A chilled seafood platter is striking, flavorful and impressive enough to serve for any celebration. Fill the seafood platter with loads of fresh seafood, including steamed mussels and clams, shucked oysters, King crab legs and more!
Full of fresh seafood, this chilled seafood platter is impressive and simple enough to serve for any special occasion!
Seafood and shellfish in particular, are one of our favorite proteins to cook. Steamed clams take minutes to cook up and there is nothing more delicious than a perfectly seared ahi tuna.
This chilled seafood platter is abundant and striking. Use whatever fresh seafood is fresh and available and have fun with the variety! Featured on this platter are crab legs and lobster tail, shucked oysters, seared tuna, large shrimp, steamed mussels and clams and served alongside several dipping sauces.
Ingredients
- Crab Legs: King Crab legs are used in this platter but smaller snow crab claws would work great as well. Use a crab cracker and scissors to cut through the thick shell to make it easier to open.
- Mussels: Scrub the outside of each mussel and remove the fibrous “beard” off each mussel. There is a more detailed tutorial on cleaning mussels in my mussels marinere recipe. Once they are cleaned, mussels cook in less then 10 minutes.
- Clams: Once you bring the clams home, submerge them in ice cold water, this will help the clam spit out any sand. Use a small brush or towel to clean each clam before steaming.
- Ahi Tuna: Ahi is the same protein used in poke and can be eaten raw or seared. Tuna is often found frozen in stores.
- Lobster Tail: Many seafood sections in grocery stores will have lobster tails steamed and cooked already, which makes it incredibly easy. If buying raw, steam, grill or boil the lobster tail and chill for the platter.
- Shrimp: Look for large shrimp with a count size of 31/40. Meaning, that there are 31-40 shrimp per pound.
- Oysters: Oysters should be bought fresh and eaten the same day. Many seafood departments in stores or seafood markets will even shuck the oysters for you. Some favorites are kumamoto oysters and blue point oysters.
- Cocktail Sauce: A good quality cocktail sauce with horseradish is great to serve with the shrimp and crab.
- Mignonette: This is a quick and bright vinegar sauce that pairs well with the oysters.
- Oyster Sauce: Mix oyster sauce with soy sauce and honey and ginger and serve alongside the seared tuna.
Choosing and Buying Seafood
When buying seafood, it should smell fresh like the sea and not have any “fishy smell”.
Clams and mussels should be alive and kept on ice. Discard any broken clams and mussels with broken shells or ones that do not open.
Unless you live in a tropical place, such as Hawaii, you will most likely find tuna already frozen, which is exactly what you want. Some packages may say “sushi grade” tuna as well.
Assemble the Seafood Platter
Cook the Seafood
- Steam the cleaned mussels and clams in a small pot with a splash of white wine. Cover the pot and cook until the shells just open up, anywhere from 6-8 minutes. Then chill until ready to serve.
- Boil the shrimp in a small pot with water, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook shrimp until just cooked through and turn pink, about 3-5 minutes. Then remove and chill until ready to serve.
- Sear the tuna in a hot skillet that is drizzled with avocado or vegetable oil. Sear on all sides for 1-2 minutes until a deep crust forms, but is still raw in the center. Remove the tuna and let cool for a minute, then slice into thin slices.
- Cut the uncooked lobster tails in half and steam, grill or broil the lobster tails until just cooked through. Then chill until ready to serve.
Make the Sauces
- Mix the cocktail sauce with 1 teaspoon of horseradish or more if you like it spicier.
- For the mignonette, add finely diced shallot of a bowl along with white vinegar, rice vinegar, black pepper and a pinch of sugar and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.
- For the oyster sauce, add oyster sauce to a bowl along with soy sauce, fresh ginger, and a touch of honey. Stir to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
Arrange the Seafood Platter
- Add crushed ice to a wide platter and sprinkle the ice with Kosher salt, this will help prevent the ice from melting too quickly.
- Arrange the seafood onto the platter, making sure all of the seafood touches the ice to keep cold.
- Nestle in lemon wedges and serve with accompanied sauces on the side.
Can a seafood platter be made ahead of time?
Seafood is best bought and served the same day. However, you can cook and chill the seafood earlier in the day and chill for a few hours before serving.
Recipe Tips
- Mussels and clams can be cooked together in the same pot.
- Many stores will have pre-cooked lobster tails and crab legs.
- Ahi tuna is often sold in blocks frozen. Thaw before cooking.
- Sprinkle Kosher salt liberally over the crushed ice on the platter, this will help the ice from melting quickly.
More Seafood Recipes to Try
- Hawaiian Style Shoyu Poke
- Shrimp Scampi with Wine and Parmesan
- Steamed Clams with White Wine and Garlic
- Charbroiled Oysters with Garlic and Parmesan
- Cioppino (Seafood and Tomato Stew)
Chilled Seafood Platter
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Chilled seafood platte full of fresh seafood, including steamed mussels and clams, shucked oysters, King crab legs and more!
Equipment
Shellfish Crackers
Ingredients
Seafood
- 1 pound mussels
- 1 pound clams
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 shucked oysters
- 4-8 large shrimp
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound ahi tuna
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 2 lobster tails cut in half
- 2-4 cooked king crab legs
- 1 lemon cut into wedges, for serving
Cocktail Sauce
- 1/2 cup cocktail sauce
- 1 teaspoon horseradish
Mignonette
- 1/2 small shallot finely chopped
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Oyster Sauce
- 1/2 cup oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
Instructions
Cook the Seafood
- Steam the cleaned mussels and clams in a small pot with a splash of white wine. Cove the pot and cook until the shells just open up, anywhere from 6-8 minutes. Then chill until ready to serve.
- Boil the shrimp in a small pot with water, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp until just cooked through and turn pink, about 3-5 minutes. Then remove and chill until ready to serve.
- Sear the tuna in a hot skillet that is drizzled with avocado or vegetable oil. Sear on all sides for 1-2 minutes until a deep crust forms, but is still raw in the center. Remove and let cool for a minute, then slice into thin slices.
- Cut the uncooked lobster tails in half and steam, grill or broil the lobster tails until just cooked through, anywhere from 5-8 minutes. Then chill until ready to serve.
Make the Sauces
- Mix the cocktail sauce with 1 teaspoon of horseradish or more if you like it spicier.
- For the mignonette, add finely diced shallot of a bowl along with white vinegar, rice vinegar, black pepper and a pinch of sugar and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.
- For the oyster sauce, add oyster sauce to a bowl along with soy sauce, fresh ginger, sriracha and a touch of honey.
- Stir to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
Arrange the Seafood Platter
- Add crushed ice to a wide platter and sprinkle the ice with Kosher salt, this will help prevent the ice from melting too quickly.
- Arrange the seafood onto the platter, making sure all of the seafood is touch the ice to keep cold.
- Nestle in lemon wedges and serve with accompanied sauces on the side.
Notes
- Mussels and clams can be cooked together in the same pot.
- Many stores will have pre-cooked lobster tails and crab legs.
- Ahi tuna is often sold in blocks frozen. Thaw before cooking.
- Sprinkle Kosher salt liberally over the crushed ice on the platter, this will help the ice from melting quickly.
Nutrition
Calories: 381kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 45gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 1355mgPotassium: 675mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 2663IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 4mg
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WOW, We are shopping today for this New Years eve platter. We will be trying chilled clams and mussels for the first time. Can’t wait.