Expanding my pallet (seafood)....my New Years resolution

[RPMcMurphy]

My new years resolution was to learn how to cook, (to stop spending so much on fine dining) and to finally eat seafood.

This year, I decided to take the bull by the horns, and finally just eat seafood. I've never eaten more than a taste (and usually spit it out) of seafood in 25 years. Just one of those mental gag reflex things that I can't even explain....I WANTED to eat seafood, it just never "worked". No tuna fish, no popcorn shrimp, couldn't even kiss my girlfriend if SHE ate shrimp...not even a 'real' Caesar salad.




It was torture the past couple of years traveling so much to Hong Kong, Singapore, etc....




2008 is a new year and I said screw it. I'm going to eat me some seafood. I took the bull by the horns and like a smoker quitting cold turkey, swiped some seared tuna off my girlfriends plate....

To date, I've eaten (and by eaten, I classify it as more than 1 piece of in more than 1 mouthful, just a 'taste' or 1 piece doesn't count)

Shrimp a couple of ways
Lobster
Crab
Scallops
Calamari

Mussels
VERY rare/raw tuna

My latest accomplishment was actually ordering a dish with shrimp in it....I'm working on it...

my problem, I think, was, I always judged good food and food I liked, by basically comparing it to a food that I could just eat and eat and gorge myself....comfort food and never really could just like a food for what it is, and be OK with not eating a truck load of it. I was brought up on crappy comfort/home cooking food, so WHY would I eat lobster/fish if I could just gorge on a cheesesteak or hamburger? I'm comfortable with hamburger. why not. Then it turned into a kind of smell thing, I know I know...if it's good seafood, it doesn't have a smell.....bullshit. it does to someone who has a mental thing against seafood! haha.



Wish me luck on my 12 step program.

[Suzanne]

Have you read Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything? You probably should.

Although you won't save much money if you're only eating stuff like lobster, crab, and shrimp. Find a good place to buy fish and go crazy! Just don't overcook it, that is, until it is desiccated and tasteless.

[shakeandbake]

I love the ocean, but I'm a seafood baby as well. I grew up in a fishing town with many of my family and friends being fishermen, so you would think it would be just the opposite. I've been an avid catch and release fisherman all my life...eat a trout, yuck!

For fish, I recommend you start with halibut or even better, haddock. These are my favorite fish. You might want to start with a pan frying fish with a cornmeal crust or a deepfry batter. After that, move on to healthier and flavorful recipes. Asian flavors are a great way to prep seafood as well. That's how I got into tofu.

Deep fried calamari is great. Years ago I went with friends to Canoe in Toronto. I ordered their "calamari". Instead of battered rings, I was presented with a grilled stuffed squid. My gag reflexes started kicking in! The food was pretty expensive, so I downed my drink and forced myself to try a bite. DELICIOUS! It was stuffed with rice and other things I don't remember, it was amazing.

Tuna is another "safe" fish. Marinate it, grill it, you'll love. Spicy Tuna Rolls was another great fish induction for me. I don't care for salmon, I don't like the strong fish taste and oiliness, but try a Philly roll. Most of the people make fun of sushi filled with cream cheese and salmon, but this is one way I will actual eat it. Anything shrimp or scallop, I'll eat. Deep fried clams, yum! Steamed clams of fritters, no way. It's a texture thing. Also, try a homestyle fish stew. When it comes to lobsters, I can eat them, but I prefer south/pacific spiny lobsters over the east coast clawed lobsters. Butter, garlic and grill.

One thing that will help you with your new adventure is FRESHNESS. Go to the best market and pay the higher prices. Talk to the staff in the fish department and only buy fresh. I'm lucky enough to go spearfishing and take 2-3 halibut a year and I catch lobster during the season. You won't find anything in a store that tastes as good as something you know is fresh caught. If you have fishing friends, talk to them and maybe they can hook you up.

Good luck.

[kuan]

Originally Posted by RPMcMurphy

I took the bull by the horns and like a smoker quitting cold turkey, swiped some seared tuna off my girlfriends plate....

I hear you. Cold turkey is horrible. You can make it into a sandwich but that's about it.

Good luck on your quest. Your Ribeye turned out good. Fish is a little less forgiving of poor handling, but I think if you follow many of the recommendations here you'll be fine.

[RPMcMurphy]

Originally Posted by kuan

I hear you. Cold turkey is horrible. You can make it into a sandwich but that's about it.

Good luck on your quest. Your Ribeye turned out good. Fish is a little less forgiving of poor handling, but I think if you follow many of the recommendations here you'll be fine.

haha. thanks. Yeah, every time I check out the fish market, I want to eat everything there!

some chewyness is hard to get over and unfortunately some of the stuff I've been trying this year has been a little on the chewey side of texture due to it not being at the best of restaurants. (scallops at P.F. Changs were a little chewy for me, but the crab wontons were good)

My end goal, is not too big a deal, but it is to order a dish or cook a dish comprised of seafood as the protein, and eat all of it. If I do that, I think I will have satisfied my resolution then maybe next year we can do the sushi thing.

