Camping Recipes: Seafood Tapas

This mix and match recipe concept injects variety into your meal plan. The idea is to pick and choose the tapas’ components from the table below – for example, you can switch the tartare, jam and wasabi mayonnaise around on the seafood – to create your own delicious feast. I’ve set out some base recipes here, but you can change them to suit your own tastes.

Handy Hint 1: Three different tastes per plate are balanced to the eye and the tastebuds.

Handy Hint 2: In a culinary sense, you can tie the three ‘bites’ together by using the same herb or garnish (watercress or pea shoots, for example) on top of each different offering. Or you can use three different herbs – the concept of a theme still remains.

Steamed Oysters with Bacon Bits

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

The following quantities will serve four.

• 12 oysters in the half shell
• 2 bacon rashers, rind and fat removed, and cut into strips
• 2 tbsp chilli jam or fruit chutney
• Watercress or pea shoots, for garnish

Sauté the bacon in a dry frypan until cooked but not crispy. While cooking the bacon, steam the oysters for 1-2 minutes in their half shell in a large steamer basket placed over either a wok or large saucepan of boiling water.

To serve: Place the crispy bacon pieces onto individual plates, adding three steamed oysters on top of the bacon, or you can place the bacon strips on top of the oysters themselves.

Top the oysters with a little chilli jam or chutney (maybe even a drizzle of balsamic vinegar) and garnish with the watercress or pea shoots.

Seared Tuna with Citrus Wasabi Mayonnaise

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

The following quantities will serve four.

Handy Hint: You can use either a sweet or a tart flavoured citrus of your choice (blood orange or grapefruit would be my suggestion) to balance the heat of the wasabi mayo.

• 1x100g piece of sashimi-grade tuna
• 1/4 cup (30g) salt and pepper rub (mix even quantities of salt flakes and black or lemon pepper)
• Canola oil
• 1 citrus fruit, segmented
• Watercress or pea shoots, for garnish

Coat the tuna piece (bloodline and skin removed) in the salt and pepper mixture and sear evenly all over in a lightly oiled skillet over a medium-high heat. Remove the tuna from the pan and set it aside to cool.

Slice into 0.5-1cm thick pieces; whatever size that you choose, cut the pieces evenly.

Wasabi Mayonnaise

• 1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• Wasabi paste
• Zest of citrus fruit

Add a little wasabi paste and the citrus zest to the mayonnaise, stir well and taste. Increase the amount of wasabi paste (or mayonnaise) until you get the flavor you like.

To serve: Assemble a layer of citrus and tuna on top of a spoonful of citrus wasabi mayonnaise. Garnish with watercress or pea shoots.

Fried Prawn and Homemade Tartare Sauce on Diced Noodles

• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 10 minutes
• The following quantities will serve four.
• 1 packet dry wide noodles
• 500g green prawns, peeled and deveined
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
• Canola oil (or rice bran oil) for frying
• Watercress or pea shoots, for garnish

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain them well and then chop them into small pieces. Place them in a bowl and put to one side, to be reheated just before serving.

Set up two bowls and a plate for the prawns. Put the beaten egg into one bowl, the breadcrumbs into another bowl and the plate is there to receive the coated prawns. If you don’t have panko breadcrumbs, standard breadcrumbs will do.

Dip a prawn into the egg then dip the egg-coated prawn into the breadcrumbs, coating the prawn completely. Place the coated prawn on the plate and follow the same sequence with the rest of the prawns.

Heat the oil to 180°C/375°F in your deep fryer. While the oil is heating, place the chopped noodles into a colander or steamer basket and place them over the top of a pot of gently simmering water.

When the oil is hot, carefully place the prawns into the hot oil and fry them until golden brown. When cooked, drain the prawns well by placing them on some paper towel.

Quick Tartare Sauce

• 4 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise
• 2 gherkins, finely chopped
• 1 tsp capers, chopped
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Combine all of the tartare sauce ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To serve: Spoon a small portion of chopped noodles onto individual serving plates. Top with a golden crunchy prawn and then spoon a little of the tartare sauce onto the prawn. Then top the lot with a couple of sprigs of watercress or pea shoots.

The full feature appeared in Caravan World #537 April 2015.