Salpicón de marisco — Spanish seafood salad — is what Spain’s coastal bars serve when summer demands something cold, briny and bright: crab, prawns and mussels tossed with crisp peppers and spring onion in a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing.
The rule of the dish is flexibility: use whatever shellfish is freshest — scallops, clams, squid and octopus all belong. What matters is the quality of the seafood and a properly sharp vinaigrette to wake everything up.
It is best made ahead and chilled, which makes it a gift for entertaining: the flavors deepen in the fridge while you do everything else. Serve it as a starter, a tapa, or a light dinner with cold white wine.
Spanish Seafood Salad Recipe
Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 20 minutes · Total: 40 minutes (plus chilling) · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~232 per serving
Ingredients
- 1 edible crab or spider crab
- 15 prawns
- 6 mussels
- 4 eggs
- 1 spring onion
- 1 Italian green pepper
- ½ red bell pepper
- ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- Fresh parsley, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the crab in salted water with the bay leaf — about 17 minutes for a crab up to 2 pounds (12 for spider crab). Let it cool.
- Hard-boil the eggs; cool and set aside.
- Boil the prawns in salted water for 2 minutes from the moment it returns to a boil. Peel and set aside.
- Steam the mussels until they open; set aside.
- Finely chop the green pepper, red pepper and spring onion into a large bowl.
- Pick and chop the crab meat and prawns, reserving a few whole prawns for the top.
- Peel and chop the eggs.
- Combine everything, season with salt, and dress with the oil and vinegar.
- Chill in the refrigerator until serving.
Recipe Notes
- Scallops, clams, squid or octopus make it even more luxurious.
- Chopped parsley, cilantro or dill freshen it; chili or hot sauce give it edge.
- A spoonful of mustard and honey whisked into the vinaigrette adds polish.
- Diced avocado or toasted almonds are modern touches that work beautifully.
