I had some fun on the kitchen this weekend. When we went for groceries the other night, I did what I usually do and built a meal as we wandered through the store. Broccoli looked good as usual, so into the basket went a bunch. Hmm… we haven’t had shrimp in a while. Green onions and red peppers were in good shape. We were getting a can of coconut milk for something else which wasn’t going to take the entire can, so I had that to work with. An asian meal was starting to take shape. I found some nice jalapeños for kick and the rest of what made sense for an asian meal.

So here’s what I ended up throwing together:

• 8-10 flowerets of Broccoli (halved)
• 2 carrots (sliced thinly on the diagonal)
• 3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal)
• 1 small red pepper (chopped coarsely)
• 8 oz mushrooms (cleaned and quartered)
• 2 thumbs of ginger (chopped)
• 3 red jalapeños (sliced thinly)
• 10 large shrimp (10-15 count), peeled and cleaned
• 1/3 can of coconut milk
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 lime (huiced)
• cilantro (minced)
• pasta (I used whole wheat fusilli)

Cook the pasta

Heat a stirfry pan over high heat. Stirfry the mushrooms in a bit of oil. Remove from the pan and set aside for later. Heat more oil. Add the green onions, stir a bit, and add the carrots and red peppers. Cook briefly until almost done. Remove from the pan and add to the mushrooms.

Heat more oil, add the ginger and chilis. toss and cook briefly. Add the shrimp and a couple pinches of 5 spice powder. Cook, until the shrimp is just done. Remove and add to the vegies.

Add a bit more oil to the pan if needed. Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, and lime juice. Stir until hot and blended. Add the cilantro and stir it in. Add the vegis and shrimp. Toss and serve.

We’d been reading about FishBar in Chicago Eater and such for a while. They opened just over a week ago and we decided to check them out this weekend.

The space is laid out like a dinner with a wrap around bar an a couple booths off to the side. The place was busy when we got there, just before 5pm on a Saturday, so we were shown to two open spots at the bar. The staff was prompt, friendly and on top of the situation. We were greeted and seated immediately upon entry.

Here’s the view from our seats:

We started by ordering drinks: a Belgian IPA for me and an “Old School” for Suzanne. Drinks are served in mason jars, something that seems to be a “thing” these days.

To kick off the food we got the ceviche of the day, some Eastern Fluke. This was nice, mixed with red onions and pineapple among other things. The texture was good, and it was flavorful. Maybe too flavorful. There wasn’t much nuance: I tasted little other than the pineapple. Notice that this was served in a jar as well. I thought including the lid included was a nice touch.

(Alas, I was trying a different tool for capturing notes and photos and screwed up somehow with the result that the remaining photos didn’t save.

Next up was a batch of fried belly clams. I’m not big into clams, and definitely not into these. Even Suzanne, who enjoys clams in general, found these to be too soft and mushy for her taste. We are assuming it was due to the type of clam, as the preparation seemed fine.

As Fish Bar is sibling (and next door) to DMK Burger Bar, and somewhat specializes in seafood-on-a-bun, we got a lobster roll. This was rich and tasty. That said, we’ve had better (see Nettie’s Crab Shack).

To round things out and see that we got our daily quota or yummy carbs, we had a side of tattered tots.

One thing I noticed was a healthy selection of hot sauces. I know why: with the exception of the ceviche, the well seasoned tater tots, and the beer, things were on the bland side. Maybe I’m just not that into seafood (other than shrimp and scallops, anyway).

If we go here again, I’ll be getting a burger from DMK next door.