This article contains information about what a seafood cocktail is, what beneficial substances are contained in seafood, and for whom dishes from this semi-finished product are contraindicated. You will also learn how to prepare various dishes from this product.
In supermarkets you can buy a seafood cocktail, then at home you can prepare many dishes that will decorate the festive table and become the highlight of the holiday. Frozen seafood sets usually consist of squid, mussels, shrimp and other sea creatures. It’s convenient that such sets contain only cleaned seafood, already cut, so you can save time and quickly prepare food.
These semi-finished products go well with both cold appetizers and hot dishes. Let's look at the rules for preparing them, and what goodies you can prepare from a sea cocktail.
Sea cocktail - composition
To make the product, only natural seafood is used, more precisely: mussels, octopus, shrimp, cuttlefish, clams, squid. Sea cocktail is easy to use because the time spent on preparing it is kept to a minimum. You don’t have to clean or cut seafood, just add it to the dish, boil or fry it. And everything is ready for a healthy meal.
Sea cocktail packaging
Sea cocktail composition:
A frozen seafood cocktail, although it partially loses its beneficial components due to the processing of seafood, vitamins and minerals are still present in its composition in sufficient quantities after preparing various dishes. The meat of sea creatures includes:
- Vitamins D, A, E
- Mineral elements: iron, zinc, phosphorus, calcium, iodine and potassium
- Polyunsaturated acids.
Sea cocktail is not a high-calorie product, despite this, it is not recommended to consume a lot of seafood, because it can harm your health.
Benefits of a seafood cocktail
A seafood cocktail not only has good taste, but also numerous valuable properties. It supplies the body with important vitamins and microelements, helps improve overall well-being and prevent the development of illnesses. With regular consumption of assorted food:
- normalizes blood pressure;
- lowers blood sugar levels and prevents the development of diabetes;
- improves the functioning of the nervous system and helps fight stress;
- strengthens memory and regulates sleep;
- prevents cancer;
- reduces the risk of developing atherosclerosis;
- improves the functioning of the stomach and intestines.
Eating a seafood cocktail is useful for preventing vitamin deficiency. If included in your diet on a regular basis, it will help build and maintain healthy muscle mass.
Attention! A seafood cocktail is very useful for pregnant women, but before consuming it you need to make sure there are no allergies.
Is sea cocktail in oil healthy?
Sea cocktail is available in stores in several varieties, including oil. The seafood in its composition retains all its beneficial properties and good taste, and does not lose vitamins and microelements, as often happens when processed by blast freezing.
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A cocktail in oil can have a particularly good effect on the digestive and metabolic systems. Canned seafood accelerates metabolic processes, prevents constipation and improves liver and intestinal function.
But at the same time, you need to approach the consumption of assorted foods with caution if you have chronic diseases. For pancreatitis, gallbladder ailments and exacerbation of gastritis and ulcers, it is better to avoid the cocktail, as it can provoke a worsening of the condition.
When purchasing assorted seafood in oil, it is especially important to check the expiration dates of the product and the tightness of the packaging.
Is a sea cocktail in brine good for you?
Not only oil and blast freezing allow you to keep seafood fresh for a long time, but also immersing squid, shrimp and mussels in brine. The liquid serves as a good preservative, providing the cocktail with freshness for several months, while the vitamins and microelements in the composition are not destroyed. Seafood in brine can be eaten pure or used in salads and appetizers.
You should avoid the cocktail only if you have gastritis with high acidity, ulcers, pancreatitis and gout. It is not advisable to buy assorted foods if you have chronic inflammatory kidney diseases. The brine in this case will have a negative effect and provoke an exacerbation. It can also lead to edema and deterioration of the cardiovascular system.
Advice! Thorough rinsing of shrimp, mussels, squid and other ingredients in cold water before consumption helps reduce the potential harm from seafood in brine.
Sea cocktail - benefits and contraindications
The beneficial effect on the body occurs due to the presence of many useful substances in the sea cocktail. Therefore, those who rationally consume the product will notice improvements in health and general well-being.
The main thing is not to overeat, despite the fact that the seafood cocktail itself is not a high-calorie product, excess weight can still be observed in people who excessively consume dishes made from shellfish, octopus, and shrimp. After all, they also contain other products, sauces, mayonnaise.
Seafood salad
By consuming a sea cocktail , you can notice the following positive changes in the body’s functioning :
- balanced functioning of the gastrointestinal tract
- increase in hemoglobin content in the bloodstream
- normalization of blood sugar
- positive dynamics of the heart and blood vessels.
