I also like serving this dish because it gives me the opportunity to serve my family dragon fruit, the tangy, brightly-colored fruit that is a cross between a kiwi and pear. Dragon fruit is so popular in Taiwan that diabetics use it as a food substitute for rice. In this dish, it plays dual roles of distinctive garnish and fresh salad ingredient.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Langostino (frozen and cooked), approximately 12 ounces
• 1 bag bamboo shoots, sliced into fine strips
• Optional – 3 Tbs spoons capelin roe (masago). Be sure to save a tablespoon of this for garnish
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, cut into pieces of nearly 1 inch each
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1/8 tsp white pepper or seafood seasoning
• pinch of salt, to taste
• Dragonfruit or kiwifruit for garnish

Instructions:

1. Prepare langostino as indicated on the package. Usually you can just defrost and use langostino immediately. Sometimes I also immerse the langostino into boiling water for about 15 seconds, rinse with cold water and wipe the pieces dry with a paper towel.
2. Mix langostino with all of the other ingredients in a bowl.
3. Place the mixture on a large big plate and decorate with slices dragon fruit or kiwi and garnish with capelin roe. Makes 8-10 servings.

Where can I get the Langostino and bamboo shoots?

Langostino can be purchased at Trader Joe’s in 12-ounce packages or from Costco. Bamboo shoots can be purchased at any Asian supermarket.  The shoots come with vacuum-packed in the vegetable section or ice-packed in the frozen section.

What is capelin roe?

Capelin roe is one of the ingredients of making sushi. You may recognize it as the tiny orange roe commonly seen in sushi rolls.

Photo courtesy of Quinn Dmbrowski

Ingredients:

• 20 pieces medium-large shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 2 pieces calamari steak, cut into strips
• 1 cup fresh scallops
• 2 packs udon*
• 2 romaine hearts, cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into wedges (optional)
• Shredded green onion, to taste

Seasonings:

• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cooking wine
• Black pepper, to taste
• Cooking oil
• Seasame dressing (or any salad dressing you prefer), to taste

Instructions:

1. Separately marinate shrimp, calamari strips and scallops in cooking wine with a pinch of salt.
2. Cook udon as indicated by the instructions on the package.
3. Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high in a skillet. Pan fry both sides of the shrimp, the calamari strips and the scallops separately until the pieces turn light golden brown. Sprinkle black pepper to taste and set aside.
4. Place cooked udon first in a large salad bowl. Next, place romaine chunks over udon. Then place all the pieces of cooked seafood on the top of romaine.
5. Decorate the salad with sliced tomato wedges and garnish with shredded green onion.
6. Serve with dressing. Makes 6-8 servings.

What is udon, and where can I get it?

Udon are pencil-thick Japanese-style noodles. Note that each package of udon usually contains 5 small packs. This recipe calls for two udon packs. You can buy udon either fresh or frozen from Asian grocery stores; for fresh udon, check in the refrigerated shelves next to the dumpling skins and other noodles. Here is a package of udon: