Scallops -Asian flavour infused

Scallops—Asian flavour-infused

Fresh scallops smell like the ocean breeze. They can have a bag of orange roe attached to them, which is delicious to eat and not to be discarded. Cooking them in butter or brown butter-beurre noisette adds to the deliciousness. The kumquat comes through vibrantly with the addition of orange juice.

Serves 4 

 

340 g - 3/4 lb fresh sea scallops

A sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi (see tip)

2 tsp salted butter or brown butter

 

Wash and pat the scallops dry. Sprinkle with Nanami Togarashi.

In a skillet, heat half the butter until it sizzles and foams. Add half the scallops. Cook over high heat until the scallop has caramelised. Turn and cook the other side. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining butter and scallops.

 

To prepare the sauce or vinaigrette in a pan, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer for 7 minutes. This should become slightly thick and sticky enough to coat the back of the spoon.

2 tbsp sake

2 tsp kumquat conserve or an orange marmalade

1 1/2  tsp mirin

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp light tamari soya

1/3rd cup of orange juice

1 small piece of fresh ginger to infuse

1/2 tsp wasabi powder or paste

 

To assemble

Pour the sauce as needed over the scallops; sprinkle with seaweed salt, crushed nori, and toasted sesame seeds.

Add a side of daikon radish, along with a drizzle of the same vinaigrette and zucchini flowers if available.

 

Tips

Nanami togarashi, is a Japanese 7 spice available in Asian food stores. It is a blend of different red and black pepers, sesame, seaweed and ginger and may have yuzu and the white cardamom. 

Yuzu which is a Japanese lime, has a delightful sake which is a good option if it is available.

No salt is needed in this recipe, as the ingredients seem to have enough.

The sauce has plenty of umami flavour. I found that ginger really helped round up the flavours.

The kumquat comes through vibrantly with the addition of orange juice.

Allow the butter to foam up before placing the scallops in the pan.

Photo courtesy Niloufer Mavalvala

 

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on Amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Vegetarian Parsi, inspired by tradition is an award winning cookbook. It was published by Spenta Multimedia India and is available on Amazon India and through email order at thevegetarianparsi@gmail.com.

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.