Experts also advise consuming seafood for preventive purposes, in particular for the prevention of atherosclerosis.
Contraindications to drinking sea cocktail:
- Seafood should not be eaten by people with an individual intolerance to any component that is part of the seafood cocktail.
- The product is perishable, which is why you need to eat the prepared dish immediately. Otherwise, you can cause great harm to your health.
Useful properties of frozen sea cocktail
The benefits of a frozen cocktail for the human body are obvious: the composition of the product is different and you can independently choose the one that suits your taste. Seafood cocktail is high in protein and is very nutritious but low in calories.
The sea cocktail also contains a sufficient amount of iodine, which stimulates brain function and normalizes the endocrine system. A balanced composition of nutrients and nutrients helps restore normal metabolism, which leads to weight loss.
Vitamins A and E prevent aging, carotene is good for good vision, and vitamin E for beautiful and smooth skin. Amino acids found in seafood can lower blood sugar and blood pressure.
Frozen seafood cocktail is useful for eating for the following diseases and for their prevention:
- Diabetes.
- Diseases of the heart and endocrine system.
- High cholesterol
- Lack of muscle mass due to diets and strength training, especially when gaining athletic mass.
- Atherosclerosis.
Sea cocktail - how to choose and store correctly?
It is important to be able to choose the right product. After all, the composition of the seafood cocktail varies depending on the manufacturer and name. When choosing seafood, it is better to follow the following recommendations:
- Pay attention to what is written on the packaging and what the seafood cocktail consists of . After all, the composition of the product may be different.
- The product must be stored in the refrigerator, which is why it must be stored frozen in the store .
- Particular attention should be paid to the date of manufacture and shelf life . If you choose a product by manufacturer, you should take into account that the best one is a European manufacturer . There, special attention is paid to the quality and processing of seafood.
- By the type of product you can determine whether it is suitable for consumption or not . If it has already been defrosted, the packaging may have lost its shape. It’s better not to buy a seafood cocktail in such packaging. The product is perishable, it can be defrosted once when preparing dishes and no more .
- Manufacturers also always indicate the quantity of certain products in the package. It is imperative that the weight of all components of seafood products be the same .
At home, store the seafood cocktail in the freezer. Be sure to use seafood before the expiration date indicated on the package. Before cooking, defrost the seafood cocktail in the refrigerator. The natural defrosting time should vary within two to three hours . If you change your mind about cooking defrosted seafood, then salt them and put them in a cold place, but you shouldn’t delay the cooking process for a long time. The seafood cocktail may go bad.
What types of seafood cocktails are there?
IMPORTANT : There are two options for sea cocktails. One is frozen food in raw form, the other is frozen food in cooked form. The methods for preparing them vary slightly. The first one must be boiled, the second one must be defrosted in the microwave or at room temperature, and then reheated.
Use in cooking
Most often, seafood cocktails are consumed as an independent, unusual delicacy. But if you wish, you can use the assortment in preparing a variety of dishes. In particular, the components of the cocktail:
- added to salads with a dressing of oil, mayonnaise or lemon juice;
- fried with garlic, onion, pepper and salt;
- boil in salted water with the addition of herbs and spices.
You can combine seafood with rice and pasta, fresh and stewed vegetables. Assorted seafood ingredients are often used to decorate pizza.
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How to select and store
When purchasing assorted seafood, it is important to choose the highest quality and freshest product possible. There are several points to pay attention to:
- Date of manufacture. Seafood should be fresh, the most pleasant taste and the greatest benefits are the assorted ones made most recently. Mixtures with an expiring expiration date should not be purchased.
- Manufacturer country. Seafood of European origin is considered the best, since brands pay particular attention to quality.
- Packaging integrity. The container with the seafood cocktail must be completely sealed and without any signs of tampering.
If the contents of the package can be seen through the walls, you need to make sure that the assortment has a neat and attractive appearance. Frozen seafood should not be sticky as this indicates it is thawing and re-cooling.
The seafood cocktail should not contain unnecessary preservatives, dyes or flavors.
Sea cocktail in brine or oil must be stored exclusively in the refrigerator. Seafood in a closed container remains edible until the expiration date. The assorted mixture in the opened package must be used within 72 hours - after this, the remaining mixture will only have to be disposed of.
The shelf life of a frozen cocktail is about 18 months. It must be kept in the freezer at a temperature of -18 °C and below. After thawing, the mixture must be consumed entirely at one time. Seafood is not re-frozen.
