Should I dilute the butter a bit with a little water? Also, anyone have success with simmering imitation crab legs in butter to make it more realistic?
Should I dilute the butter a bit with a little water? Also, anyone have success with simmering imitation crab legs in butter to make it more realistic?
so the diluting the flavour is a part of the process of cooking. Essentially when you boil the seafood some of the naturaL juices of the seafood will leech out into the water and will be replaced by the water.
you want this to happen. It seasons the food. That’s why you should make sure your water or broth is flavorful. Season it generously with salt, add some old bay, lemon, garlic, onions. Maybe use some beer, chicken broth, orange juice or citrus to flavour the water. Finally let your seafood sit in the hot water for 10 minutes to really allow for absorption.
You can finish your seafood in butter and baste it if you want some colour, but all those steps above will produce a delicious end product.
The thing is I feel like I’m throwing away $15-20 worth of ingredients when I finish the boil, can that be used as a soup base or something?
Have you tried?
I cooked off shrimps in water and it was, not very good IMO, but people do it so try it out, only you will know of its good for you!
I’ve tried it before and the taste of old bay was so overwhelming that I didn’t think I could use it for anything else other than a future seafood boil. Which is why I’m trying to avoid using a bunch of water this time
Taste the water, it should be salted generously but it should taste good and to answer your previous question you can save it as a spiced seafood stock. Put it in a bisque, or make a seafood pasta with it, or boil your rice in it for some shrimp fried rice.