This seafood salad as its name suggests is composed of seafood and vegetables with the particularity of being dressed with a little more vinegar than usual. It is very popular in Spain and is often served as free tapas tpgether with your cold beer. Unfortunately, I have normally found that this courtesy tapas lacked a bit of flavor… However, this summer I am reconciled with it. I made it at home and it was so good. Here is my recipe.
Spanish Seafood Salad Recipe (Salpicón de Marisco)
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Serves: 4 Time: 45m Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
500 g of fresh mussels
250 g of raw shrimps
6 surimi sticks
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
1 bay leaf
100 ml of white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, to taste
Optional: 1 big octopus tentacle boiled
Optional: 1 pinch of paprika
Directions
In a large pot add the white wine, bay leaf and mussels. Cover and cook over medium-high heat. Once the water boils, steam two or three minutes or until mussels open. Drain and let them cool.
Bring to boil a pint of water. Add a tablespoon of salt when it starts to boil and it boils again, add the shrimps. Simmer for two or three minutes. Drain and let them cool.
Wash the peppers thoroughly, remove the stalk, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the white inside. Chop half of each into small squares.
Peel and wash the onion and chop it finely.
Cut the cooked octopus and surimi into pieces, peel the shrimps and cut them into chunks, and also remove the shells from the mussels.
Wash parsley thoroughly and dry it well. Finely chop the leaves.
Make a vinaigrette with olive oil, vinegar, salt and a pinch of pepper in a jar. Close it tightly and shake vigorously to emulsify.
Mix all ingredients including the dressing in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or use a container with a lid.
Marinate in refrigerator at least 1 hour or 2 before serving.
It is ready. Serve chilled. Enjoy!
Hints, Tips, and Tricks
This seafood salad admits several variations, depending on your tastes. Here some ideas:
Substitute shrimps by prawns, or use both.
Add other vegetables such as diced tomatoes, cucumber, or even the avocado or sweetcorn.
Green olives, especially the Spanish “manzanilla” are perfect. Or some pickled onions.
Add some fish boiled chunks like monkfish or hake.
In the recipe I describe the amounts of oil and vinegar that I normally use, usually 1 part vinegar to 2 of oil. The dressing should contain more vinegar than for a salad.
Do not use too much vegetables. In this dish the seafood is the main ingredient.