Sea cocktail - recipes: Chinese cabbage salad
Dishes prepared with seafood are not only healthy, but also delicious. They also look aesthetically pleasing, so they will look good on the holiday table. Next, we’ll look at how to make a seafood cocktail with Chinese cabbage.
Ingredients:
- Chinese cabbage – 225 g
- Sea cocktail – 155 g
- Cucumbers – 195 g
- Eggs 2 pcs.
- Sour cream – 65 g
- Salt pepper.
Salad with seafood and Chinese cabbage
Preparation:
- Wash the vegetables thoroughly and let them dry a little. Chop the cabbage into strips.
- Then cut the cucumbers and greens. Peel the eggs, cut them into cubes, and add them to the salad.
- Lightly defrost the seafood cocktail and boil until ready; when it cools, pour into the salad.
- Season the dish with sour cream, add salt, seasonings, and favorite herbs. The entire dish can be served for lunch.
This dish is considered a dietary dish, because seafood is a source of protein and contains fewer calories than any meat. In addition, the absorption of seafood occurs faster. If meat is processed in the body for about six hours, then seafood is only three. That is why nutritionists advise consuming seafood in your diet every day, but not in large quantities, but in such a way as not to harm your figure.
Sea cocktail – “Orphan Nautilus” salad
This salad contains not only a frozen seafood cocktail, but also fish that is healthy in all respects. You can prepare the dish with deviations from the main recipe. Add your favorite spices, herbs, adjust the amount of salt, pepper, mustard. It all depends on your preferences, whether you like spicy salads or, on the contrary, prefer mild-tasting dishes.
Salad with fried fish and seafood
Ingredients:
- Rucolla – 125 g
- Sea cocktail – 165 g
- Ground nuts
- Narsharab (pomegranate syrup) – 15 g
- Mustard “Russian” – 15 g
- Olive oil – 65 ml.
- Salt, spices, pepper
- Flounder fish – 325 g
- Flour, lemon.
Preparation:
- You should start by cooking the fish. It should be fried, but before that, peel, wash, roll in flour and sprinkle with spices.
- Thaw the seafood cocktail, boil until done, separate from the water, and place in a separate container.
- Prepare the sauce with pomegranate syrup, mustard, olive oil, ground nuts.
- Beautifully arrange arugula, fish, seafood cocktail on a platter, pour over the sauce, and squeeze lemon juice on top.
- Decorate the dish with vegetables and herbs to your taste. Spices can be added to taste, the main thing is not to over-pepper.
Prepare the dish just before lunch or dinner. As already mentioned, sea cocktail is a perishable product, so you should not put it off until later, it is better to eat it right away.
Recipes with sea cocktail
Stewed sea cocktail
How many servings: 4
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Compound:
0.5 kg of sea cocktail, 2 carrots, 2 onions, 0.5 l of milk, 50 g of butter, juice of 1 orange, salt, ground black pepper.
Preparation:
Grate the carrots, finely chop the onion, mix the vegetables with the sea cocktail and place in a deep frying pan. Pour milk, add orange juice, a piece of butter. Simmer everything covered for an hour. The liquid should almost all boil away. Salt and pepper at the very end.
Sea cocktail with rice
Compound:
Sea cocktail, onion, seasonings, boiled rice.
Preparation:
Fry onions in vegetable oil, add frozen cocktail, sprinkle with seasonings (oregano or basil). Add a little soy sauce, close the lid and simmer until done. Place on boiled rice.
Sea cocktail dish with cheese
Compound:
seafood cocktail, cheese, olive oil, basil, salt.
Preparation:
Place the frozen sea cocktail in unsalted, almost boiling water and boil. Pour olive oil into a frying pan and heat. Place the sea cocktail there, add salt and fry, stirring occasionally.
Grate the cheese on a fine grater, pour into the pan and mix everything. When the cheese has melted and fried a little, remove the pan from the stove and place the contents on a plate. Sprinkle with basil. The seafood cocktail dish with cheese is ready.
Pizza with sea cocktail
Compound:
Sea cocktail, cheese, olives, dried dill seeds, cloves, black peppercorns, mayonnaise (can be replaced with vegetable oil), pizza dough.
Preparation:
Boil water, add salt, add 3 cloves, dried dill seeds, 5 black peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and 300-350 grams of sea cocktail. Take ready-made pizza dough (if you wish, you can make it yourself), grease it with mayonnaise and place a seafood cocktail mixed with mayonnaise on it. Sprinkle chopped olives and grated cheese on top and bake in the oven. After 20 minutes the dish is ready.
