In European countries, sea cocktail has been actively used for cooking since the beginning of the twentieth century. For our housewives, such seafood sets are relatively new. Typically, three to seven representatives of the underwater world are part of a seafood cocktail. Such sets are sold in a very different form. From what kind you get, cooking and the use of spices will depend.
A little bit about sea cocktail ...
Dishes with a sea cocktail are loved by absolutely everyone. They are prepared very simply. A huge variety of recipes always allows you to offer your loved ones something new and tasty. Sea cocktail is a mixture of mussels, squid, shrimp, octopus, etc. If desired, the hostesses add algae and caviar to the salad. Each additional ingredient gives the dish a new look. Seafood cocktail can be purchased at the supermarket ready-made or prepared independently.
Very often it is sold frozen, which is very convenient. Seafood is popular due to its taste and beneficial properties. In addition, preparing salads with a sea cocktail does not take much time. By adding just a few ingredients, you get a great meal.
Ready Kits
If you want to try something tasty and at the same time non-nutritious, a sea cocktail in oil will be a great option. Typically, seafood kits are sold frozen. But now in stores appeared packaging sea cocktail in oil. Outwardly, they resemble preserves. Such kits consist of pickled squid, shrimp, mussels and octopus, which are often called marine reptiles. If frozen seafood needs to be boiled, then the preserves are ready to eat. They are very tasty and healthy. They can be safely used as an independent dish or used for cooking.
The components of a sea cocktail in oil are small, as they say, for one bite. These are usually shrimp curls, squid strips and mussels. But the most interesting component that absolutely all consumers like is the whole octopus. All cocktail products are very different in taste and density of meat. Nevertheless, the sea cocktail in oil has a very harmonious taste, which is enhanced in combination with a sweet-salty marinade.
What products is combined with?
The assortment of supermarkets presents products from different manufacturers. Therefore, buyers have a fairly wide selection of sea cocktails in oil. Meridian is one of the most famous brands offering seafood packages. Culinary experts recommend paying attention to the company's products.
If you are buying a cocktail for the first time, then the question will surely arise with which products it is combined. To taste, the seafood mix is in perfect harmony with pickled mushrooms and cucumbers, wood mushrooms, capers, fruits, vegetables, eggs, herbs. As dressings, mixtures of olive oil with lemon juice and soy sauce are usually used. In addition, mustard, sour cream sauce and mayonnaise are added. If you purchased a seafood cocktail in oil in oil, then you can use the marinade from the package as a dressing. In the event that it is not enough for cooking, you can add olive oil. Seafood dressing should be very light and not clog the taste of the dish.
Cooking nuances
Now on the menu of any decent institution there are salads with a sea cocktail. Chefs compete in the skill of preparing such dishes. But even at home, preparing something tasty with a cocktail is not difficult, especially if you purchase a finished product in oil. Professionals recommend in the cooking process not to forget that seafood should be the main component of the dish.
All other components are only an addition, therefore, there should be much less foreign products. Otherwise, you risk losing the gentle and pleasant taste of the cocktail. Additives to the dish should have a neutral taste, so that seafood stand out against their background, or piquant to shade the taste. Cocktail salads should consist of only 2-4 components. This is enough to get a full meal. In a large number of products, seafood lose their taste and aroma. It is difficult to feel the tender meat in a heap of components.
Seafood additives
In supermarkets, seafood in oil is presented in plastic packaging and glass jars. The packaging form does not play a role. Cocktails are good not only for cooking, but also as an independent component. For example, seafood can be a tasty and enjoyable addition to a side dish of potatoes. No less interesting is a cocktail in salads. It goes well with beets, pickled onions, corn, peas, olives, lettuce, oranges, apples and other products.
How to make a cocktail yourself?
Seafood is a wonderful decoration for the festive table. As food for every day, not everyone can afford them. Sea cocktail can be prepared from frozen semi-finished products yourself at home. Of course, ready-made preserves in stores are much more convenient to use. In them, seafood is already peeled, washed and cooked. You just have to open the package and add additional ingredients. But self-cooking will require effort and time.
How to make a sea cocktail in oil? The recipe is quite simple, so it does not require you to have skills. Culinary experts recommend using not frozen products in the cooking process, but fresh ones. Unfortunately, this is not always possible.
Simple recipe
Ingredients: squid, octopuses (0.3 kg), boiled shrimp (630 g), parsley, mussels (15 pcs.), Garlic, olive oil (115 ml), oregano, capers (2 tsp), lemon, Chile. A mixture of olive oil with garlic, capers and chili is used as a dressing for a dish.
For cooking, we need a stewpan. Pour oil into it and heat over a fire. Crush the peeled garlic with a knife, grind the chilli into thin rings, soften the capers with a spoon. Rub the zest of the lemon. We transfer all the ingredients to a preheated stewpan and cook on very low heat for several minutes. We remove the dishes from the stove and add lemon juice, zest and a little chopped parsley to the products.
