Can freshness be frozen? Learn from local food writer Nancy Leson why there really isn’t a debate when it comes to fresh vs. frozen seafood
Discover pro tips and secrets from Leson on how to best buy, locate, store, prepare, and cook frozen seafood
My freezer holds ripe Italian prune plums pulled from my neighbor’s tree in early autumn, pitted, sliced, and ready to turn into a fruit galette or plum torte. There’s also sustainably-raised lamb, born last spring on a friend’s Kingston farmstead, butchered, and frozen in October.
Of course, there’s frozen seafood: shrimp in its shell, Neah Bay halibut, albacore belly, and the last of the coho salmon reeled in during a summer run, all there because when bought — or caught — in season, frozen seafood is a cook’s treasure.
‘Tisn’t the season? That’s why freezing is the gift that keeps on giving. When you turn to your fishmonger’s freezer or your own, especially during winter months when the catch is slim(mer) pickings, you’ll be treated to a “taste of the season” whatever the season.
Take the Dungeness crab caught during our Thanksgiving trip to Orcas Island. The Family Von Trap (a.k.a. my family) scored a baker’s dozen, plus a half-dozen hefty red rock. Fresh from the drink these were immediately cooked off on the beach, cooled, cleaned, and cracked. We ate fresh crabmeat as garnish for a glorious gumbo, in homemade sushi rolls, as crab chowder, and even on pizza, then froze a pint, too.
What’s more, adhering to the adage “waste not, want not,” I oven-roasted the cracked shells I’d saved to make an intense shellfish stock augmented with onion, garlic, tomatoes, wine, paprika and herbs (see recipe, way below). Strained then frozen in four-, eight-, and 16-ounce portions, that stock is money in the bank, culinary cash I’ll later use to deepen the flavor of everything from soups, stir-fries, and risotto to another big batch of gumbo.
As mentioned in my last blog post, you shouldn’t sniff — nor will you need to! — when you learn that “fresh” seafood has been frozen. Advances in flash-freezing technology have greatly improved the quality of fresh fish and shellfish. Freezing seafood immediately after harvest kills germs and bacteria that can cause rapid deterioration, preserves its nutrition-value while also protecting its texture, and ensures a consistent temperature during transport.
In fact, you will find that properly frozen seafood tastes comparable to fresh and is often even better.
As ever, when shopping for seafood, find a reputable market where you can tap your fishmonger for cooking tips and tricks and (not incidentally) ask to have your purchase packed alongside a bag of ice for the trip home. When buying pre-packaged frozen seafood, keep a wary eye out for torn packaging or ice crystals visible within the package.
Speaking of packaging: while zipper-top freezer bags are handy for home freezing, vacuum-seal systems like the modestly priced FoodSaver do a far better job of increasing the shelf life of your seafood. However you freeze it, frozen fish should not be stored in the freezer (or your purveyor’s!) for longer than 18 to 24 months.
Did you know you can cook frozen seafood directly from the freezer without thawing? Me neither: until I got hip to the directives offered by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, who's trademarked “Cook It Frozen!” techniques prove you can bake, roast, poach, grill, air-fry, pan-fry or Instant Pot-ify a quick meal, taking it from freezer to table in very short order. Click here to watch this video on how to pan sear frozen salmon.
My fishmonger, who grew up in the business, remembers his grandmother freezing fresh clams in the shell then steaming them directly from the deep-freeze. “You’d never know they weren’t fresh out of the water,” he told me. Taking a page from grandma’s book, I used frozen Manilas to make a simple Japanese-accented dish of clams with garlic, sake and butter, a recipe culled from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Wok by Seattle-based J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. Served over soba noodles boiled during the very few minutes it took me to steam a pound of clams, that simple dish was simply superb.
Here’s how it’s done: Thinly slice three cloves of fresh garlic, one medium shallot and one scallion. Roughly chop a handful of fresh cilantro leaves. Mix a half-a-cup of dry sake (substitute dry sherry) with one teaspoon of soy sauce. Mix one teaspoon of cornstarch with one tablespoon of cold water. Now: Heat a tablespoon of butter in a wok or a large straight-sided saute-pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until the garlic is softened but not browned, about 30 seconds. Add the sake/soy sauce mixture, turn the burner to high and bring to a boil. Stir in the frozen clams. Cover and cook, adjusting the heat to maintain a steady simmer until all the clams open, about six minutes. Stir in the cilantro and scallion, followed by the cornstarch slurry, then toss the clams in the sauce until it thickens. As they say in Japan: Oishii! (Delicious!)
I’d also happily use frozen clams to whip up Tom Douglas’ Clam Linguine with Pancetta, Chiles and Garlic, a recipe from his first cookbook, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, and a dish I’ve been preparing at home for years. Or make a variation on that theme as Tom suggests in this video segment.
And, hey: You don’t even have to know how to cook, to “cook” frozen seafood.
Frozen albacore tastes great when thawed (for best practices, on a drip-proof tray in the fridge) and served raw, as sushi fans the world over will attest. But why not try it with an Italian accent as albacore crudo, a dish that’s all the rage in fancy-pants restaurants — and easy enough to make at home following this recipe from Naomi Tomky’s The Pacific Northwest Seafood Cookbook:
Thinly slice local albacore, then array the slices on individual plates or a communal platter. Scatter with pitted and sliced Castelvetrano olives (or other meaty green olives), two teaspoons of drained capers, and a generous amount of freshly zested lemon. Finish with a drizzle of high-quality extra virgin olive oil and a hefty pinch of flaky salt. Don’t have flaky sea salt? Go buy a box of Maldon, revered by chefs worldwide. Or better yet, keep it local with San Juan Island Sea Salt from the Salish Sea.
NANCY’S SHELLFISH STOCK
Makes about 3 ½ quarts
I make this stock using Dungeness crab shells saved after picking out the meat (including the little legs I’m too lazy to pick!), but feel free to use shells from any type of crab, shrimp, or lobster. I wait until I have two gallon-size bags of fresh or frozen shells (no need to thaw!) before making it, though this works even if you’ve only picked two large crab. The more shells you’ve got, the more intense the flavor gets. It’ll take a few hours to get the job done, but it’s not an onerous task so long as you have time to tend the shellfish as it browns in the oven and keep an eye on the prize as it simmers on the stove. I’ve got lots to say about making stock — of all kinds! Listen in, right here on this KNKX Food For Thought segment on making stock.
Ingredients
2-gallon bags full of crab shells
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup diced onion
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 bay leaves, crumbled
4 garlic cloves, crushed and unpeeled
Crack the shells in the bag(s) using a rolling pin, meat tenderizer, or heavy skillet.
Layer the broken shells on a rimmed sheet pan (or two) or in a large roasting pan and bake in a pre-heated 325-degree oven, turning occasionally until the shells are brittle and beginning to brown; this should take an hour or so.
In a large stock pot over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the onion and sauté until the onion begins to lightly brown. Add the roasted shells, then immediately deglaze the roasting pan with a cup (or more, as needed) of very hot water, using a spatula to loosen any of the flavorful caramelization stuck on the bottom of the pan. Carefully add that now-flavored water to the stock pot.
Add the canned tomatoes plus their juice, the wine, paprika, thyme, bay leaves and garlic. Mix. Now add four quarts (16 cups) of water, then increase the heat. When the liquid comes to a boil, immediately reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 ½ hours.
Once the pot cools enough to handle, strain the stock through a fine strainer or a colander fitted with cheesecloth, pressing with a spoon to get all the goodness out.
Freeze the stock in small containers.
(Adapted from Essential Pepin by Jacques Pepin)