Salad with avocado and sea cocktail
Compound:
Garlic, seafood cocktail, green onions, avocado, soy sauce, lemon juice.
Preparation: First you need to fry the seafood cocktail, and then peel and cut the avocado into slices. The onion feathers are cut as finely as possible. The sauce is prepared from garlic, squeezed through a press, soy sauce and juice. The cocktail is mixed with avocado and topped with sauce.
Sea cocktail in cream
Perhaps the fastest cooking recipe. Place frozen foods in a frying pan and heat over high heat, covered, until the ice melts.
Drain the liquid and pour heavy cream over the seafood. Add salt and pepper and simmer for about 20 minutes over low heat. To make the dish beautiful in color, you can add ground paprika.
How often do you cook seafood cocktails?
Frozen seafood cocktail: tongue salad recipe
Those who like to try something new can try another seafood and tongue salad. This is a dish for gourmets; they will definitely appreciate its taste. What’s also good is that it’s not at all difficult to prepare, more details below.
Salad with boiled tongue and seafood
Ingredients:
- Red cabbage – 785 g cabbage
- Sea cocktail – 165 g
- Bell pepper – 155 g
- Olive oil – 65 ml.
- Lemon (juice), salt, sugar
- Boiled tongue – 225 g
- Bacon – 125 g
- Mayonnaise sauce or mayonnaise – 75 ml
- Spicy mustard – 25 g
- Pomegranate sauce - taste.
Preparation:
- Rinse the vegetables, then finely chop the cabbage, chop the pepper, add sugar, salt, and lemon juice to the resulting mass. Mash, add butter.
- Chop the bacon and fry a little in a frying pan. Also chop the boiled tongue into strips, then add bacon to it, season with mayonnaise sauce and mustard.
- Brew the sea cocktail, when it has cooled a little, add to the mixture, mix with all the other ingredients, then pour over the pomegranate sauce.
The result will be a savory dish that will surprise even the pickiest gourmets with its taste. If you also want to decorate it, like in the best restaurants, then make curls from bell pepper. To do this, remove the skin from the vegetable, cut it into very thin strips, put it in cold water, it will curl up on its own. You will get beautiful shavings in the form of springs.
Frozen seafood cocktail in cooking
A seafood cocktail is an independent dish that requires a suitable side dish. Typically, seafood is cooked in sour cream or white wine, avoiding the addition of seasonings or garlic. After preparation, the seafood cocktail has a pleasant marine aroma with a slight hint of sweetness. You can use 1-2 tsp as seasoning. lemon juice.
Advice! Before cooking, the seafood cocktail is boiled for 5 minutes, after which the resulting broth must be drained. Seafood is drained in a colander and then added to pasta or fried with butter.
To understand what is best to serve a seafood cocktail with, you need to look back at its homeland - these are the countries of the east, in particular China and Japan. Traditionally, a seafood cocktail is served with rice, the neutral taste of which does not overwhelm the taste of seafood. And in Italy, a seafood cocktail is served accompanied by white wine, and spaghetti is offered as a side dish.
Gastronomic advice!
To prepare creamy seafood paste, boil the seafood cocktail for 5 minutes, drain the water. After this, place the seafood in heated butter, add 2 tbsp. l. sour cream (for 300 g seafood) and 1 tsp. lemon juice. Simmer under a closed lid for 7 to 15 minutes. It is recommended to serve the dish with spaghetti.
Salad with sea cocktail – sea breeze
A salad with such a beautiful name simply cannot be tasteless. When choosing a seafood cocktail for a dish, be sure to ensure that the product is not sticky. This is a big minus for seafood that is frozen, indicating that it was not stored quite correctly in the store. There is a high probability that it was already defrosted, and then it was frozen again.
Sea cocktail with salmon
Ingredients:
- Lightly salted fish (preferably salmon) – 325 g
- Salad – 125 g
- Cheese cheese – 125 g
- Sea cocktail – 325 g
- Lemon, olive oil, black olives
- Red caviar – 55 G
Preparation:
- Start by processing the vegetables, wash the salad and let it dry slightly. Thaw the seafood cocktail and boil until ready. Then leave the seafood to cool.
- Lettuce leaves should be torn into pieces, added to a seafood cocktail, sprinkle the finished mixture with lemon juice, then add oil, mix the resulting mass.
- Cut the salmon into slices. Then place cheese cubes on these plates and roll the fish into a roll.
