Here is the recipe for the cioppino hot pot that we made for our recent Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 dinner
The first time I visited California, my uncle took me down to Monterey to go see the aquarium there. That evening, we went out to dinner and I ordered the cioppino. It was the best, most amazing seafood soup I had ever tasted. I was hooked on cioppino. Continue reading Cioppino Hot Pot Recipe
A few weeks back, Foodbuzz put out a call for proposals for another one of their "24, 24, 24" meals. Since the date would be very close to Chinese New Year this year, Annie and I submitted a proposal, focusing on a Chinese New Year theme. We were surprised and honored to have been chosen as one of the food blogs featured this month.
Continue reading Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Chinese New Year Cioppino Hot Pot
Growing up in Malaysia, crab was considered a special treat. We hardly ever cooked it at home, preferring to visit a seafood restaurant specializing in cooking crabs and other seafoody things. And the crabs we normally got there were mud crabs. Mud crabs have very big, meaty claws, smaller bodies, and extremely hard shells. They were very sweet but require so much work for very little gain.
Over here, we don’t get mud crabs, but Dungeness crabs are even better. I love that we get so much more meat from the Dungeness, plus the shell is not as hard so it’s easier to get to the meat. I actually love Dungeness so much that I don’t crave or ask for crab as much when I go home to Malaysia.
The Malaysian sweet-sour style of cooking crab, though, that I do miss.
It’s the middle of November. In the Bay Area, do you know what that means?
That’s right, boys and girls, it’s Dungeness crab season! Dungeness crab, or Cancer majister is a large crab found on the West Coast from Alaska down to California. About one quarter of the crab is sweet, succulent crab meat, making it one of the meatiest crabs around.
Continue reading Steamed Dungeness Crabs with Old Bay