EVERYTHING’S FISHY FOR NEW YEAR’S

BY BILL ST JOHN

Eating’s very fishy, this time of year.

Many Italian Americans whip up “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” for Christmas Eve, serving seven sorts of seafood in a marathon meal eaten before midnight on December 24th. Many Asian Americans consume all sorts of seafood and freshwater fish on New Year’s Eve.

Like them, people in many cultures associate the year’s beginning with special foods, and for special reasons, most of which have to do with good luck, long living, abundance, and hoped-for wealth. So, foods become symbols of such — leafy greens, for example, a placeholder for paper currency.

Many folk believe fish carry luck: their scales resemble coins; they signify abundance because they always swim in schools; they move in one direction only, forward; and they suggest fertility because female fish produce multiples of eggs at one time.

  • In China, the word for fish, “yu,” closely resembles the sounds for both the words for “wish” and “abundance” (or “surplus”). To that end, a whole fish graces a Chinese New Year’s table, always served at the end of a meal to hammer home multiple meanings: an entire fish symbolizes family unity; a head-to-tail fish augurs well for both a good beginning as well as ending to the coming year; and, because the head and tail are often reserved for eating the next day, one year ends and another begins, both with surplus.

    A big seafood spread itself simply spells “celebration,” in the way that a raw bar marks an especially extravagant wedding reception. You’ll have good luck shopping for fish and seafood at Marczyk Fine Foods.

    For your celebration, you might set out Marczyk’s famed Shrimp Platter ($49.99), two pounds of cooked 16/20-sized (also known as “jumbo”) shrimp, with their terrific market-made cocktail sauce and lemon wedges.

    “16/20” means 16 to 20 shrimp per pound; they’re also known as “jumbo,” sometimes “colossal.” Basically, they’re as big as shrimp (funny name, here) get, platter-wise. “They’re cooked in a lot of lemon,” says Jamey Fader, Marczyk’s Culinary Director, “and salt, Old Bay Seasoning — it’s a long-standing recipe.”

    Marczyk's sports further fish and seafood for your New Year's gig: Live Maine Lobsters at $29.99 per — each is about 1.5 pounds; gram upon gram of various caviars and salmon roe; and a shucked oyster platter of a dozen oysters on a bed of ice, accompanied by lemon wedges and market-made cocktail sauce ($39.99).

If you or your guests are neither omnivore nor pescatarian, you’re in luck because I have a recipe for vegetarians or vegans who yet wish to eat “fish” for a meal on New Year’s or its Eve. It uses lion’s mane mushrooms that when shredded, many believe, bear an uncanny resemblance to shredded crab or lobster meat and function just the same in fashioning “crab cakes.” I hope you enjoy making it.

  • LION'S MANE MUSHROOM "CRAB" CAKES
    Adapted from aubreyskitchen.com. Lacto-ovo vegetarian; see note to prepare as vegan. Makes 6 cakes.

    INGREDIENTS
    • 3-4 cups Jacob’s Mushrooms Lion's Mane Mushrooms, shredded
    • 2 large eggs, lightly whipped
    • 2 tablespoons Kewpie brand mayonnaise
    • 1/4 cup shallot, finely diced
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 teaspoon Old Bay brand seasoning
    • 2 teaspoons Edmond Fallot Dijon mustard
    • 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
    • 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, to taste
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
    • 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • Lemon wedges, additional chopped flat-leaf parsley

    DIRECTIONS

    • Shred mushrooms longwise into pieces (though no more than 2 inches long), resembling flaked crabmeat. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine eggs, mayonnaise, shallot, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, Dijon mustard, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix until fully incorporated.

    • Fold in shredded mushrooms until fully incorporated. Fold in panko breadcrumbs until fully incorporated. Let the mix rest for 20 minutes, refrigerated.

    • To prepare: Remove mix from the refrigerator before forming into 6 equal-sized patties, each about 3/4-inch thick. Let the patties rest for a couple of minutes while heating the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

    • When the oil just shimmers, cook the patties for 3-4 minutes a side until golden brown, flipping once (it may help to use 2 spatulas, one in each hand; do not use tongs).

    • Serve atop a bed of lettuce or by themselves, garnished with chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

    • Note: To prepare as vegan, use same measurements in both flax seed eggs and vegan mayonnaise. For Worcestershire sauce, substitute 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon miso paste.