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stacked seafood appetizer
Victoria Haneveer

Gourmet Seafood Salad Stacks with Crab and Salmon

Seafood stacks are the recipe to turn to when you want to prepare something extra-fancy with seafood. When you're in the mood to make something easy yet impressive, you might find the following recipe to be fitting for the occasion. Featuring crabmeat and smoked salmon, as well as fresh vegetables and a delectable lime ginger dressing, this seafood salad recipe looks and tastes amazing. The ingredients are stacked on top of each other for a wonderful look. You can adapt the recipe if you want, using other ingredients if you prefer. The most important thing when making a stacked seafood salad recipe is to press down on each layer before adding the next. It is crucial that the stacks are tightly packed, else they will just collapse when you remove the mold. Although the salad will taste the same, this will wreck the presentation, so press down hard after adding each layer.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
 

  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • ¼ cup (60ml) water
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 6 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 diced Roma tomatoes
  • Small handful pea shoots
  • 2 diced avocados
  • ½ cup (70g) fresh or canned crabmeat
  • 1 diced red onion
  • ½ a thinly sliced cucumber
  • 1 diced mango
  • 1/3 raw carrot in wide thin slices
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 4 slices smoked salmon
For the Garnish:
  • 4 tablespoons crème fraiche
  • 4 teaspoons orange fish roe or caviar
  • 4 candied or preserved lemon slices
  • 4 langoustines (optional)
  • 4 physalis or cape gooseberries (optional)
  • 4 tablespoons chopped green onions (optional)
  • Fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

Method
 

  1. Whisk together the sugar, ginger, lime juice, water and garlic to make the dressing, and refrigerate it for a couple of hours so the flavors can blend.
  2. Get a cylinder mold or an empty aluminum can with the top and bottom removed, and use it to make your seafood salad stacks.
  3. Put the mold on a small plate and add a layer of pea shoots, a layer of tomatoes, a layer of sliced cucumber, a layer of mango and carrot and a layer of red onions.
  4. Make sure the ingredients are tightly layered together else the stacks will collapse.
  5. Push down on the layers as you add them and use 1/4 of the ingredients for each stack, since you are making 4 servings.
  6. Add a layer of avocado and crabmeat, then pushing down with one hand on the avocado and crabmeat layer, slowly slide the mold upwards and remove it.
  7. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to form a total of 4 seafood salad stacks.
  8. Drizzle the lime ginger dressing over the stacks.
  9. Add a slice of smoked salmon, a dollop of creme fraiche, some fish roe and a lemon slice on top of each stack, for garnish.
  10. You can also garnish the serving plates with physalis or cape gooseberry, green onion, langoustines and fresh herbs, but this is optional.

Notes

  • This is a highly decorative seafood salad recipe, finished off with smoked salmon, fish roe or caviar, and other delicious ingredients.
  • A lot of the presentation ideas are unnecessary, so feel free to leave off the green onion, physalis (the little orange fruit also known as a cape gooseberry), lemon slice and whatever else you don't want to use.
  • The most important things are the seafood and the fresh, crisp vegetables. This salad does not need to be chilled in the refrigerator, unlike certain other seafood salad recipes, so just serve it as soon as it is ready.