- Now decorate the salad beautifully. Place rolls of cheese with salmon along the edges of the dish, and a mixture of salad and sea cocktail inside.
You can decorate all this with caviar, olives, parsley. And then add the final note - sprinkle the resulting composition with lemon juice. Now you can start eating.
IMPORTANT : If you like seafood with a strong aroma, do not rinse it with running water before cooking. You should also use only fresh herbs for cooking. Dried, frozen, salted can only spoil the appearance of the salad.
What is a seafood cocktail made of?
Typically, seafood cocktails include shrimp, mussels, octopus and squid.
Shrimps
Crustaceans. Their size depends on the temperature of the water in which they live; the colder it is, the smaller they are, but their meat is much tastier. Small shrimps from the northern seas are more suitable for salads and beer, while southern shrimps are suitable for grilling and frying in batter. Be sure to remove the shell from large shrimp, as well as the intestinal vein that runs along the back.
Octopus and squid
These are shellfish. Squid is very useful, for this reason it is called sea ginseng. Before cooking, it must be boiled; in order for the meat to be tasty, you need to keep it in boiling water for no more than 4 minutes. You need to cook octopuses the same way. Octopus meat contains many useful substances - potassium, selenium, taurine, zinc, iron and B vitamins. It improves immunity, improves vision, and regulates cholesterol levels. Octopuses need to be cleaned carefully and carefully; mucus and ink can lead to poisoning of the body.
Mussels
Mollusk. The nutritional value is exactly the same as oysters, only cheaper and less caloric. In 100 gr. mussels contain 52% of the daily value of selenium, without it iodine cannot be absorbed in the body, 13% of the daily value of vitamin C, and 22% of iron.
What can you make from a sea cocktail?
Avocado and sea cocktail salad
Compound:
- Seafood Cocktail,
- avocado,
- garlic,
- soy sauce,
- green onions,
- lemon juice (or lime).
Preparation: fry the sea cocktail. Peel the avocado and cut into small slices. Chop the green onions into smaller pieces. Squeeze the garlic through a press, add lemon juice and soy sauce. Mix seafood with avocado and pour sauce.
How to make a seafood cocktail with potatoes?
When preparing hot dishes, it is better to add the seafood cocktail last, then the squid will not be overcooked. After all, if this product is overcooked, the meat becomes rubbery and impossible to eat.
Components of the dish
:
- Sea cocktail – 325 g
- Pangasius (fillet) – 1 pc.
- Potatoes – 475 g
- Onion – 1 pc.
- Garlic – 12 g
- Ginger – 12 g
- Pepper, salt, rosemary, herbs.
Potatoes with seafood
Preparation :
- Defrost seafood and fish. Then clean the fish and cut into neat small pieces.
- Drain the liquid and fry the onion until it turns golden. Peel the potatoes, wash the vegetables. Cut the potatoes into cubes.
- Let the water boil in a saucepan and place the potato cubes in it. Let the potatoes boil, then add sea cocktail and garlic. Moreover, there is no need to clean it, it is added only for aroma. Add salt and let everything simmer. When the potatoes are ready, add the rest of the ingredients, the hot dish will boil, then you can set it aside.
To make the dish have a pleasant aroma, you can also fry the garlic with the onions, only add the garlic when the onions are almost ready (reached a golden color). The frying should be added at the end of cooking the stewed potatoes.
Preparing a sea cocktail - useful tips
When preparing dishes with seafood cocktail, you should take into account some of the subtleties of the process. After all, if you do something wrong, you can ruin the entire taste of the finished dish.
Seafood with greens
Tips for preparing a seafood cocktail:
- A seafood cocktail with squid cannot be cooked for a long time; if the squid meat is overcooked, it will become tough.
- Well, if this has happened - the meat has become tough, then cook it for another 15-25 minutes, it will become soft again.
- Tomato paste or tomatoes are excellent as a flavoring for seafood; for pilaf this is an irreplaceable option.
- To avoid problems with the gastrointestinal tract, choose a fresh seafood cocktail and do not defrost it for a long time in a warm place so that the seafood does not disappear.
Below are links where you can see many more ideas for a holiday table with seafood. Choose proven recipes, make your own changes to them and you will get wonderful dishes that are healthy for a healthy diet. Bon appetit!
You can see more healthy recipes here:
- Frozen seafood cocktail - recipes
- How to fry shrimp?
- Recipes for cooking squid in the oven
- Recipes for making tartlets and canapés with seafood
- Festive canapes - sandwich recipes