As we celebrate Chinese and Lunar New Year, we’re not quite ready for the flavours of the festival to end. With fish symbolising prosperity and abundance (be it food or money), it’s a particularly lucky food to celebrate with – which got us thinking, why not incorporate it into our weekly recipe roster more regularly? 

While we all know that fish and shellfish are some of the healthiest protein we can eat, a mixed bag of seafood is a bit of a stranger in our shopping basket compared to some of our other regulars. But given that seafood is one of the quickest mains to cook, we asked award-winning street food chef Janet Wei how best to incorporate Asian flavours into snappy seafood recipes we could have on any old Monday-to-Friday.

Janet is on a mission with Love Seafood to get the country eating more seafood as part of a balanced, budget-friendly diet – below are her top three weekly go-tos…

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 400g cooked egg noodles
• 200g mixed seafood (frozen or fresh)
• 4tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2tsp Shaoxing cooking wine or rice wine
• 1tbsp oyster sauce
• 1tsp XO sauce
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 1tsp minced ginger
• 2tsp fish sauce
• 2tsp dark soy sauce 

“In my opinion, you don’t get the same wonderful mouthful of flavour if you use just one type of seafood. So I use mixed seafood, which can be bought fresh or frozen, and the pack I use has prawns, mussels, clams and squid. I prefer to use frozen so you can defrost exactly how much you need for the recipe and not waste anything – just pop it under cold tap water to defrost for a few minutes before cooking.

Heat the oil in the wok and stir-fry the mixed seafood until all the liquid from the seafood has evaporated. Add the Shaoxing/rice wine, cook for around 30 seconds and then add the ginger and garlic and the rest of the ingredients apart from the noodles. Cook for a further 30 seconds.

Add the noodles at the end and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Stir-fry for a further 2 or 3 minutes and serve. 

This fried noodle dish is by far the most popular in my kitchen, and our customers love all the bold flavours. All of the ingredients complement one another, and it’s an extremely simple and quick dish to make.”

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 portion/100g mixed seafood (frozen or fresh)
• 30g Korean yellow bean paste
• 25g Korean kimchi
• 30g tofu
• 3 small (5cm long) sticks of dried seaweed
• 300ml water
• 1tbsp oil
• 1tsp ginger
• 1tsp garlic
• Drizzle of sesame oil
• 1 soft poached egg (optional) 

“The key ingredient in this dish is the Korean yellow bean paste, as it is salty and this complements the seafood. The seaweed also works very well with the mixed seafood, as does the kimchi – anything fermented will lift the seafood and add a punch that isn’t overwhelming to the delicate flavour. I also like to use Korean chilli flakes sometimes with this seafood hotpot, to really add a kick.

Heat the saucepan and stir-fry the seafood until cooked. Add the ginger, garlic and yellow bean paste and fry for a further two minutes.

Add the water, tofu and seaweed, then bring to boil for two more minutes. If you’re opting for an egg, cracking the egg into the finished broth and allow it to poach in this mixture before taking off the heat. Drizzle with sesame oil to finish.”

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 x 90g sea bass fillets
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 100g chunk fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
• 3 small red chillies, finely sliced
• Zest and juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges to serve
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• Coriander leaves, torn, to garnish

“This recipe is relatively simple and easy to prepare, resulting in a vibrant, zingy and mouth-watering dish. Traditionally, sea bass pairs extremely well with flavours such as ginger, garlic, chilli and lemongrass.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4. Bash the lemongrass with the blunt side of a knife to bruise it, then slice it into thin rings. Squash the unpeeled garlic cloves to release their aroma.

Take a piece of baking parchment about 50cm in length and place the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and chillies in the centre. Top with the 2 sea bass fillets across its width. Add the lime zest and juice and ½tbsp of sesame oil on top of each fillet.

Fold the sides of the parchment over the fish, then roll it into a parcel. This will make sure it stays moist and absorbs all the flavours. Place on a tray, put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Once cooked open the parcel and scatter over the torn coriander leaves. Serve with the lime wedges.”

Love Seafood is on a big, bold mission to help the nation to live better. From simple recipes that can feed the family in a flash, to culinary adventures out and about – they believe seafood has the power to help us all bring on better living.

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