We wash octopuses in running water. Peel the squid from the film and cut into strips. Mussels thoroughly washed from the sand. Next, we cook seafood in a double boiler for no more than 2-4 minutes. Put the finished cocktail on the dish and pour the dressing prepared in a saucepan on top. When serving, you can add a little fresh parsley. In principle, the recipe is quite simple. Now you know how to make a sea cocktail in oil.
Marinade cocktail
Pickled seafood cocktail in oil is an overeating. It can be purchased not only in the store, but also prepared independently. Of course, professionals recommend using fresh seafood, then the dish will be much tastier. However, even from frozen semi-finished products, an excellent pickled cocktail is obtained. For cooking, we need a package of seafood (550 g). You can also make a cocktail yourself by purchasing weighted products. Seafood must be boiled. To do this, dip them in boiling water for three minutes. You can even not pre-defrost foods. We count the time from the moment of laying in boiling water. After three minutes, we discard the contents of the pan into a colander.
While the seafood is cooling, you can start preparing the marinade. We will need 1.5 liters. Art. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, peppercorns and bay leaf. Pour all the ingredients with a glass of water and add 9% vinegar (50 ml), as well as vegetable oil (40 ml). Bring the marinade to a boil, after which we give it the opportunity to cool.
If you like pickled onions, then you can cut it into thin rings and add to the marinade. There is no vegetable in the basic recipe, but this does not mean that it cannot be used. Onions will add a note of piquancy to seafood and will become an additional delicacy.
We prepare a clean jar and lay the cocktail and onion rings in it. Top with marinade and cork with a lid. We send the dishes to the refrigerator. After a day, a pickled cocktail can be served on the table. Such a delicious appetizer can be used as an independent dish or added to a salad.
Seafood in marinade
Marinating a sea cocktail is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. The advantage of self-cooking is that you can experiment with marinades. Seafood can be bought in a pack or by weight. The first option is convenient because often packaged products are already boiled. So, partially the work is done for us. Weighted seafood will have to be boiled independently. To do this, they are dipped in salty boiling water and cooked for three to four minutes. After the products are thrown into a colander.
Ingredients: soy sauce (tsp. Per small jar), 1 tbsp. l salt, 1/2 tbsp. l sugar, oil rust. (1/2 tbsp. L.), Pepper, vinegar (65 ml), seafood (650 g), parsley, lemon.
Dip lemons with boiling water and cut into small slices. The cooled seafood is mixed with parsley and lemon. The resulting mass is laid out in half-liter jars. Pour a teaspoon of soy sauce and marinade into each, prepared from a mixture of boiled water, sugar, salt, oil, vinegar and pepper. We seal and store containers in the refrigerator.
Mediterranean Salad
There are a lot of dishes for which a sea cocktail is used. One of them is a Mediterranean salad. On the Internet you can find a lot of options for its preparation: with and without seafood. Each of them is good in its own way, but the combination of delicate meat of a sea cocktail with other products gives a truly unique result.
Ingredients: sea cocktail (480 g), olive oil, sweet onion, ripe tomato, gherkins (8 pcs.), Lettuce, a handful of olives, white pepper, dry white wine (50 ml).
Sea cocktail must be boiled in salted water for two to three minutes, and then put in a colander. You can also use only one version of seafood, such as squid, as they are more affordable. After cooling, we transfer the cocktail to a deep container and add chopped onion, olives and tomato. Lettuce and salt, and then season with oil, adding gherkins. Put lettuce leaves on a wide dish, and put lettuce on them.
Potato salad
Oddly enough, but the sea cocktail goes well with many vegetables and fruits. We bring to your attention a salad recipe with beets and potatoes. For cooking, boil vegetables in their skins. After they have cooled, peel them and cut the potatoes into slices, and grate the beets. In a salad bowl, mix vegetables and steamed raisins, add a sea cocktail in oil (you can use pickled seafood). Raisins are an additional component, so you can not put them in a salad. But with it the dish is more interesting. Slices of orange, pineapple or pear can be added to the salad. It turns out an interesting dish with a pleasant taste.
Tomato and Seafood Salad: Ingredients
A delicious salad with sea cocktail, cheese and tomatoes is universal. Based on it, you can cook many variations. The dish is tender and at the same time spicy and spicy. Piquancy is added to him soy sauce, garlic and olives. But seafood and cheese give the dish a tenderness. This salad is not only very tasty, but also very healthy.
Ingredients: sea cocktail (540 g), three tomatoes, hard cheese (130 g), olives (10 pcs.), Soy sauce (spoon), garlic, lettuce, olive oil.
Tomato and Seafood Salad Recipe
Boil seafood in advance and let them cool. Information on their preparation must be specified on the pack. They usually indicate whether the products have been heat-treated or not. Cut the tomatoes into large slices, grind the cheese on a grater. Pass the garlic through a press and mix with soy sauce and olive oil. Grind the leaves of the salad by hand, and cut the olives (it is more convenient to use olives without stones). We spread seafood, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and olives on a large dish. Mix the products and pour the dressing. The dish is ready to eat.