Seafood With Lemongrass Recipes

STEAMED SHRIMP WITH LEMONGRASS-COCONUT SAUCE

Steps:

• Trim the ends from the lemongrass, then bruise one of the stalks all over with the back of a knife. Cut it in half and put the halves in the bottom of a saucepan with the nam pla. Squeeze the juice of one of the limes into the pot, then throw the lime halves in there. Top with the shrimp, cover tightly, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and firm. Remove the shrimp and chill.
• Remove the hard outer layers from the remaining lemongrass stalk and mince the tender core; you won't get much more than a teaspoon or two. Combine this with the chile, coconut milk, sugar, and saffron in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is a uniform yellow. Remove the chile and chill. Cut the remaining lime into wedges.
• Taste the sauce and add a little salt if necessary. Serve the cold shrimp topped with the cold sauce and accompanied by lime wedges.
• Coconut Milk
• Although canned coconut milk is perfectly convenient, making coconut milk at home is easy and will contain no preservatives: Combine 2 cups of water and 2 cups dried unsweetened shredded or grated coconut in a blender. Use a towel to hold the lid on tightly and turn the switch on and off a few times quickly to get the mixture going. Then blend for about 30 seconds. Let rest for 10 minutes. Pour the milk through a strainer. This will be fairly thick. If you need more milk, just pour additional water through the coconut, up to another cup or two. Press the coconut to extract as much liquid as possible. Use immediately or freeze indefinitely.
• Shrimp
• Almost all shrimp are frozen before sale. So unless you're in a hurry, you might as well buy them frozen and defrost them yourself; this will guarantee you that they are defrosted just before you cook them, therefore retaining peak quality.
• There are no universal standards for shrimp size; large and medium don't mean much. Therefore, it pays to learn to judge shrimp size by the number per pound, as retailers do. Shrimp labeled 16/20, for example, contain sixteen to twenty per pound; those labeled U-20 require fewer (under) twenty to make a pound. Shrimp from fifteen to about thirty per pound usually give the best combination of flavor, ease (peeling tiny shrimp is a nuisance), and value (really big shrimp usually cost more than $15 a pound).
• On deveining: I don't. You can, if you like, but it's a thankless task, and there isn't one person in a hundred who could blind-taste the difference between shrimp that have and have not been deveined.

GINGER AND LEMONGRASS GRILLED SHRIMP

Steps:

• Preheat the grill to high.
• In a large, nonreactive bowl, combine the lemongrass, ginger, garlic, scallion greens, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey and whisk well. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Skewer the shrimp, scallion whites, and red bell peppers onto skewers in whatever order you like. There should be 4 to 6 shrimp per skewer.
• Place the skewers on a flat plate and drizzle with peanut oil. It is not necessary to salt the skewers because soy sauce has so much salt in it. Place the shrimp skewers on the grill and cook about 3 minutes per side, or just until the shrimp curls, turns red and does not appear clear at all. Be careful not to overcook.
• Place the whole radicchio leaves around the edge of a platter. Mound the chiffonade radicchio and watercress inside the leaves and around the platter. Remove the skewers from the grill and place on the bed of greens. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the shrimp.

SEAFOOD WITH LEMONGRASS

Steps:

• Place the lemon juice, fish sauce, chili powder, sugar and chicken stock or fish broth in a saute pan and bring to a boil. Add the scallops and cook over high heat, stirring for about 3 minutes or until the scallops are opaque. The liquid should be considerably reduced.
• Add the lime leaf, lemongrass, shallot and scallion slices and cook for about a minute, stirring continuously. Put in the coriander and toss the mixture briefly.
• Serve immediately on a bed of lettuce leaves.

VIETNAMESE LEMONGRASS SHRIMP

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, quickly stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add the shrimp and lemongrass; stir-fry for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sprinkle with the fish sauce, sugar, and a little salt.
• Stir-fry until the shrimp is cooked and the mushrooms are wilted, another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.