Recipe: Crispy Whole Fish with Chili and Cilantro Sauce

whole_fish
Image: Almost Bourdain

Ever tried looking your food right in the eye?

In the United States, fish is generally prepared so that you don’t see any semblance of the original animal. No bones, no skin, no fins and certainly no head. But while this may be better for the squeamish, there’s no substitute for the flavor of a fresh, whole fish, with all of its juices, collagens and fats.

In China, fish is a popular dish to serve around the lunar New Year because in Chinese, fish is a homophone for surplus. So, eating fish is a means of assuring abundance for the coming year. The fish should also be served whole, not sliced or chopped up, because whole animals are thought to be symbolic of completeness and family togetherness. In fact, using any cleavers or knives is frowned upon, as you may be hacking away at your family’s good fortune!

Superstitions aside, we find that eating whole fish is perfect any time of the year. The following recipe makes a crispy fried fish, topped with cilantro and julienned carrots. With bold flavors and attractive colors, it is sure to be a hit at your dinner party.

Crispy Whole Fish with Chili and Coriander Sauce
Adapted from Almost Bourdain

Serves 4

1 whole fish, white-fleshed, approx. 2-3 lbs
1 T minced garlic
1/2 T minced ginger
2 red Thai chilis, mincd
2 scallions, chopped
1 T rice wine
4 T soy sauce
1 T fish sauce
3 T sugar
3 T rice vinegar
1/2 t white pepper
1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
Oil for deep frying

Pat the fish dry with paper towels. Make a few slits on both sides and season the fish with sea salt. Fill a wok with oil deep enough to submerge your fish and heat to 350 F. Deep-fry the fish until golden brown and cooked. Remove from the wok and drain on paper towels.

Add 1 T of oil to a sauté pan on medium heat. Brown the garlic, ginger, chili and scallions until fragrant. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar and white pepper. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat.

Place the fish on the serving plate. Scatter half of the cilantro and shredded carrots over the fish. Pour the sauce over the fish, and put the remaining half of the cilantro and carrots on top. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

January 17, 2012 – 9:05 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Fish, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Oyster Lovers Meetup at Saxon and Parole

saxon

We’re excited to announce the first NY Oyster Lovers Meetup of the year! We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, January 31st at 6:30 pm at Saxon+Parole, located in Noho at 316 Bowery (and Bleecker). After winning much acclaim for his work at Public, Chef Brad Farmerie now showcases his love for grilled meats and aquatic delights, in what the NYT calls “gutsy, all-American fare.” For us, he has created an exciting tasting menu, featuring oysters grilled, roasted and emulsified. There’s even a drink with a raw Kumamoto oyster! Check out the menu below:

Bloody Maria with a raw Kumamoto oyster

Grilled Blue Point oysters with Aleppo butter

Salad of baby romaine, sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, orange, and Effingham oyster Caesar dressing

Roasted boudin noir with oyster dressing and watercress

Pan seared cod, Bok Choy and oyster chowder

Dessert canapés

The cost for this dinner, before tax and tip, will be $75. Each person must sign up through Meetup; no +1s allowed. Payments for the dinner will be collected on-site that evening by the restaurant. If you order additional drinks or food a la carte, please settle those tabs with the server on your own.

To sign up, visit: http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Oyster-Lovers/events/48300032/

Hope to see you at Saxon+Parole!

January 16, 2012 – 1:50 pm | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Events | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Recipe: Hoe See Fat Choy (Dried Oysters with Hair Seaweed)

ho_see_fat_choy

Image: Hunger Hunger

You can dry oysters? Of course! Dried oysters and scallops are common in China, where they are used to add a flavor punch to soups, sauces and other dishes. They can be rehydrated, stir fried, braised, ground up and more. At this time of the year, near Chinese New Year, dried oysters are considered one of the most auspicious foods you can eat. In Chinese, they sound like the phrase for “happy events” (hoe see), so eating them is said to bring good tidings for the future.

