Sea cocktail - a set of seafood, which includes shrimp, mussels, squid, octopus, but other sea inhabitants can also be found, depending on the country in which this delicious product was produced. In Russian stores it is sold by weight or packed in 0.5 kg packages, and the housewives have the opportunity to pamper the family with this tasty, healthy and low-calorie dish.
Pick your recipe
Like all seafood, a sea cocktail is stored for a very short time at room temperature, as it is prone to putrefactive infections. Therefore, all its ingredients immediately after catch are subjected to deep express freezing, in which any bacteria die. It is important that during transportation and storage of the sea cocktail the necessary temperature conditions are strictly observed. At the same time, it is not allowed to thaw and re-freeze.
When buying a sea cocktail by weight or in packaging, be sure to ensure that the seafood is not frozen into lumps, and there is no ice in the packets - this is a sign that at least once the temperature regime has been violated, which is fraught with food poisoning.
Do not buy a sea cocktail in thawed form or in small shops and shops in which the necessary storage conditions were unlikely to be provided.
To prepare dishes from a sea cocktail, it is most often not thawed. In the case when it is boiled to make a seafood salad, the cocktail is simply thrown into boiling salted water for several minutes, and then thrown into a colander. If you want to fry it, put it in a frozen form on a frying pan with fried onions and cook, stirring constantly, until the released liquid evaporates. It is important not to heat the seafood for longer than the time it takes to cook it. A sea cocktail falls into the category of “dishes in 30 minutes”, since all its ingredients are mainly made up of protein.
To prepare two servings of traditional Italian cuisine - risotto - you will need:
- 500 g of sea cocktail;
- 1-2 cloves of garlic;
- ½ medium-sized onions;
- 200 g of hot fish stock;
- 800 g of dry white wine;
- 100 g of rice "Arborio";
- 3 tbsp. l olive oil;
- a mixture of peppers;
- some fresh chopped greens.
Chop the onion finely, just crush the garlic by pressing it on top with the flat side of the knife. Heat 2 tbsp in a pan. l olive oil and fry onions on it until golden brown, stirring constantly so that it does not burn. Put the garlic in the pan and fry it with the onion so that the contents of the pan acquire a characteristic smell. Remove the roasted garlic.
To prepare risotto, rice does not need to be washed or soaked beforehand. It must be dry.
Pour rice into the pan. Fry it with onions until the rice turns slightly yellow. Put chopped greens in a pan and pour the wine. Stir rice until the smell of alcohol evaporates. Then put frozen seafood and pour the soup ladle of hot fish stock into the pan.
Continue to cook the rice, stirring constantly and adding the broth as it is absorbed. How much to pour in the broth will depend on how much its rice absorbs. Therefore, the latter should be tried periodically. As soon as it is almost ready, add another ladle of broth, wait until it starts to boil, try the dish on salt and, if necessary, add salt. Pepper to taste. Turn off the heat under the pan, cover it with a lid and let stand for 10-15 minutes without fire. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan, mix everything and serve.