Designing Dishes and Thoughtfully Creating Recipes part 4

Scallops are one of my favorite proteins to cook with. Scallops have a soft flesh, should be semi firm in texture, are bivalves and have a fresh sea smell to them. Mostly scallops are available fresh, out of the shell at your local seafood counter. Mostly in the United States we get scallops from along the East Coast, China, and Mexico. The season for scallops tends to be towards Fall/Winter, but they are available all year round. In season they are incredibly sweet and a wonderful addition to any plate. 

What can you do with scallops? Well almost anything! Scallops lend well to many different cooking styles as well as raw/uncooked preparations. When seared it develops a beautiful golden crust. One can also grill them on skewers over your favorite wood to impart a smokey flavor, or charcoal. Sizes and species vary. Today I am using a U-10 sea scallop. Scallops are sold by the pound. So for reference, it means that there will be “under 10 scallops per lb” Of course as the number gets lower, the larger the scallop.

In the dish I am speaking about today I kept the scallop mostly raw, but the scallop is cured. 

Curing is a fantastic step to set your fish apart from anyone else's. Curing fish is done by either moderately salting the outside of the fish and letting it sit. This triggers osmosis and pulls the inside moisture of the fish out towards the flesh. The result is a nicely seasoned, firm, well presented piece of fish. The curing process normally takes an hour or so, depending on your use.

In the cure I use togarashi which may be new to you! Togarashi really hit its fame in various cuisines within the past 15 years. However, it has been in use in Japanese cuisine for decades. Togarashi seasoning is made from dried togarashi peppers (like a red chile) and normally has ginger, sesame seeds, and chili powder. I chose to use tamari (low sodium version of soy) because I want the flavor of soy, but since scallops are salty, and we are curing them, I don’t want to add too much additional salt. 

The below recipes are meant to serve 2-3 people.

Cured Scallops

Sea scallops, fresh, U-10 8 each

Salt, kosher 1 ½ tbsp

Lemon juice, fresh ½ tbsp

Water 1 quart

Togarashi ½ tbsp

Tamari ½ tbsp

1. Clean the abductor muscle off of the outside of the scallop

2. Set scallops aside in a container

3. In a metal mixing bowl combine all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly

4. Pour the curing mixture of the scallops and let sit for 45 minutes in refrigeration

5. Remove the scallops from the curing liquid, place on a paper towel, and allow to dry out slightly

6. Slice the scallop in ¼” wide strips and reserve for later

The next part of the recipe is making an aioli from scratch. An aioli is a fancy way to pretty much say mayonnaise. The recipe also uses brown butter. If you’ve never made brown butter before, it is as easy as melting butter on the stove over medium heat in a saucepan, then as it continues to cook/simmer, you will see the butter begin to darken. If you go too far you will be left with a bitter, acrid mess. But, once you see it is brown, strain it through a metal sieve into a temperature safe bowl. This will leave you with a very nutty butter!

Brown Butter Lemon Aioli

Garlic, roasted 3 cloves

Salt, Kosher ½ tsp

Lemon juice, fresh 1 tbsp

Rice Vinegar ½ tbsp

Egg yolks, room temperature 4 each

Brown butter 1 ¼ cups

1. Place all ingredients, except the brown butter in a blender

2. Blend on high for 30-45 seconds

3. Slowly drizzle in the brown butter while blending on high for another 1 minute. The texture should be smooth and creamy

4. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week

The next recipe we are going to cover is the kombucha marinated apple. I picked up this trick recently and have been toying with it since. Kombucha is a funky and acidic drink that almost resembles vinegar. Macintosh is an extremely popular apple with a good firm texture that stands up to the kombucha well. For an even more tart approach, I like to use honey crisp apples here in Michigan

Kombucha Compressed Apple 

Macintosh apple, diced ⅛” 2 each

Kombucha 1 tbsp

1. Pour kombucha in a small metal mixing bowl

2. Add diced apples to the kombucha

3. Place into a vacuum sealer bag and seal

4. Refrigerate overnight

The last 2 items in the recipe are just for garnish. I used a nice sturgeon caviar and some fennel. In conclusion, we should look at the flavors from a broad spectrum and see how they came together.

First you have the cured scallop. This is providing substance, salt, sweetness, and a small acid note to the dish. 

The brown butter aioli adds some nutty flavors that pair well with the scallops, and the fat in this aioli helps balance out the acid that has been added in the curing process and with the apples. 

As explained above, the apples are there to add texture and acidity. You need the texture from the apples or the entire dish will be soft.

Finally, the caviar adds a pop of salt and a little more sea/briney flavor that compliments the scallop.

I love breaking down dishes like this and seeing where they end up. The more you play with flavors and get more comfortable with the basics, you will be able to freely create your own style. 

Have a great weekend!

Stephen