Shrimp

Cioppino (San Francisco Seafood Stew)

Cioppino is an Italian-American seafood stew first developed in San Francisco in the late 1800s. Originally made by Italian fisherman who had settled in the region, it was crafted directly on fishing boats using rudimentary cooking tools before making its way into local restaurants and beyond. Much like the French Bouillabaisse or the Eastern European Brudet, Cioppino is made with a variety of seafood, depending on whatever is on hand. Also, apparently I’m obsessed with tomato-based seafood stews, because this is my third such recipe in the past year.

The origin of this dish’s name is the subject of some debate. The most likely answer is that it comes from the word ciuppin, which means “chopped” in the Ligurian dialect spoken in Genoa, Italy’s largest seaport, from where many immigrants in the San Francisco area originated. The idea is that fishermen chopped up a bunch of fish for the stew. There’s also a seafood stew from Genoa called Ciuppin, so there’s that, too. But a more compelling origin is that the name comes from Italian-Americans asking their fellow fishermen to “chip in” some seafood for a communal feast, and their broken English formed the word we know today as Cioppino.

No matter its etymology, this is a quick and versatile dish to make for any weeknight or weekend, allowing you to maximize your flavors based on whatever seafood is on sale at your local market. For us, king crab was (somewhat) affordable the other day, so that’s what we used to spice up our dinner. Just stick with the underlying foundation of the recipe and you can’t go wrong.

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Shrimp Scampi

It may sound funny, but “scampi” is actually the culinary name for Nephrops Norvegicus, commonly known as the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn. In Europe (Britain and Italy especially) “scampi” refers to the tail meat of this small lobster. Here in the US the word “scampi” most often refers to a style of preparation involving butter, garlic, and white wine used mainly with shrimp. However, I’ve seen “chicken scampi” in several restaurant menus, which often incites a chuckle.

I love making this dish because it’s both easy and decadent; it’s not often you can make something so delicious in just 20 minutes using ingredients you probably mostly have at home already.

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Shrimp Satay

Satay is a dish that originated out of Indonesia. It’s basically just marinated, skewered, grilled pieces of meat. It’s most commonly found with chicken or beef, but like Japanese yakitori, you can find all sorts of weird varieties as well if you look hard enough. This is my shrimp version.

The most critical ingredient for this dish is turmeric, which gives the meat its yellow coloring. It’s somewhat hard to find but you’ll only need to get a small container, because a little bit goes a looong way.

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Creamy Shrimp Pasta

My shrimp pasta – called “seafood pasta” at the house – has been a dinner staple for several years. I make it using the same methodology as my chicken alfredo recipe…but with seafood.

For the pasta, we’ve been using De Boles penne pasta, mostly because we haven’t found any other brand of rice pasta in our local markets. It’s not bad, but it is really hard to get a good, consistent level of tenderness. If we happen upon any other brand I’ll be sure to pass on the results.

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Honey Walnut Shrimp (Minus the Walnuts)

Simply put, honey walnut shrimp (hé táo xiā) is one of my favorite Chinese dishes, and one of the best ways to eat shrimp. Period. This delicate and sweet dish is definitely worth the high price you’ll usually pay for it in most Chinese restaurants, but my make-at-home recipe is both inexpensive and easy to pull off.

I omitted this dish’s trademark candied walnuts because they’re chock-full of sugar, and the walnuts aren’t the same without the candy coating anyway. And honestly, I prefer the shrimp in its pure, unadulterated form.

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