[GhettoRacingKid]

ohh i love seafood.

umm perfectly cooked shrimp are jsut heaven.

Bacon wrapped scallops (anything with bacon is good)

poached artic char

pan seared halibit

anywho......


I think you need to mvoe from the crustatians and such and move onto some fish.

Flounder or fluke is a flat white fish and i call ti beginger fish. its nice its light and easy to cook.

Salmon is like the advanced beginingers fish. Excellent broiled and then topped and lightly rubbed with some herb butter.

there is a book its liek James beards guide to cookign fish. excellent boo kadn you can find it cheap on ebay when you tart getting into fish.



Murphy.

I say you go out on a charter boat catch some fluke or flounder bringi t hoem and cook it yourself. youll expeirence the way fish is suppsoed to be. super fresh and awesome.

[Montelago]

I absolutely love fish in all forms and styles. Good advice to start with the flakey white fish. Halibut, Cod, Sea bass, Tilapia, Whitefish, Escolar. They are mild tasting and can be prepared very simply. Pan seared or broiled with a little lemon butter or herb butter. Then move into some of the fattier, more flavorful fish like the salmon, char and sea trouts. If all else fails, bread it and fry it, slather it with some tarter sauce and say you ate fish.

Good luck.

[OregonYeti]

I love seafood, but it's liver I can't take because of the texture.

[RPMcMurphy]

got one down, couldn't do two. a little too raw-tasting for me.....now. girlfriend said they were cooked perfect though (i had nothing to compare to). said I seared them perfect while not overcooking, (guess I got lucky for once!). The ming tsai youtube video helped didnt tell her that.

[DC Sunshine]

Good luck with your quest - you're opening a new world of taste for yourself.

Have you tried a good ol' serving of fish 'n chips? Its basic, but its pretty much my favorite way of enjoying fish. Lots of flavours you can add into the batter, tumeric for colour, bit of chilli powder for some zing, maybe try a beer batter - so nice. Quick to cook, nice crunch. Can do them as a whole fillet, or gujons (sp?). Accompanied by a tartare sauce, or lemon juice, sweet chilli sauce if you like that, or salt and vinegar (plain old white wine vinegar). The batter kind of disguises that you're eating fish, and hey, chips are good any day

Or tempura - do some veg tempura with it and some soy based sauces for dipping - yummers. I'd stay away from sashimi just for the time being

Fish cakes - find a good recipe for Thai fish cakes. Or pork and prawn balls. Again, go the dipping sauces.

Just make sure to get your seafood as fresh as you can from a good supplier, don't skimp on price. With seafood you really get what you pay for.

Good Luck RPM

[tessa]

if it makes you gag, maybe you had a bad experience with it when you were a kidlet or you could be slightly allergic to it, if its giving you that kind of reaction. good fresh fish and shellfish should smell like the sea and just taste so fresh
scallops and prawns and mussels are my favourites and lovely delicate white fish or fresh salmon mmmmmmmmmm yum
and as dc said we have the best fish and chips in the world down here in the southern hemisphere...... both in aus and nz

good luck with your quest , just dont beat yourself up if you cant cope with it

[OregonYeti]

My mom grew up in Illinois and has never liked any seafood. I'm thinking it might be because she grew up with seafood that was past its prime.

Once I caught some mountain whitefish in a mountain lake. (That redundancy bugs me but oh well, there it is). It really struck me that they smelled like melons when I cleaned them, strange as that might sound. I was camping, and fried them in butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and that was some of the best fish I have ever had.

I say that if your experience has been with anything other than fresh, even a few times, that might explain why you don't like it.

[RPMcMurphy]

I'm lucky to be in a pretty decent area when it comes to seafood. Lots of fish markets with fresh fish and I can almost throw a rock in the ocean from my house. (well, if I walked a coupla miles!)

[humpty99]

I was actually in the same situation a couple of years ago. I actually think I could pinpoint my moment of displeasure with seafood though. I was at a restaurant in Toledo, OH when I was probably 10 or so. I ordered a "Whitefish Sandwich". It tasted like a dumpster, and it immediately left my system. Hadn't eaten a bite of seafood since, until I had the same kind of feeling a couple of years ago. It seemed I was missing out on something. I manned up, and slowly worked seafood into my ordering routine at restaurants. We don't have the best selections here in Indiana, but there are a few places that do pretty well with it.

After ordering shrimp at about 6 different places, I was still baffled by what people raved so much about. Then I ordered a Shrimp Oreganata dish at a restaurant. AMAZING! One of my top ten meals ever. I still never have had another shrimp dish that I cared for since then either.

I found that I really like Cod. Another top ten meal was a baked Parmesan crusted cod with a horseradish sauce.

Scallops are OK, but I don't think I've had any really really well prepared yet.

The meaty fish don't sit well with me so far

And I still can't bring myself to try oysters, clams, etc. yet

[RPMcMurphy]

The mussels i had, and the smaller scallops I've had (at pf changs) went down MUCH easier than the giant sea scallops...

I'm headed out tonight for dinner, hoping the girlfriend gets something for me to try.....