In cooking, seafood cocktail is often called seafood; it can be used to prepare a large number of healthy and tasty dishes. The ingredients of the seafood cocktail are mainly mussels, octopus, shrimp, shellfish and squid. Seafood is distinguished by its low calorie content, a huge palette of vitamins and minerals, and ease of preparation.
General information on seafood cocktail
The homeland of the sea cocktail is the countries of the east, mainly China and Japan. Most commonly, seafood cocktails are served with white or brown rice due to its neutral flavor, which does not overshadow the flavor of the seafood. Seafood is also paired with vegetables, cheese, and legumes. A good addition to a seafood cocktail is white wine or citrus juice. Lemon juice is commonly used as a condiment. Spices must be used very carefully so that they do not interrupt the delicate taste of seafood. Seafood cocktail is an environmentally friendly product. It contains no flavors, chemical additives, preservatives and dyes. This is very important in the modern world. Everyone knows very well that various chemicals and hormones are introduced into poultry, pork or beef meat.
How to choose a seafood cocktail
The seafood cocktail is sold in several versions: raw-frozen (it must be cooked) and boiled-frozen (you don't need to cook, just defrost it). Also on sale there are marinated cocktails or with the addition of various sauces that do not need to be cooked. When buying, pay attention to the packaging.
Seafood cocktail is a perishable product. Therefore, you should not risk buying it in markets or trading places that you do not trust. It is preferable to buy seafood frozen, so you will protect yourself from the danger of parasite infestation or buying stale goods. Most often, there is a seafood cocktail on sale, frozen by the "shock freezing" method. This method takes place by rapid cooling to a temperature of -40 degrees. At this temperature, all bacteria and parasites die, and seafood retains its useful substances, taste and shape as much as possible. The ingredients for the sea cocktail are in the package, cut and peeled, which simplifies the process of their preparation. They just need to be thawed and added according to the recipe to the prepared dish.
Useful properties of sea cocktail
In terms of its nutritional value, a seafood cocktail is much superior to the meat of other animals, and the absorption of seafood is much easier and faster. Seafood is low in calories and is considered a diet food. They include: a balanced set of trace elements (iodine, iron, phosphorus, zinc); a large amount of vitamins (A, E, D, C); polyunsaturated acids; and the amino acid taurine, which regulates blood sugar and blood pressure. Also, seafood increases the tone of the body and is an aphrodisiac.
The main composition of the sea cocktail and the features of its preparation
The seafood cocktail is based on four ingredients: octopus, squid, mussels and shrimp. Sometimes producers add scallops, crab meat, sea cucumbers, sole and cuttlefish to them. But all components are selected so that the cooking time for all components is the same. The cooking time for seafood is 5-7 minutes after boiling water in a saucepan. Important! There is no need to defrost the seafood cocktail before cooking! Otherwise, porridge will turn out and the appearance of the ingredients will be spoiled.
Classic seafood cocktail rice recipe
Ingredients:
- 500 g seafood cocktail
- 1 glass of rice
- 2 onions
- 1 carrot
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tomato or 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt, pepper to taste
- lemon juice
Step by step cooking:
- Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water. It is advisable to take long-grain rice or basmati varieties.
- Defrost seafood, rinse well. Rinse mussels especially thoroughly, they often get sand.
- Cook the rice in salted water until tender, add butter and stir.
- Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan, heat it up, put a seafood cocktail in it, salt and pepper.
- Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates completely. Sprinkle with lemon juice at the end of cooking.
- Peel carrots, onions and garlic, wash and sauté in a preheated skillet with oil. Season with salt, add tomato paste or finely chopped tomato, simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
- Combine seafood cocktail with rice and vegetables, mix thoroughly. Leave to stand under the lid for 5-10 minutes.
Serve hot with seafood shake, sprinkle with chopped herbs.
Spanish paella with sea cocktail
Ingredients:
- 500 g seafood cocktail
- 200 g of round rice
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 bell pepper
- 10 g ground paprika
- 0.5 teaspoon saffron
- pinch of turmeric
- a pinch of chili
- 50 g green peas (frozen)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- fish broth or water
- quarter lemon
Step by step cooking:
- Defrost seafood and drain. Pour saffron with a glass of boiling water and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet and fry the seafood for 2-3 minutes over high heat. Put the seafood cocktail in another bowl.
- Peel the onion, wash and chop finely. Spread the onions in a skillet until translucent.
- Rinse the rice well, add to the pan to the onion. Fry the rice with the onion, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Pour hot water and saffron water into the rice. The water should cover the rice by 1 cm.
- Reduce heat on stove and cook for about 20 minutes without stirring.
- Wash the tomatoes, chop finely and add to the rice. Place thawed peas, finely chopped bell peppers and spices into the paella.
- When the rice is done, top with the seafood and the sliced lemon wedges. Cover and let the paella sit for 5 minutes.
Served hot paella with white wine.
Rice and seafood salad
Ingredients:
- 100 g rice
- 400 g seafood cocktail
- 1 can canned corn
- 1 red onion
- 4 eggs
- 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons balsamic or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or homemade mayonnaise
Step by step cooking:
- Rinse the rice well and boil. Boil the frozen seafood cocktail in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Drain the water, let the seafood cool.
- Boil eggs, cut into cubes.
- Finely chop the onion, add a little salt and apple cider vinegar, mash with your hands until juice appears.
- Mix boiled rice with seafood cocktail, eggs, onions and corn.
- Combine olive oil with balsamic or apple cider vinegar and soy sauce. Season the salad and stir.
You can fill the salad with homemade or store-bought mayonnaise. No olive oil is then added.
Soup with rice, seafood and tomatoes
- 250 g seafood cocktail
- 4 tablespoons rice
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 onions
- 1 carrot
- bunch of celery
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp. l. olive oil
- 2 glasses of water
- salt, black pepper to taste
- pinch of sugar
Step by step cooking:
- Wash and peel onions and carrots. Finely chop the onion into cubes, grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the vegetables for 8-10 minutes. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, then put them in a bowl with cold water and peel them off.
- Wash and dry the celery greens.
- Chop two tomatoes and half a bunch of celery and add to the stew in a skillet with onions and carrots. Saute the vegetables, stirring for another 5 minutes.
- Beat the vegetables in a blender until smooth.
- Pour 2 cups water into a saucepan, add vegetable puree and bring to a boil.
- Fry the pre-washed rice in a skillet with heated oil for 3-5 minutes. Pour the wine, add a pinch of sugar and simmer, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes.
- Transfer the rice to a pot of soup and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Rinse the seafood cocktail well and add to the soup.
- Chop the remaining two tomatoes, finely chop the garlic and celery. Add prepared tomatoes, garlic and celery to the soup, boil for 5 minutes.
Serve the soup hot with croutons fried in olive oil.
