Off the Map

Quarantine gave me the opportunity to cook for 4 people in total everyday, as a science researcher, my nerd side came out and thanks to my friends, I was able to do “control experiments” on different sauces for seafood pasta. Thanks for being my guinea pigs my friends!!

I want to share with your my report on amount of half and half and Parmesan sprinkle to add for seafood pasta! For seafood, I have shrimp, clams and scallop marinated with salt and pepper.

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QUICK TAKEAWAYS

• Half & half might cover the seafood flavor and overpowers, but Parmesan sprinkle gave subtle cheese/creamy taste without stealing the thunder, Parmesan’s saltiness also added more natural flavor to pasta.
• Onion’s sweetness, I personally like it a lot as it complements seafood’s flavor. But I did get feedback that onion and red pepper, if not cooked till soft enough, might not go with the soft texture of pasta and seafood.
• Parsley is something I am still exploring, I followed the recipe to cook most parsley with pasta towards the end and used some for decoration. I also heard parsley if just freshly used without cooking will add extra flavor as well. Will test on that and come back with experiment results
• Lastly, the pasta I made, I think is a bit too thin, almost like Asian flat noodle texture (unexpected creation haha!). Next time I might increase the thickness and read more into increase chewiness of pasta.
• Summary: In summary, personally favorite when having seafood pasta, is to NOT use half & half or Alfredo sauce, but with simplest ingredients to bring out the richest taste of seafood.

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RECIPE

• homemade pasta x4 (refer to previous post)
• 2 onions
• red peppers
• chopped cilantro
• 2 minced garlic
• shrimp
• clams

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Step 1: stir fry onions over butter till golden and transparent

Step 2: add in garlic and peppers to bring the fragrance out

Step 3: add shrimp and clams, stir fry till cooked

Step 4: in another pot, boil water and cook homemade pasta for around 1mins (if store-bought pasta, put in cold water and cook for longer time)

Step 5: add in half & half if needed

Step 6: plate pasta, sprinkle parmesan and cilantro if needed

My experiment design scheme for four different pastas is:

• First pasta had neither half & half nor Parmesan sprinkle, just basic ingredients–garlic, onion, red pepper, parsley.
• Second pasta had the most “creamy” taste with 1 cup half & half AND Parmesan.
• Third pasta was “in between” with 1/2 cup half & half AND Parmesan.
• As the chef, I had the privilege to try out all these three pasta and I think I like the pasta withOUT half & half the most, so I made the last and MY pasta withOUT any half & half, but WITH Parmesan sprinkle.

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