One of the most popular Chinese New Year’s dishes is Hoe See Fat Choy. In this traditional dish, dried oysters are braised and then covered with a black moss known as hair seaweed. The name of the dish is a homophone for “happy events and prosperity,” and it’s also similar to Gong Hei Fat Choy, the traditional New Year’s greeting. It doesn’t hurt that the dish is pretty tasty too.

In New York’s Chinatown at this time of the year, many retailers will have large bins of dried oysters on display, carefully graded by size and origin. One of the best places to pick up dried ingredients is Kam Man Food Products at 200 Canal St. Or, check out Po Wing Ho Food Market at49 Elizabeth Street, a specialty dried goods store. Look for relatively plump, unbroken dried oysters for the best results.

Hoe See Fat Choy (Dried Oysters with Hair Seaweed)
Adapted from Hungry Hungry

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

12 dried oysters, soaked for 2 hours
1 t vegetable oil
2 slices of fresh ginger
1½ t soy sauce, divided
8 oz ground pork (can substitute minced shrimp or fish paste)
½ cup dried black moss (fatt choi), soaked and rinsed until grit-free
Red chili or bell pepper strips
1 T oyster sauce
½ t salt, or more to taste

1 t sesame oil
½ t sugar (optional)
½ T cornstarch + 3/4 cup chicken stock
Lettuce leaves for plating

Clean the dried oysters by soaking them in water. Pour out any sediment at the bottom and pat dry. Add 1 t vegetable oil to a frying pan or wok, and stir fry the oysters, ginger and 1/2 t soy sauce for about 3 minutes over medium heat, until the oysters are dry. Remove from heat to cool.

Wrap each oyster with ground pork, then wrap the fatt choi around the meat-covered oyster. Add a strip of red chili or pepper underneath the fatt choi for color. Put oysters on a greased steaming plate or in a steamer basket, and steam 15 minutes.

Put the oyster sauce, remaining 1 t soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar into a small saucepan and heat. Add the cornstarch and chicken broth mixture, stirring well, until the sauce turns clear and shiny. If too thick or thin, add more stock or cornstarch solution. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Arrange lettuce leaves on the serving plate, and place the oysters on top. The oysters can be served with each one wrapped by a lettuce leaf. Pour the sauce over the oysters and serve immediately.

January 13, 2012 – 9:25 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Recipes, oysters | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Guide to an Auspicious and Delicious Lunar New Year

cny_food

You may be recuperating from the madness of the December holidays, but in many parts of East Asia, the party is just getting started. Lunar New Year is approaching, and it’s the most important of the traditional Asian holidays. This is a festival that lasts for two weeks after the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar, and this year, it begins on January 23rd.

Here at W&T Seafood, the lunar New Year is a pretty important holiday for us. It’s a time for celebration, reflection and togetherness, and of course, lots and lots of food. Though brightly colored dragon dances and popping firecrackers may receive the most attention, the real heart of the festivities is decadent feasting. But you can’t just eat any food; there are particular foods that should be eaten to maximize your fortunes in the New Year. These foods are sometimes dictated by appearance. For instance, long noodles are eaten to represent long life, and whole (not chopped) fish and chicken is served to symbolize completeness and togetherness. Dumplings are fried to a golden brown to resemble gold ingots.

Most often though, foods are eaten because of the way they sound in Chinese. They are homophones for auspicious words like prosperity and wealth, so that you are surrounding yourself with good luck from the inside and out! Tangerines and oranges sound similar to the words for gold and wealth, while lotus roots sound like the phrase “abundance year after year.” Fish is popular because it is a homophone for “surplus,” and raw fish salad is served because it means “growing surplus.” Meanwhile, lettuce sounds like the phrase “growing wealth.” Finally, our favorite dish is Hoe See Fat Choy, or dried oysters with hair seaweed, meaning “happy events and prosperity.” This is a close variant on the traditional New Year’s greeting Gong Hei Fat Choy, which means “wishing you prosperity.”

In subsequent posts, we’ll go over some traditional Chinese New Year’s dishes, including whole fish, abalone and dried oysters. If you have a favorite food to share, leave it in a comment below!

