Seafood a la King with a creamy sauce

Seafood a la King is made with chunks of firm white fish and a mixture of juicy prawns, tender calamari rings and plump mussels in a creamy sauce. Why should a la king meals be restricted to chicken?

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What does ‘a la king’ mean?

‘A la‘ is a French term meaning ‘in the style of’ or ‘pertaining to’, so ‘a la king’ simply means ‘in the style of the king‘. I’m sure you are all familiar with the classic chicken a la king, but I thought that a bowl of mixed seafood would benefit from being cooked in the same way. And so my recipe for seafood a la king was born.

I’ve based this seafood a la king recipe very loosely on my recipe for Irish seafood chowder. But whereas a chowder has a thin creamy sauce, similar to a soup, seafood a la king has a much thicker sauce, and is normally served with a bowl of rice or pasta.

Why I think you’ll love this dish

I think you will love this seafood a la king.

Firstly, it tastes delicious. The vegetables are sauteed slowly in butter until they soften and release their flavours. And the buttery, creamy sauce is the perfect foil for the delicate flavours of the seafood.

Secondly – you can have this dish on the table in just over half an hour. Seriously, this dish is so quick to prepare it’s unreal. Just saute the vegetables, add the cream, allow to thicken and then stir in the seafood. Simmer for a few minutes and you are done!

Thirdly – it freezes like a dream. Just pack any leftovers (what leftovers?) into a plastic container and you can freeze it for up to three months.

And finally – you don’t have to be too precise with the measurements, which makes it simple to scale the recipe up or down to suit the size of your family.

You will only need a few ingredients

Seafood a la king only needs a few simple ingredients. You can get the exact measurements and complete instructions on the printable recipe card at the end of this post. The quantities given are sufficient for 4 people, but you can easily scale up by adding extra seafood and vegetables. I’ve included suggestions on how to do this below.

Fish and seafood – You will need a mixture of fresh fish and frozen (defrosted) cooked mixed seafood, and allow around 120g/4oz per person.

I used a 300g (10.5 ounces) bag of mixed seafood and a fillet of cod which weighed around 150g (just over 5 ounces).

Mixed seafood normally contains prawns (shrimp), calamari (squid) tubes, mussels and clams. You can also buy these separately and make your own mixture.

The fillet of fish should be cut into 1″ pieces. You can use any firm white fish that you like – cod, haddock, tilapia, hake, whiting, pollock – whatever you prefer.

You could also leave out the fish and use just mixed seafood. Make sure you stick to the 120g/4oz per person portion size.

Vegetables – Allow 1 cup of vegetables per person. For this recipe, you will need onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and whole kernel sweetcorn.

The vegetables should be chopped into quite a small dice, approximately 1cm, with the exception of the potatoes, which can be about an inch in size.

For the sweetcorn you will need a 165g (6oz) can. This is the equivalent of about two-thirds of a cup.

Cream – I used single cream (or pouring cream). You can use half milk and half cream if you prefer. One cup will be sufficient for 4 people – increase proportionately if you are cooking for more people.

Cornflour/cornstarch – This is used for thickening the sauce and you should allow approximately 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for each cup of cream.

Butter – This is used to saute the vegetables, and provides the base for the sauce. For 4 cups of vegetables, 60g or 2oz is plenty, and you should increase this proportionately if you are cooking for more people.

Parsley – Parsley is used both for mixing into the sauce and for garnishing. You should use fresh, chopped parsley – for this dish you cannot substitute with dried parsley. If you don’t have fresh parsley, just leave it out.

Seasoning – I like to season seafood a la king with a little salt and a good grinding of black pepper.

How to make seafood a la king

Preparation

Whenever I make a recipe I always like to prepare everything up front.

• Start off by defrosting the frozen seafood in a bowl of lukewarm water. Then cut the fillet of fish into approximately 1″ (2.5cm) pieces.
• Peel the carrots and onion, rinse the celery in cold water and cut the celery and onions into 1/2″ (1cm) dice and the carrots into a one-quarter-inch or a half centimetre dice. The carrots will take longer to cook, so cutting them smaller ensures they will be cooked through.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1″ (2.5cm) pieces.
• Open the can of sweetcorn and drain the liquid into a bowl. Reserve the liquid, this will be used to thin the sauce should it become too thick.

Make the seafood a la king

• Melt the butter in a wok or a large frying pan over a low heat.
• Add the onions, potatoes, carrots and celery and stir well to coat completely with butter.
• Cover with a lid and leave to saute for 10 minutes until the vegetables have softened (image 1 below).
• Make sure you keep the heat turned down quite low so the vegetables do not brown. Give them a stir every now and then.

• Remove from the heat and stir in the cornflour, taking care to remove any lumps.
• Stir in the cream and return to the heat. Increase the heat slightly and bring to the boil.
• Stir until the sauce thickens and leaves a visible trail when you draw a spoon through it (image 2 above).
• Mix in the cubed fish and the seafood and add the parsley (image 3 above).
• This is where you check the consistency of the sauce.
  • The seafood and cubed fish may contain water, which may thin the sauce down. If this happens, mix a teaspoon of cornflour with a tablespoon of reserved juice from the corn (you can substitute this with milk if you prefer), and drizzle slowly into the sauce until the desired consistency is reached.
  • On the other hand, if the sauce is too thick, just drizzle in a little of the reserved corn liquid.
• The consistency of the sauce should be that of a thick custard or a thick pancake batter. It should not be runny.
• Cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through and the vegetables are completely cooked.

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How to serve seafood a la king

I like to serve this dish on a bed of fluffy white rice (see this post for how to cook rice in the microwave), garnished with parsley and with a side helping of peas and sweet cherry tomatoes.

You could also serve it spooned over a dish of freshly cooked pasta or mashed potatoes.

If you have time, you could even make a batch of pancakes (crepes), and roll spoonfuls of the seafood sauce in crepes (like cannelloni), sprinkle with cheese and brown under the grill until the cheese is melted.

Variations and substitutions

• You can substitute the corn with frozen peas.
• Add finely diced red pepper (capsicum) with the onions.
• Chopped hard-boiled eggs would make a nice addition. Just stir in 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs before serving.
• Swap out the white fish with pieces of fresh salmon.
• Add a tub of ricotta cheese at the same time as adding the fish, for a cheesy version of seafood a la king.

How to freeze

Seafood a la king freezes very well.

Allow to cool and then transfer to a rigid plastic container (Tupperware or similar) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To use, allow to defrost in the refrigerator and then transfer to a large saucepan. Heat gently until piping hot and serve immediately.

Do not refreeze.

Make ahead

You can make this dish up to three days ahead and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator.

To use, transfer to a large saucepan. Heat gently until piping hot and serve immediately.

Other recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, here are some other fish and seafood dishes you may enjoy:

• Salmon and broccoli pasta in a creamy dill sauce
• Seafood stuffed pasta shells in a creamy cheesy sauce
• Easy pasta Pescatore (seafood pasta)
• Fish Milanese with a buttery garlic and parsley sauce
• Avocado and shrimp linguine with garlic
• Kashmiri chicken and prawn curry with lychees
• Octopus stew – Spanish style

Seafood a la king recipe

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