Seafood Special

Recently, we moved to our house in Los Baños, Laguna. We are lucky enough to be living near the public market. So buying fresh ingredients will not be a problem. Early this morning, we decided to buy some seafood and chicken. For lunch we had Sinigang na Bangus, a Filipino recipe, a soup, which uses milkfish "bangus" as the main ingredient. I used radish "labanos", "kangkong", wedged tomatoes "kamatis" and onions "sibuyas", and of course, Sinigang Mix powder. May in-laws came to visit us and I'm actually proud to serve them my Sinigang. Sorry to say that I'm not going to go into details with Sinigang this time because today's highlight is the "Seafood Special" I served for dinner.

Ingredients:

Oil

Onion

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Seasoning mix

Egg

Flour

Oyster sauce

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Baguio beans

Young corn

Shrimp

Squid

Procedure:

Prepare the vegetables. I used broccoli, cauliflower, Baguio beans, young corn, and of course, onion and garlic. You may add any vegetables you like, or maybe button mushrooms? Chop onion and garlic. Slice the other vegetables into bite size pieces. Rinse with water and then set aside.

Prepare the squid. Peel off the skin, gently take off the head and then squeeze the mouth out. Sometimes, the ink sac is attached to the head or left inside the body. Regardless, take it off. Don't be surprised if your hands turn into black. That only means that you burst the sac. Just rinse it with water and your good to go. Check also if there are leftover food inside the body (fish, squid). Take it out and dispose, if any. Slice the body into one inch thick. If the squid is small, leave the head as it is. If it's big, you may want to cut it into half, whatever suits you. Put them on paper towels to drain excess water.

Prepare the shrimp. Rinse the shrimp with tap water. Take off the head, peel off the skin and tail and then set aside (this will be used later). Put the shrimp on paper towels to drain excess water. 

Make a Shrimp Broth. Put the shrimp head and tail into a small pot with water. Add a little salt and bring to boil.

Get two small bowls and one plate. Beat the egg(s) in the first bowl (wet bowl). Pour flour and a little seasoning mix on the second (dry bowl). Drop the seafood batch by batch into the wet bowl. One by one, transfer the seafood to the dry bowl and make sure to cover each side with flour. Then put each piece on the plate. In a deep pan, put lots of oil. Make sure the oil is already hot  and then deep fry the seafood.  Do not overcrowd them. Once brown, transfer them into a strainer and set aside.

Saute chopped onion and garlic. Add the vegetables and stir fry. Add the shrimp broth made earlier (which is more flavorful than water). Simmer. When the vegetables is half-cooked, add the fried seafood and stir. Add salt, pepper, seasoning mix, and two to three tablespoons of oyster sauce and stir. Add more if needed. Cover and simmer for a few minutes.

You need to taste test. If it comes out too salty, just add a little shrimp broth. If it lacks saltiness, add more oyster sauce and maybe salt. If you want the sauce to be thick, dissolve cornstarch in the shrimp broth or water, pour in, and stir.

Note: If you want it spicy, chop chilies and saute it together with onion and garlic.

Last but not the least, ENJOY THIS DELICACY :-D

Note: Thanks to my husband Edward for taking some of the photos (and for washing the dishes).

xoxo,