January 11, 2012 – 10:03 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

An Oyster in Paris: France’s Holiday Love Affair with the Half-Shell

cancal_oysters

Oysters are certainly experiencing a revival in the U.S., but for a culture that means Serious Business about its oysters, look no further than France. After all, they are Europe’s number one grower, exporter and consumer of oysters, indulging in 4.5 lbs per capita, compared to a miniscule quarter pound for the average American. In addition, France is home to the Belon River, the namesake of the illustrious Belon oyster, or European Flat.

At this time of the year, France overflows with street side oyster stands, teeming with baskets of oysters, each carefully sorted by size. Oystermen from the Atlantic Coast pack their harvest and drive to Paris, where the city’s hunger for oysters knows no bounds. An astounding 50% of France’s oyster consumption takes place between Christmas and New Year’s. This is in part due to the season (oysters are at their peak flavor when the water gets cold and they begin storing glycogen), and partly due to their association with holiday feasts. In France, no New Year’s celebration would be complete without oysters, slurped from their shells with a glass of crisp white wine.

In Brittany, the oyster trail runs even thicker. This is the heart of France’s oyster country and Cancale is the so-called “oyster capital.” It is said that King Louis XIV had fresh oysters delivered from Cancale to Versailles every day. Unfortunately, the native Brittany oyster has mostly died off, a victim of disease, harsh winters and human gluttony. To replace it, Pacific oyster larva was brought from Japan to France in the 1980s. Today, 95% of farmed oysters are Pacific oysters, and the rare Belon oysters are three times more expensive than their hardier counterparts.

It may be nearly impossible for you to eat a Brittany-grown Belon in the U.S. (95% of French oysters are consumed domestically), but there is an alternative—Belons grown in Maine. Back in the 1950s, scientists transplanted Ostrea edulis seed to Boothbay Harbor in Maine. The seed happily transplanted itself into the Damariscotta River and went wild, resulting in oysters that pack a powerful punch of sea and mineral. This adventurous flavor profile certainly befits the oyster’s far-flung travels.

To try a Belon for yourself, give our sales staff a call today.

January 5, 2012 – 10:07 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in oysters | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Aw, Shucks: Join Us for a Hands-On Oyster Primer at Astor Center!

Want to learn how to shuck an oyster from the pros? Scratching your head over how you can pair oysters with wine or cook with them? You’re in luck! W&T Seafood is proud to present “Aw Shucks: A Hands-On Oyster Primer.” We’ll be exploring the influence of terroir on oysters, giving you the tools you need to understand and describe an oyster’s flavor and texture. Wine pairings will be presented with the oysters, so you can taste the way wine complements these briny beauties. We’ll walk through a few classic culinary applications for oysters, such as oysters Rockefeller and oyster stew. And of course, we’ll teach you the proper technique for shucking an oyster, so that you can dazzle guests with a raw bar at your next party. This class is a fabulous way to meet and learn with other ostreaphiles, and boost your appreciation for these marvelously complex bivalves!

The classes will take place at the Astor Center (399 Lafayette St., at E. 4th St.) on Monday, Jan. 16th and Feb. 13th at 6:30 pm. To sign up for a session, visit: http://www.astorcenternyc.com/class-aw-shucks-a-hands-on-oyster-primer.ac

Bring your questions and see you there!

January 4, 2012 – 10:01 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Classes, oysters | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Last Call: Barnstable Oyster will stop harvesting on Jan 15th!


Image: Barnstable Oyster

It’s been a fantastically briny ride, but all good things must come to an end. We’ve received word from our friends at Barnstable Oyster that they will stop harvesting oysters after January 15th. (Something about dangerously icy conditions in the creeks near Cape Cod…imagine that.) On the other hand, one perk of the colder water is that the oysters are storing up glycogen (sugar) for the winter, which means these oysters have an incredible peachy sweet flavor. They’re in peak condition now, so call your sales rep and order extra Barnstables while you can. We’ll keep you posted when they start up operations again in spring!

