This is a wonderful seafood stock for any sort of Southeast Asian cuisine and certainly any Asian seafood dish. I’ve never been impressed with store bought seafood stock, or most store bought stocks in general. I feel they always have far too much salt and the spice can clash with what you’re cooking. Making your own stock is always better if you have the time.

What if I want a non Asian seafood stock?

This is super easy to create. You’ll just want to leave out the Asian specific ingredients. If you omit the star anise, ginger root and kaffir lime leaves, you will be left with a perfectly good seafood stock for making risottos and other non Asian dishes.

Ingredients:

1 lb of Shrimp, shelled and shrimp set aside

1 or 2 whole Crabs, crab claws, crayfish

2 medium Onions, roughly chopped

10 Black Peppercorns

1 Lemon, juiced and then put into pot

1 tsp Salt

1 Clove Garlic, cut in half

2 inch Ginger Root, cut into 4 pieces

2 Kaffir Lime Leaves – Optional, but essential if you are going to make Thai or Vietnamese soup dishes.

1 whole Star Anise

Preparation:

Start off by adding 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil to your wok or pan, and stir frying the crab and shrimp shells until they turn color. Then add all ingredients into the pot, cover with water bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for at least 2 hours. Strain and use as needed.