Friday, September 13, 2019

5-Minute Fisherman’s Stew – Give or Take

Of course this Fisherman’s Stew takes more than five minutes to make, and I’m actually referring to the approximate cooking time once the seafood hits the pan, but as they say, it’s only false advertising if someone else does it. Besides, one taste and I’m sure you’ll forgive any temporal exaggerations. If, that is, you use really great seafood.

A recipe this simple has many advantages. It’s fast, easy, and doesn’t require a ton of prep, but the downside is, there’s nowhere to hide sub-par ingredients. So, unless you’re going to splurge on the freshest, sweetest, most pristine seafood you can find, you may want to look for another recipe.

Above and beyond that very critical directive, you’ll also want to be sure your brothy base is aggressively seasoned before you toss your seafood in. Since we don’t season the fish and shellfish directly, we need to make sure we have enough salt, and whatever else you’re using, to go around. Other than that, not much can go wrong, and assuming there’s some crusty bread nearby, I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 2 Portions:

For the brothy base:
1 cup crushed San Marzano tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes (if your tomatoes aren't nice and sweet, toss in a teaspoon of sugar)
2 cups fish stock, clam juice, or if time are tough, water
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, or to taste

For the rest of the stew:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 very thinly sliced fennel bulb
salt to taste
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped parsley
8 ounces firm white fish, like halibut or sea bass, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
8 peeled and deveined raw shrimp
8 ounces cleaned, ready to cook calamari
12 mussels, scrubbed clean
12 clams, scrubbed clean
some crusty bread
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24 comments:

Caleb said...

Looks amazing! How much calamari did you happen to use?

Caleb said...

Looks incredible and easy! How much calamari did you happen to use?

Caleb said...

Looks delicious! How much calamari did you happen to use?

Cat! said...

Help! I'm afraid of my calamari being tough or chewy, how can I prevent that?

Cat! said...

Help! I'm afraid of my calamari being tough or chewy, how can I prevent that?

Speed said...

This looks great. Having friends over tonight and will give this a try. Is it OK to double the amounts? *PS - you left the squid amounts off the ingredients list. No biggie. Smart cooks can figure it out but I know there are many on your sight that absolutely demand an amount be given. Thanks for sharing this!

Robb said...

Chef John, this looks amazing. Would a yellow or sweet onion (sliced lyonnaise style) work as a reasonable aromatic alteration for those not fond of the anise/licorice of the fennel? Or would this be a change that is a deal-breaker, like using less than the freshest seafood? Thanks in advance.

Unknown said...

Thanks Chef John! Serious question: I live in the sticks and cannot source fennel locally. Substitute ideas?

Redcaddy97 said...

Calamari didn't make it to your recipe!! How much, please.

Sunny said...

Thank you for including budget friendly substitutions. It may be a throwaway line, but over here the economy is going to pot and a lot of us are having to budget hard. Also, I love your videos' presentation and narration. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

So, you really don't see an issue with publishing a recipe using endangered animals? I understand we can substitute it, but what I'm taking an issue with is more-so your comment that was something along the lines "I'd like to use it while it's still around." What an incredibly sh*tty mindset to have.

Anonymous said...

You really don't see an issue with publishing a recipe with endangered animals in them? I understand we can substitute for something sustainable, but I'm mainly taking issue with your comment that was something along the lines of "I want to eat it while it's still around." What an incredibly sh*tty mindset to have.

Chrisfs said...

Hi,

If I don't like fennel, at all, what else can I substitute? Can I use onions?
Please help me be the Jacques Cousteau of my seafood stew
(not a perfect rhyme, I know)

aaaron325iX said...

For the sauce I used some of your pizza sauce I had left over and half canned tomatoes. I also substituted fennel for celery and shallots. Came out great!

jferdico said...

The amount of calamari was left out of the blogger recipe

jferdico said...

how much calamari is used?

Daemonpun said...

Chef jon, I made this BUT i changed a few things and need a new name.

so first i took chicken thighs with skin on, seasoned with salt, pepper, cayane, sumac, and powder sage. Then i seared the thighs skin side down until super crispy, then flipped over and seared the bottoms. Then i finished those in the oven skin side up. So then i followed ur recipe for the sauce, sorta. I through the fenal and garlic into the chicken pot to get at that fond. then I added a stick of butter (i'm making a big pot), then i added crushed tomato a whole big can, a box of beef, 3/4 of a bottle of white wine, brought to a boil. added chili flakes, then a dash of salt. then i added 2 boxes of dried pasta and kept it moving. then i finished with the sprigs of fenal and fresh parsley. it was very good. But i need a new names XD.

Daemonpun said...

Hi chef jon,

i made this but i changed it heavily and now need a new name. I used chicken thighs skin on w/ salt, pepper, cayenne, sumac, and powder sage. Then i seared those skin side down till crispy, then flipped em over and finished them in the oven in a different pan. Then I used the fond for the fennel and garlic, added butter, then crushed tomatoes, beef stock, and white wine. Brought to a boil, then added crushed pepper and salt to taste. Then i added 2 boxes of pasta (spaget) and kept it moving. finally added the fronds and the parsley and ate it. It was VERY GOOD but not 5 mins nor fisherman stew. So i need a new name.

ladylatte said...

Hi Chef John, this looks great but I don't see calamari on the list of ingredients. xo.

JuncoJay said...

I love this type of "enabler" recipe! I'm going to try this but with using only shrimp and make it a shrimp stew. Thank you so much for yet another great inspiration.

May I submit a food wish to you in relation to this? You mentioned you were going to keep some of the fennel to make a salad. I'd like to know how you would go about doing that!

Kind regards.

jferdico said...

how much calamari?

Jimmy Q said...

Simple yet effective.use 1/2 LB of calamari. thanks Chef J

cnol said...

Hey, is there a version of this you could do with ingredients, maybe even a canned fish? Maybe a spicy version to give more flavor and cover up for the fact of using cheaper ingredients?

reta vong said...

Such an amazing fish stew with very complex and harmonious flavors! I’ll be making this often from now on. Thanks so much for the recipe!