December 29, 2011 – 9:20 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in oysters | Tagged , | Comments (0)

New Amsterdam Market: A Gathering of Fisheries

img_5873

Established in 1822, the Fulton Fish Market was the grand dame of New York City’s freewheeling wholesale markets, an undeniably colorful fixture in lower Manhattan. On these chaotic, rough and tumble docks, ships from as far as Maine and North Carolina unloaded their goods in the wee hours of the morning. By 1924, the market was selling 384 million pounds of seafood a year, or 25% of all seafood sold in the U.S. Then in 2005, the market was moved to Hunts Point, a retail facility in the Bronx. This left a chasm in the South Seaport community, which lost a historic focal point and a hub of economic activity.

img_5896

After the original market was shuttered, Robert LaValva held on to his vision of a year-round market at the old Fulton Fish Market location. He hoped to revive the East River Market District as a vibrant public destination for New Yorkers and visitors. In 2005, he launched the New Amsterdam Market, a Sunday gathering of independent and artisanal vendors near the South Street Seaport, a stone’s throw from the Brooklyn Bridge. Butchers, bakers and jam makers began making regular appearances. Then for the 50th and final market of the year, LaValva invited purveyors of local and sustainable seafood to return to Fulton Street, bringing the taste of the sea back to these weathered cobblestones.

img_5870

So, on a nippy December morning, we trekked across the bridge to the New Amsterdam Market for “A Gathering of Fisheries.” In our carefully packed boxes, we had all manner of mussels, clams, netting, shucking knives, trays and napkins. Of course, we also had oysters, one for every palate. Briny Montauk Pearls from Long Island, overflowing with liquor. Thin, crunchy European Flats from the Damariscotta River in Maine, an intense mouthful of sea and mineral. And my personal favorite, Barnstables from Cape Cod, pearly pink beauties with a perfect salty-sweet balance. We had loose oysters in net bags, ready to be toted home, and a team of strong-wristed shuckers, ready to shuck for on-the-spot slurping.

img_5891

The adjoining stalls were filled with regional fishermen and shellfish farmers, displaying packed bins of smoked eel, seaweed and fresh fish. Our friends and neighbors from Cape May, New Jersey, who had toted a whopping 3,000 Cape May Salt oysters to New York. The farmers were happy to share the bivalve wealth, shucking freely and offering samples to the curious. “Brine and butter with a nice clean finish,” they said. When our team of shuckers began lagging behind an ever-growing, hungry crowd, one of the farmers even jumped in with a knife to help us out. In a matter of seconds, he had opened several European Flats while standing, not even needing a flat surface! (European Flats are notoriously difficult to open because of their thin edges and lack of distinct hinges.) Onlookers may have been calling me a “shucking pro,” but I would have happily handed over my title to this true mollusk master.

img_5888

By the end of the afternoon, we had shucked and sold nearly 1,000 oysters. My clothes were now covered with brine and shell fragments, and my feet were blocks of ice, but I felt that rush of satisfaction from a well-fought battle. The wind was picking up again, and some of the oysters were beginning to freeze in their liquor. In unison, the market vendors clanged their bells one last time, as the sun set over the humming city. The New Amsterdam Market may be over for now, but its community—and fresh seafood—will return again before too long.

December 27, 2011 – 1:44 pm | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Markets, oysters | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Recipe: Tray-Baked Rock Sole with Lemon, Olive and Tomato

lemon_sole_tray
Image: Jamie Oliver

Meet the rock sole. He is a pretty two-dimensional character, which is to say he’s a flatfish. With both eyes on one side of his body, he can’t really tell what’s going on behind him, but that’s ok for this relaxed fellow who likes to move at a more sedentary pace. Following schools of plankton, bivalves and crustaceans, he wanders the gravel bottom coastlines of the continental shelf and steep rock slopes of Puget Sound, from the Bering Sea all the way to Southern California And these days, he’s doing pretty well for himself. Rock sole populations are booming in the Gulf of Alaska, at over twice the target biomass level. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has even deemed Pacific flatfish a “good alternative” to those caught in the Atlantic. Not that this impresses the rock sole. He just wants to mind his own business and not get turned into hirame sushi. However, his mild, sweet flesh and flaky texture makes him an affordable and tasty option for seafood lovers. Plus, rock sole is the perfect canvas for simple, bold flavors, as demonstrated by the recipe below. With thin, fast-cooking fillets, the meal will be ready in no time.

