Mysterious marine animals are often found on supermarket shelves . For shrimp, they are too big, for lobsters or lobsters are too small. The people look at them suspiciously and pass by. But in vain! These crayfish are called scampias, they are tasty and healthy, in the Mediterranean countries they are considered a delicacy, and a variety of dishes are prepared from them. So seafood lovers should pay close attention to these inhabitants of the seas and oceans.
What is scampia?
This is not her only name. It came from the Italian "name", which there sounds like "scampi". The better-known name is langoustine, but in Europe the term “Norwegian lobster” also walks, and the British call the scampia Dublin shrimp. Outwardly, it looks like a regular lobster, but has a much more modest size - a maximum of 25 cm.
Of course, langoustines are most valued fresh, because freezing makes their meat friable, and at the same time it loses much in taste. However, it is very difficult to transport these crayfish: without water, they quickly die, and during the "journey" they fight with each other. So they carry them separately, which significantly affects the cost.
They get onto our shelves quick-frozen, and you have to put up with it. The main thing is that they did not defrost before - the quality deteriorates to the limit. Normal langoustine should not have a fishy “aroma”, for which we greatly appreciate. So, if you feel a characteristic odor during an autopsy, feel free to bring complaints to the store.
Preliminary preparation
Most often, various homemade soups are prepared from these crustaceans. Whatever langoustine you come across (what if you get fresh!), You must first cut it. And no matter what you are going to cook - scampi soup, salad with them or some exotic dish - you must first remove the animal from the shell. To do this, boil water in a voluminous pan, where cancer is lowered for half a minute. Cooking it for longer is not worth it - like a squid, it becomes rubber and noticeably deteriorates in taste. Langoustine is sorted out still warm: the head is removed, the carapace is carefully broken, and the desired meat is squeezed out (with extreme caution!) From the tail. "Leftovers", that is, claws, shell and head, can be used for a fragrant broth, on which a delicious scampi soup or some kind of fish soup is subsequently prepared. But keep in mind: there’s a lot of cholesterol in your head, so take risks.
Classic is always in price
In a large pan, olive oil (and no substitutes!) Is heated, in which chopped fennel, carrots, celery and onions are allowed. When they become soft, garlic is added - you can chopped, you can whole cloves. Peeled fish (preferably sea bass) and scampi are chopped and added to vegetables. After mixing , the pre-cooked fish broth is poured. To make your scampi soup look even more beautiful and seductive, you can add a little turmeric. Then chopped tomatoes, lavrushka, thyme and parsley are introduced. At the end, a glass of dry wine is added (it is better to take white). It is necessary to cook soup from scampias until they and the fish are ready. Usually it takes about 20 minutes - it depends on the volume of the pan and the number of components taken. When ready, the laurel is taken out, and everything else is passed through a blender. To give greater uniformity, it is also desirable to rub the mass through a sieve or mesh colander. It remains to warm up a little, salt and serve the fat cream. As a result, you get a fragrant and mouth-watering soup (photo above), which even the most capricious family member will not refuse.
Note that the exact composition of the components is not knowingly indicated here, as traditionally homemade soups are prepared “by eye”, the way you and your household like it.
Creamy scampi soup
You can build a great first course out of these crayfish and with fewer ingredients. To begin with, 4 tomatoes must be freed from the skin and chopped simultaneously with 4 shallots. They must be stewed in butter, then add a spoonful of flour and fry until golden. Then a quarter liter of broth is poured. To make this soup made of scampi tastier, it is recommended to cook the base of chicken or turkey poultry. When it starts to boil, 2 cups of fat cream, salt, sugar (a pinch), 6 tablespoons of wine, white pepper and a little Tabasco sauce are added. Five minutes later, prepared scampias (a quarter kilogram) and tomatoes are introduced, and at the very end - small rings of green onions. So the conceived soup is ready! His photo in itself is seductive, and yet the dish is complemented by a stunning aroma.
French orthosis soup
Well-known culinary experts have their own opinions on how to make scampi soup. To start, they (in the amount of 20 pieces) are quickly boiled, the meat is removed, and everything else is returned to the pan, where at the same time a pound of fish, onion, savory (greens), carrot, salt and lemon wedges are laid. Cooking should be about one and a half hours. Then the fish is disassembled, the broth is filtered and passed with vegetables through a blender. Another onion and a pound of tomatoes are finely chopped and stewed without any liquids with salt and red pepper in a separate saucepan. When they are soft, they also turn into a mashed blender and rub through a sieve. Four potatoes are cut into small cubes and half a glass of rice are thrown into the main pot. When they reach the desired condition, tomato puree and half a glass of cider or white wine are added. While preparing, the juice is squeezed out of the lemon, two chicken eggs are beaten together with it, after which the mixture is carefully added to the pan. The resulting delicious soup is poured on plates where slices of scampi and fish are already laid. Top for beauty and aroma can be sprinkled with lemon zest and parsley.