This is the traditional version of the famous San Francisco seafood soup/stew. I love it. I like making it for a large group during the late-Fall, when we are all watching an important football game.
Cioppino is messy and ought to be served with crusty San Francisco sourdough bread. One can also make some pasta to pour the mixture over. I prefer a medium-broad noodle like linguini. But not too much. Try it at Rosa Pistola in San Francisco.
Non-controversies. Traditional Cioppino must use crabs ("crab cioppino" is redundant). It must have tomato "something" and will generally have onions, garlic and wine. If you want to make the dish with something other than crab, I will not put a contract out on you. Just call it something else and attribute it elsewhere. Other ingredients are more flexible across recipes and vary according to taste.
The Controversies:
-Dugeness or Other Crabs: Dungeness crabs, blue crabs and the other varieties are all very good ingredients--but they are different animals with different flavors, texture and mouth feel. I always use the tradional dungeness crabs, but that's because I have a ready supply. I have heard it is great, but different, made with blue crabs and other crabs. Get the best crabs that you can get FRESH, regardless of variety. Do not use frozen crab, imitation crab or lump crab meat without the shells.
-Live or Dead Crabs: I would tell you that you must start with live fresh crabs, but so many of you would give up right now, that I won't. I have made it with VERY fresh cooked crab from San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and it has tasted good. So do what you want, but if you order it at a restaurant, make sure they us live crabs.
-Red or White WIne: My family always used red. Something like a Zinfandel or Chianti. Most restaurant recipes I have seen use a dry white wine. As my tastes change, I am beginning to enjoy the white wine variety more and more. I really like the light brothy meal it engenders. However, I do not like the oakey notes of some California chardonay. Others, made in the French style, work better. Other varietals like Savignon Blanc or an Italian Soave are terrific.
-Shells or no Shells: No comprimise here. You MUST use the shells from the clams, crabs, shrimp, etc. in order to capture the flavor. Lazy-man Ciopinno is made by removing all the meat from the shells so people don't have to deal with messing up their hands. Still the shells are placed in cheese cloth and cooked with the other ingredients to give the soup flavor. I think getting your hands dirty is part of the charm.
-What kind of tomato: Some folks use tomato sauce, others tomato paste. If I am making it light, I love to use a tbls of paste and three or four fresh heirloom tomatoes. I mix colors and types.
INGREDIENTS:
extra virgin olive oil
garlic
onions
italian parsley, leaves only
fresh herbs: I like thyme and basil. Others enjoy marjoram
salt
pepper
wine, red or white
clam juice, anchovie paste or fish stock (just a bit).
1 live crab per 2-3 people
3-4 medium prawns (with heads if you can stand it) per person
3-4 clams per person
3-4 mussels (cleaned and debearded) per person
2 calamari bodies per person, with or without tentacles
3-4 ounces of a medium-firm white fish (traditional) or salmon (I use this sometimes because I like to eat salmon twice a week) The white fishes that work are Sea Bass (best but increasingly endangered), halibut, haddock, etc. Swordfish is too firm.
lemon
hot red peppers
green onions (scallions
INSTRUCTIONS: (COMING SOON)
The Base: Heat a deep pan that will eventually hold the whole dish. Pour in enough extra virgin olive to saute onions. After it gets hot (about 20 seconds). Put in chopped medium sweet onion with a little kosher or sea salt. I like Maui, Walla Walla or Vidallia onions. These onions give a sweetness to the end product that I enjoy. One recipe I saw called for adding leeks at this point. I tried it and liked it. As they get translucent, add one large chopped clove of garlic and 1/2 cup of chopped Italian parsley. Just before the garlic starts to brown add the herbs, about a tblspoon each, and saute for no more than 1 minute while stirring. This is your base.
If you are using uncooked crab, you would add the edible pieces at this point--stirring to season them. If not, you would begin to add your liquids now and add the already cooked crab later.
Turning it into a broth: The liquid will come from wine, tomatoes and any juice or broth you use--and from the moisture in the seafood. First, you want to make sure that the broth has the flavor of the sea. Either use a couple of tbls of anchovie paste or equivalent mashed up anchovies to create a fish taste. Or, use the alternatives of a cup of fish broth or clam juice. If you add broth or juice, you will need less wine. If you use the anchovie method, you will add more wine. I prefer going with the anchovie method, because I don't want to cut back on the wine. I like the crispness the wine gives the sauce and think that the fish broth or clam juice is a bit duller. If you go this route, add the anchovie paste to your pot now and mix in the liquid. In all, the combination of juice and wine should be a cup to a cup and half.
Some people like to add a little sherry to sweeten the pot.
Now tomatoes. If I am using tomato sauce or paste only, I add them now and then begin to add the fish (below).
If I am using fresh tomatoes, I chop about four of four of them and add them now with a little salt. They will exude much liquid, so I will have to reduce longer. I want to leech the liquid, then reduce by about half. Alternatively, (and always when I use uncooked crab), I can leech the liquid from the tomatoes by cooking them down in a separate pan with a little olive oil and salt. I do this ahead of time. Once it becomes saucy, I add it to the pan. The reason I have not added the fish yet with fresh tomatoes , is because I don't want it to over cook while the fresh tomatoes are reducing. Once the tomatoes get to the consistency I want, I will begin to add fish.
Adding the fish. The key here is to adjust the cooking times of the fish, so the seafood doesn't get overcooked and tough.
The Crab: If you use cooked crabs, put them in at the very end (see below). For live crabs, carefully plunge them into hot boiling salted water. They will begin to turn red almost immediately. When red, remove them, clean them and crack them, adding edible parts to your broth. Disgard waste parts, reserving the green fat and, if you want, the main shell. You can put the shell into the broth, removing it before serving.
The Rest: I like to control the cooking of the rest of the fish, by using a saute pan on the stove right next to the main pot. This also allows me to carmelize a bit, adding flavor.
First saute the seabass, salmon or preferred white fish, that have been cut into chunks. Just get some surface carmelization. It doesn't have to cook through. The fish may break apart as it cooks in the soup. This is OK as it tends to thicken the soup. If you use a very firm fish, it won't break apart, but instead end up in discrete pieces. This is fine also.
Next add clams and mussels directly to the pot, along with crab butter which has been diluted with 1/4 cup of pasta water or tap water. When they have opened up completely (maybe as quickly as 3 minutes), you need to serve immediately
So in the meantime, quickly saute prawns and put it into the pot.
Next saute calamari, which has been sliced into rings, for no more than 30 seconds. Do NOT add them to the pot yet.
Now, if you are using cooked crab, put the pieces and some of the green fat into the pot along with 2-3 dried red peppers that have been chopped up (these are the little hot guys no bigger than a dime, or use red pepper flakes to taste) and heat the crab through. As soon as it is warm, 1-2 minutes or so. Take it off the heat.
Add the juice of lemon. Some fresh basil and parsley, chopped.
Serve immediately over pasta. Top with a little fresh extra virgin olive oils and some chopped raw scallions.
Eat it.
Drink a good wine with it and eat crusty sourdough.