To order rock sole from W&T Seafood, give your sales rep a call today!

Tray-Baked Rock Sole with Lemon, Olive and Tomato
Adapted from Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

4 whole rock soles (or any other flat fish)
2 handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
a handful of fresh oregano or basil, leaves picked
a bunch of spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, zested and halved
extra virgin olive oil
a handful of black olives, destoned and chopped
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

First of all give your fish a wash, then with a sharp knife score across each fish down to the bone at 1 inch intervals on both sides. This allows flavour to penetrate the fish and lets the fish’s juices come out.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Get yourself a bowl and add the tomatoes, garlic, oregano or basil, spring onions, balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and pepper and the zest and juice of 1 lemon to it. Loosen with a couple of good tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and mix well, then spread over the bottom of a large roasting tray. Use one that will fit all 4 fish quite snugly (or you can use two smaller trays). Place the fish on top – top to tail.

Now add the olives, parsley, juice and zest of the second lemon to the bowl that the tomatoes were in. Loosen with a little olive oil and then divide this mixture between the fish, placing an equal amount on the centre of each. Cook in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. To check whether they’re done, take the tip of a knife and push it into the thickest part of the fish. When done, the flesh will easily pull away from the bone.

Once cooked, remove the fish from the oven and allow them to rest for 3 or 4 minutes while you get your guests round the table, serve them some wine and dress your salad. Then you can come back to the fish. Divide them up at the table on to 4 plates, making sure that everyone gets some tomatoes and juice spooned over the top of the fish. Lovely!

December 22, 2011 – 9:15 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Fish, Recipes | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Consider the Oyster Farmer: Practicing Shellfishness with Barnstable Oyster

barnstable_oysters
Image: Gilt Taste

In theory, it sounds like a cakewalk. After all, oysters can feed themselves, don’t run away, and won’t be destroyed by bad weather. Shouldn’t this be the easiest farming gig out there?

Those were some of Tamar Haspell’s thoughts when she first set out to learn the ropes of oyster farming. In 2008, she and her husband Kevin Flaherty moved from Manhattan to a new oyster grant on Cape Cod, diving into radically different lifestyles. Soon, they realized that oyster farming might be more arduous and less glamorous than it seems. Those waterproof waders? They invariably turn into saltwater sieves. That postcard perfect New England beach view? It’s a bit less charming when you’ve been hauling equipment in the stinging cold for hours.

In her piece “Consider the Oyster Farm,” Tamar reflects on the grueling task of moving seven tons of oysters from one tray to the next:

So you transfer and you shake and you clean and you transfer again. And you do it when it’s raining. You do it when it’s cold.

You do it when the greenflies and no-see-ums are there, not just to feast on you, but to laugh at you for deciding to schlep rocks in the sea for a living.

And, if you’re Kevin and me, you do it when you’re about fifty, well past your prime schlepping years. On a bitter December day, when I’m lifting hundreds of pounds of oyster bags over a gunwale into a boat, farming things with roots or legs starts to look a lot more appealing. Things with roots don’t have to be moved, and things with legs can move themselves.

Vibrant stories and characters like Tamar and Kevin make us cheer, as we get to know the faces behind the food on our plates. We know firsthand how precarious shellfish farming can be, and when a farmer is passionate about what they do, that dedication shines through the gray clouds of uncertainty and chance.

Luckily, Kevin and Tamar came away as fully-fledged winners from this experience. Their Barnstable Oyster is one of the finest we’ve ever tasted, the perfect balance between briny liquor, firm meat and a subtly peachy sweetness. We are proud to partner with them, and introduce the Barnstable Oyster to New York’s great chefs, line cooks, servers and oyster lovers like you!

December 21, 2011 – 10:39 am | By Crystal Cun | Posted in Farmers, oysters | Tagged , , | Comments (0)