Serves four
The beauty of this recipe is not only the amazing shellfish we are going to cook but both the sauce base and fennel could be made a couple of days ahead and kept in the fridge leaving minimal prep to do when you want to serve.
Scallops really are a great product to cook at home, they require minimal effort other than sourcing the best, freshest, shellfish. As far as the cooking is concerned slightly under will be better than over!
If you are luck enough to have a local fishmonger they should be able to get them for you but if not there are a number of really good online fishmongers to try these days.
One well worth a look in the West Country is Rockfish founded by Mitch Tonks, not only great restaurants but an online fish market too.
Today as I am writing this they are listing 12 fresh “disco scallops” for £24,
“These scallops are Caught using an innovative new potting method that uses gentle lights to attract scallops — a discovery made while experimenting with lobster and crab pots — these are some of the best quality scallops we’ve ever tasted.”
4 large/8 medium hand dived scallops, cleaned and cut in half (if large)
olive oil
salt
SAUCE
1 tsp coconut oil/veg oil
15g ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
20g lemongrass, chopped
1 small banana shallot, sliced
1 garlic cloves sliced
2 lime leaves
4 whole raw tiger prawns or 100g shell on crevettes
50ml white wine
200ml veg stock
100ml coconut milk
To finish, 50g unsalted butter
Start by sweating off the ginger, lemongrass, shallot, garlic and lime leaves in the coconut oil with a pinch of salt. Cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes, staring frequently.
Add the prawns and crush up with a rolling pin, cook for a further 2-3 minutes making sure the prawns don’t catch and go bitter.
Deglaze with the white wine, reduce to a syrup and then add the stock and coconut milk.
Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 5 minutes, remove from the heat, cover the pan with a lid or clingfilm and allow to steep for 20 minutes.
Pass through a chinois or fine sieve pushing hard on the solids to extract all the liquid.
When you are ready to serve bring the stock to a simmer, whisk in the cold butter and then foam with a hand blender.
PICKLED FENNEL
1 bulb fennel
1tsp cooking salt
75ml white wine vinegar
75ml white wine
75g caster sugar
Start by making the pickling liquid. In a small pan combine the vinegar, wine and sugar and bring to the boil, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Peel the outer layer from the fennel bulb and trim off the top. Cut into quarters and slice out the root. Slice as fine as possible, either with a sharp cooks knife or on a mandolin. In a small bowl mix the fennel with the salt and leave for an hour.
Wash off the fennel and squeeze out any excess water, return to the bowl. Bring the pickling liquid to the boil and pour over the fennel, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.
SCALLOPS
Season with salt on the side you are going to sear, heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan until hot but not quite smoking, add the scallops seasoned side down making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook on the one side for about a minute until well caramelised and then turn and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a rack to rest for a minute or so before plating.
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