in ½ inch of hot olive oil until they are golden-brown. Remove with a skimmer and drain on absorbent paper. Sprinkle the fried leeks with salt. The leeks are best prepared shortly before serving, as they do not keep their crispness well.

Dried sea spaghetti, a kind of seaweed.

For the fried sea spaghetti. Soak the seaweed in water for 15 minutes to re-hydrate. Drain well and pat dry. Toss the strands with flour and shake off the excess. Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Fry the seaweed, in batches if necessary, until crisp and golden. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Fried seaweed stays crisp several days.

Sea spaghetti has been floured and fried in olive oil. 

Classic Basque leek and potato soup recipe: Porrusalda.

More recipes with seaweed here.

More salmon recipes:

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes.

Salmon with Spicy Lentils.

Louisiana Seafood Feast

We promised Lucas, my 10-year-old grandson, who loves shellfish, that we'd go for a crawfish feast while visiting near New Orleans. But, at Crabby Shack in Madisonville, LA, near the Tchefuncte River, we found out that the season for crawfish was over (March to mid-June). So we had to settle for big Gulf shrimp.  

 

Hands on! About 3 pounds of shrimp, cooked with "crab boil," a flavor mix with mustard seed, coriander seed, cayenne, bay leaves, dill seed and allspice. With cocktail sauce with horseradish and tartar sauce in squeeze bottles, the shrimp were appetizers for about 10 people. To cook shrimp, crawfish or crab, bring a pot of water to a boil with salt, lemon quarters and the mixed spices. Boil shrimp 1 minute and allow to remain in the water for 15 minutes. Drain before serving.



 

Lucas gets a lesson from Eli, his mom, on how to peel the shrimp. He loved them. (Oh yes, he wore his Barcelona soccer uniform everywhere.)

 

Some other dishes from dinner at Crabby Shack.

Blackened catfish with a side of beans. Blackened fish, a Cajun recipe, was popularized by Chef Paul Prudhomme.  Fish fillets are dipped in melted butter, then coated with a spice mixture of paprika, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, ground pepper, thyme and oregano and salt and cooked in a cast-iron skillet heated white-hot.

Strips of catfish fillets fried with a crunchy coating. Pass the tartar sauce!

A po-boy sandwich of fried soft-shell crabs.

Shrimp filé gumbo, a thick soup, served with rice. Filé powder is an unusual seasoning, made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American sassafras tree. The gumbo also contains a big dose of cayenne.

Fried pickles. Yep, slices of dill pickle, coated in batter and deep fried.

In the Crabby Shack kitchen, putting together a Po-Boy.

Po-boy with catfish. "Dressed?" the waiter asks. It comes with lettuce, tomato and mayo.

Seafood chowder.

After the shrimp boil--debris.

We're going back to Crabby Shack in a few days. Shall I try the frogs legs? Then, back to my kitchen in Spain! I'll be packing some Crab Boil spices so I can cook Spanish shrimp in New Orleans style.