One of O Macanese Restaurant’s bestsellers, Seafood Cataplana bringing the Portuguese flavours with the freshest of ingredients, which are then stewed in shrimp sauce combined with cinnamon, star anise and Portuguese port wine. A creamy, smooth dish, fragrant from the scent of cinnamon and star anise in the sauce, and juicy from the seafood.

Ingredient:

For the shrimp sauce:

• 1.5kg shrimp shell
• 20ml olive oil
• 200g onion, sliced
• 50g garlic, minced
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 10g turmeric powder
• 15g unsalted butter
• 15g tomato paste
• 2 litres of water
• 5 sprigs of parsley

For the seafood:

• 70g sea bass
• 3  prawns
• 3 black mussels
• 6 clams
• 100g squid
• 30ml olive oil
• 50g chorizo
• 20g prosciutto
• 50g onion
• 50g green capsicum
• 20ml whipping cream
• 20g garlic, minced
• 1 whole bay leaf
• 20ml Cognac
• 100ml prawn stock
• Star anise flaked
• Cinnamon
• Port wine

Method:

To prepare the shrimp sauce:

• Stir-fry tiger prawns with olive oil until cooked red.
• Stir-fry onion, garlic, bay leaves, turmeric powder, then add tomato paste and butter.
• Add 1 tablespoon of cognac, burn all the alcohol, then pour 2 litres of water and simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Blend until smooth, then filter to get the liquid.

To cook the seafood cataplana:

• Stir-fry prosciutto and chorizo with olive oil until slightly browned, then move to a plate next to the soup.
• Add a little butter to the pan and stir-fry the onions and bell pepper until soft, then add the seafood, prosciutto, chorizo and bay leaves to the pan. Stir-fry with 1 ladle of Port wine.
• Add shrimp sauce, cinnamon, and coriander flowers and cook until done.
• Place on a plate sprinkled with parsley, serve with bread or white rice

Seafood Cataplana is available at O Macanese Restaurant, Ground floor, Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi Centre, 83A Lý Thường Kiệt St, Hoàn Kiếm Dist, Hà Nội. For reservation, please dial +84 24 3822 2800. VNS