Seafood Toban Yaki

Photo by Katie Kay

Get.  Out.  Seriously.  This was the best meal I've had in 2013.  In fact, this was the best meal I've had since Fall 2012 when Chrystal and I took a 5-day girls trip to Napa and Sonoma Valley.  I think half our budget was blown on spectacular food--and the other half on wine, of course.  
The best meal we had in either place was Morimoto in Napa.  I think our bill was over $200 for the 2 of us, and it was worth EVERY PENNY.  We shared the most expensive spicy tuna roll I've ever had, we both had the Seafood Toban Yaki ($50 each), and we shared 2 desserts.  Maybe 3, I can't remember.  It may have been a sampler.
The first thing I did when I got home was Google the recipe, and I found a few variations.  The main spice it called for seemed tricky to find in grocery stores, so my lazy self tracked it down easily on Amazon and saved myself some heartache at HEB and Kroger.
The recipe was easy enough, and most recipes instructed me to toss everything in a clay pots (which I was not planning on purchasing so I used my Dutch oven) and steam for 5 minutes.  Still, I knew there would be some seafood prep so thankfully I started early.
The most decadent thing about this meal is the King crab that you don't even have to crack during mealtime.  All you need is a fork to scoop out the awesomeness.  Prepping this, though, was the most time consuming part of the entire recipe, and the most dangerous.  My kitchen scissors could have easily taken out a finger.  Or the tender webbing between my thumb and forefinger.

Photo by Katie Kay (and I'm hoping Matt doesn't notice the crab fragments on his camera)

I used kitchen scissors to cut little canoe tops out of each segment of crab.  This made it super easy to eat, and it soaked up the flavor very well.
Next I prepped my lobster tails.  I should preface this entire thing by saying I have no idea what I'm doing.  I'm just using common sense and following my instincts.  My methods could make professional chefs weep in agony over my bull-in-a-china-chop ways.  But it worked for me.
So, back to these tails.  I used my super duper kitchen scissors to cut a line down the back of the tail.  Then I used my fingers to gently separate the meat from the skin, leaving it intact at the bottom.  Don't ask why.  It seemed right.  (don't forget the poop trail.)

Photo by Matt

Here's a little gander at my seafood display.  I've got my canoed King crabs at the top, my jumbo scallops drying out at the bottom left.  Then my fresh, screaming mussels, my 2 nicely cut lobster tails, my beautiful, mostly alive clams, and my fresh shrimp (no heads, although I have no problem twisting the heads off those suckers.  Head-on just wasn't avail.)

Photo by Katie Kay

After I washed my oyster mushrooms (and even before) I realized how unappetizing and truly disgusting they looked.  Still, I'm game for whatever.

Photo by Katie Kay

I went to Spec's to pick up a bottle of sake.  I had no idea what I was doing, and bought one that looked cool and was priced at $15 per bottle.  It tasted great, so I guess it was right.

Photo by Katie Kay

I took this picture before I added the clams, mussels, and crab.  Once I added them, the pot was too full to see everything.  I ended up using the entire tiny bottle of Shichimi Togarashi and my entire bottle of sake.  I'm a believer in spice and broth.  If you don't like spice, don't make this recipe.  Move on to the cupcakes.

Photo by Katie Kay

After I took this picture, I stirred the seafood with the broth, added the rest of the seafood, and stirred everything together.  I steamed it on medium-high for about 5 minutes, then served immediately with white rice for soaking up the broth.
As I was buying all this seafood, I started to feel a little sick to my stomach at the thought of how Matt was going to FLIP OUT at the cost.  So I kept track.  After adding it up below with my trusty calculator, I came up with $76.98 for the entire meal, which was a lot of food.  We ate it all because we're massive gluttons, but I think 4 could have eaten this. 
So, not a weekly event, but still not as bad as going to Morimoto. Matt moaned through this entire meal.  Seriously.

Seafood Toban Yaki
3 Lemons (under $1) Green onion (about $0.50) Oyster mushrooms (a couple bucks?  Lets say $3) 3 cups (1 bottle) of sake ($15) .84lb King Crab ($12.58) 12 Littleneck clams ($5.48) .495lb Jumbo scallops (7.91) 2 lobster tails ($13.96) 12 Jumbo shrimp ($6.46) 12 live mussels ($3.09) 3 Tbsp (aka "the whole jar") Shichimi Togarashi ($8 on Amazon.com)
Combine all ingredients except crab in Dutch oven and stir to combine.  Add crab.  Cover and steam for 5 minutes or until shrimp is pink and clams and mussels are opened.  Serve with white rice.
Inspired by Morimoto in Napa Valley
Recipe compiled from: Culinary Trends Good Food Channel Kikkoman