For this Filipino-inspired dinner I wanted to prepare a special and sentimental pescatarian-friendly meal influenced by my favorite dishes that my parents and grandparents prepared for me while I was growing up. The dishes as authentic to my family's creations/recipes as possible while reflecting my own, personal growth in the kitchen.
Butterflied shrimp stuffed with a creamy herb-infused cheese spread, wrapped in a pastry shell, then fried.
Mix greens, red cabbage, sliced radishes, coconut-garlic croutons, crushed roasted peanuts, fried shallots, and a Calamansi lime-honey vinaigrette.
Broiled, wild-caught Norwegian mackerel fillet with roasted vegetables and atchara (Filipino-style pickled vegetables). Soy, Calamansi lime, and pepper dipping sauce. (If Mackerel isn't available, market fish substitution will be provided)
Dungeness crab and shrimp stewed with garlic, ginger, lemongrass, birdseye chili, pepper, bagoong (salted shrimp paste), and young jackfruit. Served with crab fat fried rice. *if Dungeness crab is not available or out of season, a substitution will be made.
A lightly sweet, moist cake made with rice flour, raspberries, honey, and coconut milk. Served with vanilla bean ice cream, toasted coconut, and finished with raspberry/honey puree and Ilocano asin (sea salt from the Philippines).