Dublin Bay chowder with scampi

In every good restaurant in Dublin you can find scampi or Dublin Bay Prawns in the menu. It is the same shellfish. Scampi look like a prawn but it is not. It is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to 25 cm long, and is the most important commercial crustacean in Europe.

I tried scampi during my first dinner in a restaurant in Dublin. It was my second day in Ireland and we celebrated my arrival.

I ordered the strangest dish in the menu as a starter. It was Dublin bay chowder with scampi. I was very much surprised when in my soup I saw familiar to me ingredients and I asked the waiter which one were scampi. He pointed at pink prawns. At that time I thought that scampi is the Irish name for prawns. I'd probably be in this belief if I hadn't attended the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival. A lady explained to us that scampi are a type of lobster, and she was proud of Dublin cuisine. Scampi are served in hundreds of sophisticated ways but my favourite is Dublin bay chowder with scampi. 

Dublin Bay Chowder

For two

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp each minced green onion, celery, fennel
1 tsp tomato puree
200 ml clam juice (or mild fish stock)
100 ml milk
½ cup medium shrimp (peeled, deveined, tail removed)
½ cup bay scallops
1 tsp each fresh chopped parsley, dill
pinch cayenne pepper
salt & white pepper to taste
1 Tbsp heavy cream


In a heavy saucepan melt butter. Add green onion, celery, fennel. Sweat until translucent. Add flour. Cook 4-5 minutes (do not allow to darken.) Add tomato puree.
Add clam juice. Bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer. Add seafood. Cook 1 minute.
Season with white pepper, cayenne and salt.
Add fresh herbs and heavy cream. Simmer 1 more minute.

Serve in warm soup plates with crusty, warm bread.

 

Sea bass with ginger and leeks

This is very tasty and elegant dish, easy to make. You can use whole fish or thick
fillets for recipe, which is also excellent made with bream, pomfret and trevally. I made it with filets of sea bass. Serve the fish with fried rice and stir-fried Chinese green vegetables if you like.


For 4

2 sea bas filets
4 spring onions
2tbsp cornflour
4 tbsp teriyaki sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
4tbsp sunflower oil
2 leeks shredder
2,5 cm piece fresh ginger root, piled and grated
7tbsp chicken stock
Salt and ground black pepper

1) Season the fish salt and black pepper. Cut the spring onions on slice. Put half of the spring onions on the fish and reserve the rest for later using.

2) In a shallow dish, mix together the teriyaki sauce, the cornflour, lemon juice, vinegar and ground ginger to make smooth, runny paste. Turn the fish in the marinade to coat it thoroughly, leave it to marinate for 20 minutes, turning it several times.

3) Heat a wok and oil, then the leeks and grated ginger. Fry gently for about 5 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Remove the leeks and ginger and drain on kitchen paper.

4) Lift the fish out of the marinade and lower it carefully into the hot oil. Fry over a medium heat for 4 minutes on each side. Stir the stock into the marinade. Pour the mixture over the fish. Return the leeks to the wok, together with spring onions. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

5) Serve with fried rice and stir-fried Chinese green vegetables.

Enjoy!!!

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