Fiona O'Sullivan
Seafood platter –
A seafood platter is one of the best party food platters to serve during the festive season. The festival season is just around the corner and many people are busy planning dinner parties for their friends and family.
You can make your event more memorable by hosting an excellent but incredibly simple appetizer. It will be hard to forget the taste!
Party food platters are ideal for get-togethers as they can be adjusted according to the number of guests. Above all, there are always many snacks to suit the crowd. A selection of oysters smoked salmon, and prawns served with wine or cold beer is enough for a great party.
Moreover, you can add finger bowls and side towels to add a touch of care and good hospitability.
If you’re still wondering what kind of foods you should serve at your wedding reception, how to put together a delicious buffet, or how to make it more appealing, here’s a short and informative list of things to consider when planning a grand fish platter.
How to choose seafood?
To cook fish well, first select the best quality fish available. Make sure that it smells clean and not fishy.
When selecting seafood, choose ones with bright colours and shiny, unbroken shells. The best way to tell if fish is fresh is by feeling it; it should feel solid.
What seafood to include?
Party food platters are great to serve because you can decide on a variety of items and alter portion sizes according to your guest list. If you love smoked salmon, have a larger portion of it, and are not a fan of shrimp, you can keep its portion limited.
Furthermore, you can focus on popular dishes, and it’s completely up to you how to prepare them, but this might be a good starting point for novices.
Prawns
Prawns are delicious. You can serve them in various ways, and they’re easy to cook. If you don’t like cooking them yourself, you can always order pre-made ones from your local grocery store.
Crayfish, even better Crayfish tails, are perfect for the middle spot. You could choose any kind of prawn on either side of your plate or serve them alongside crayfish.
Oysters
They’re either delicious or gross, but they’re easy to prepare and don’t require any special equipment. Just shuck them and serve them on an icy plate.
If you serve raw oyster dishes on one plate, try not to put them on the same dish. Use a smaller dish if you need to.
Crab legs
If you’re serving lobster, you might also want to consider including some steamed vegetables. You can decide whether you’d prefer a bowl of drawn or melted buttered lobster meat or a bowl of steamed vegetables instead.
Clams and mussels
Clams are ideal when serving at dinner parties. They can be served raw or steamed and take little time to prepare.
Lobster
If you’re not a lobster lover, including lobster in your mixed starter dish might be a bit too much. You can always order them online or prepare them when you buy them.
You can buy lobsters that have already been cooked and frozen at sea and then cut them up for ease of serving.
Sauces
A seafood platter wouldn’t be complete without some lemons or lime wedges. If you’d prefer something more sophisticated, choose dipping sauces instead.
After all, it’s just one of many appetizers, so feel free to mix and match whatever seafood you prefer. Add some of your favourite foods, such as tuna and smoked salami.
How to know the serving size and freshness
You need to serve fish freshly caught every time you cook for guests. Fish that have been kept frozen for an extended period lose their flavour and texture. Thus, it is better to order your fresh fish from the market.
You should get as much as you wish for any type of shellfish depending on the number of people who eat them and what kind of shellfish they are. Shells contribute to the highest part, so you shouldn’t order by their weights.
You must order a bit more than usual to avoid having too few servings. You can use the leftover ingredients for something else.
How to make a seafood platter?
Finally, it is the seafood platter arrangement. This is the fun part of your meal. If you want to make an impression, get a multi-tiered seafood tower. This would allow you to lay out your seafood and garnishes properly.
Do not worry if you go overboard with this; just be creative with your seafood, sauces, and garnishes.
Seafood Platter Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g prawns
- 8 oysters
- 200 g smoked salmon
- 1 lobster
- 2 crab legs
- 100 g clams
- 100 g mussels
- fresh ice optional
- 4 lemon wedges
Sauce
- 1 lemons
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 3 tablespoon mayonnaise
- dill
Instructions
- Mix the lemon juice, mustard and mayonnaise. Put this in a small bowl. Add dill as garnish.
Assemble
- Put your sauce in the middle of the plate. Add fresh ice to the rest of the plate. This will help position the seafood on the plate later.
- Arrange any large seafood items (such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp) on top of the dish first and in one corner of the table. Then arrange your oysters around the table’s edges either next to your seafood or directly opposite.
- Add prawns, clams and mussels in one corner. Place your smoked salmon in one corner. You can style these by rolling them up.
- Finally, add lemon wedges in any free space.
Nutritional information
Calorie calculations were made using an online calorie calculator. Nutrition information provided by Great Foodie is intended for general informational purposes only and is not meant to be used in place of medical advice. You should always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any nutrition program.
Display
Getting stainless steel would be a good choice for serving. It keeps your hot food warm and cold food cool. Do not forget to layer ice to keep seafood fresh and neatly arrange the items on the plate.
Put cold foods near the top of the buffet table and put hot foods near the base. You may consider keeping more extensive seafood options (such as crabs) at the base and smaller seafood options (such as shrimp) closer to the top.
Seafood platter has become an attraction, even for in-house parties. Thus, the demand for seafood has increased over the last few years. According to Allied Market Research, the global seafood market is expected to reach $193.91 by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2020 to 2027. The change in lifestyle and trend of serving restaurant-like dishes at home drive the market growth.
Follow a few simple steps, and you can serve a seafood platter for your next dinner party. Complete the dish with white wine or cold beer if you have more beer lovers. Based on these instructions, you can throw a memorable dinner for sure.
If you’re interested in creating more easy snacks and starters at home, read up on how to create these five easy scallop recipes.
Yum
