RAINY DAY RECIPE: SCALLOP & SHRIMP CREAM SOUP

 

When the rain starts pouring in the evening, a bowl soup always fills my mind.  So I prepared for rain tonight and made Scallop and Shrimp Cream Soup.

Local scallops or Bay Scallops and are smaller than their Sea Scallop cousins. But don't worry, when it comes to these bi-valve mollusks, size does not matter. Taste is what counts. The pinkish shells encase the  round creamy white meat called adductor muscles the part that allows the shells to open and close. In most bivalves like oysters ang mussels, the adductor muscles are tough, but in scallops these are tender,  creamy with a hint of sweetness.

Now, with your scallop 101 done, go and try to make this creamy wonder so your rainy nights need not be clammy.

INGREDIENTS

• 250 g. Bay scallops, removed from the shell
• 250 g. shrimps, shelled
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 can of canned cream style corn (about 200 g)
• 1 cup fresh milk
• 1 cup all-purpose cream
• 1 pc. onion, medium, diced
• 1 pc. potato, large, diced
• 1 pc. carrots, diced
• 1 pc. celery stalk, sliced
• 2 tbsp. butter  salted
• 1 1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning (or mix in equal parts celery salt, red pepper, paprika)
• salt and pepper to taste

 TO MAKE

1.  Saute. Over medium-high heat, melt the butter in the pot and saute the onion, carrots, celery, scallops and shrimps. Flavor with half a teaspoon of the Old Bay seasoning. When the shrimps are have changed color on both sides, remove from heat. Let it cool.

2. Chop. Once cooled, place the mixture in a blender and roughly chop using the pulse mode.

3. Make the Cream Soup. Return the chopped mixture in the pan, this time over medium-low heat. Stir in the chicken broth, milk then the cream. Add the corn and the remaining Old Bay Seasoning. Mix gently as you bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the soup has reached a creamy consistency, remove from the heat and serve.

Next time, I'll make a chowder variation and see how that works.

Multitasking and Stir-fried Garlic Shrimps

Multitasking is a word you either love or hate. 

A concept espoused by start-up or scaled-down companies so their underpaid workers can do more for less. A practice amongst many urbanites whose main reason for existence is to conquer the world. A philosophy of creative minds with too much to say and have too little time in their hands. An excuse to do more with less, for very little.

On days when this word invades my world, one of the tasks I make sure to do is cook.

Cooking relaxes me.

Quick fixes are the best things to make on busy days. And I am not ashamed to share that I often use ready mixes. Here's a stir-fry recipe that you can do any time as long as you have the ready mix.

STIR FRIED SHRIMPS

 Ingredients:
1/4 Kilo fresh shrimps with the antennae and legs clipped off
6 pieces cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 packet Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawn
1/4 cup cooking oil
Pepper to taste

Sautee the shallot and garlic. Once the shallot has turned translucent, add the cherry tomatoes. And once the tomatoes have softened and a little juice has oozed out, mix in the Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawn. Add the shrimps and stir fry until the shrimps have turned orange all over. Add pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Weekend Food Trip- Iloilo

Was in lovely Iloilo with A. a couple of weeks ago and just got the chance to unload my mobile phone of the pictures of our weekend food adventure.

Our first challenge was the Battle of the Batchoys:
Ted's                                       or                          Deco's                                      

 A.'s internet survey winner was Ted's although Deco's batchoy was not far behind. The soup for both actually taste similar- beefy, salty with a little peppery kick. The difference between the two is in the texture. Batchoy ingredients include chopped liver and innards. Ted's liver slices were crustier and have that  grilled taste. Deco's batchoy had more al dente misua noodles. In the end wherever you find yourself, it doesn't matter as long a you get your batchoy, piping hot, with a dash of pepper and a siding of pandesal or puto manapla.


Next up on our list was Breakthrough, a beach side restaurant frequented by locals and tourists alike for its fresh  seafood fare,  paluto style. We went there for lunch and for starters had fresh plump oysters blanched just long enough to get the shell to open and soon enough so that the succulent meat remains tender. Dipped in spicy sinamak (vinegar falvored with chilies and langgawas, a pungent type of ginger) the oyster was a I finished one whole serving with the help of a bottle of ice-cold Cerveza Negra.

We then treated ourselves to lechon, prawns, crabs and the surprising puso ng saging  sa gata. The shredded puso ng saging was  cooked in coconut cream and a hefty amount of ginger and siling labuyo. It was the dish that held the meal together, matching the spicy crabs in rich coconut cream and the sparely salted prawns. The bite of the ginger and the chilies was a welcome balance from the fatty lechon.

We topped the meal with a simple dessert bought from a streethawker. "Pulot" is like liquid kalamay hati  (a concoction made of sticky rice, brown sugar and cconut cream) (heavily infused with melted panutsa or molasses. The sweet amber dessert was packaged quaintly in a piece of slender bamboo covered with dry banana leaf.

By dinner time, we were craving for some chicken inasal and decided we'd go to Nes & Tat's (run by the long-time seaside resto, Tatoy's) in Mandurriao. The place was a bit deserted which left us wondering if the food would be worth the visit. They had no chicken inasal on the menu but we were offered the lechon manok using free range chicken. It was expectedly gamier and the meat darker than the usual broiler chicken we are used to but it was easy to eat and the skin was crispy. Dipped in sinamak (local spicy palm vinegar) and paired with hot rice, the chicken  was a tasty treat.

As it was drizzling, we also ordered Malaga (Bass) and had the head made into Sinigang soup (Tamarind-based soup with local vegetables) and the rest of it grilled.

Dinner at Nes & Tat's was filling, although it makes one miss the rural seaside ambience of the orginal Tatoy's.

Since it was A.'s first trip to the province, we decided to skip a day at the beach in Guimaras and opted to go the touristy route, visiting churches.

Miag-ao Church

Tigbauan Church altar mosaic

During our self-imposed Visita Iglesia, we chanced upon many bibingka stalls outside the churches. these are not the type you get from Ferinos but the palm-sized rice cakes made of ground malagkit and grated coconut baked in open-fire make-shift ovens. The sweet, chewy cakes are packed in brown bags, hot and ready to eat while you walk around the church and the adjoining pasilios.

Our guide for the day also took us to the home of Mama's kitchen where one can buy hand woven pinya cloth and the famed Mango Chewies.

One destination I never miss when visiting the provinces is the local wet market. At the Iloilo  Central Market, I got me some freshly made langgaw (palm vinegar), batuan (a souring agent used for Kansi, the Ilonggo Bulalo) and guinamos (dry shrimp paste).

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the market vendor could pack the guinamos, ready to be hand-carried for the trip back to Manila.

On our way back, I nearly had a fit as the airport security guy didn't want me to check in the langgaw. Had to bring out my Ilonggo accent and whatever little of the language I knew to convince him. A few hair flips, and a stilted dialogue that included mentioning that my dad is Ilonggo, airport guy finally relented and let me go home with the my smelly stash of Iloilo wet market goodies.