Scallops are bivalves with a round shell of impressive size and tender, slightly sweet meat, which is easily digested and contains a large amount of vitamins and protein. The whole body of the scallop is edible, except for the shell. It is used for decorative purposes.
Pick your recipe
Scallop on store shelves is presented in frozen, chilled, dried, canned and boiled form. The meat of this mollusk is a recognized delicacy. Its delicate sweet taste is a bit like crab meat.
Scallops are nutritious and easy to prepare. They can be stewed, boiled, fried, pickled and salted. Some gourmets prefer to eat this raw seafood, after sprinkling it with lemon juice and olive oil.
Soups, salads, solyanka, meatballs, jellies are prepared from scallops, and they are also used as a filling for stuffed cabbage, pancakes or pies. In order for the dish from this mollusk to work out well, scallops must be correctly selected and prepared. The ideal option is to buy chilled clams. Quality scallops have elastic meat, pinkish or milky, without yellow spots. The smell is marine.
The frozen product needs preliminary defrosting, it is advisable to do this on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. However, the most correct way is to place the frozen product in cold milk and leave at room temperature. Never use a microwave or hot water to speed up the process. Otherwise, the scallops will irrevocably lose their special taste. In any case, you should choose the smallest mollusks, their meat is more tender.
For appetizers and salads, scallops need to be boiled. If you are fortunate enough to get scallops in the sink, gently open the flaps and remove their contents. Be sure to defrost a frozen product before cooking. Rinse the scallops and place in a pot of boiling water, which should be pre-salt to your liking. Add chopped parsley root, season with pepper. Cook the delicacy after boiling over low heat for 4-5 minutes. Do not overdo it with cooking! Like any seafood, scallops are better to be slightly undercooked: prolonged heat treatment negatively affects the taste of scallops. The readiness of the mollusk is determined by the loss of transparency of its meat.
Pickled scallops will be a great appetizer. Place fresh seafood in a bowl and cover with soy sauce. Add literally a couple drops of sesame oil, wait 10 minutes. After this, the scallops should be mixed and immediately enjoy their delicate taste.
Scallops are very popular in French cuisine, where various sauces, for example, oyster, are added to them. It makes the taste of scallop truly perfect. To make scallops in oyster sauce you will need:
- 250 g scallop meat without shells;
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger root;
- 1 small clove of garlic;
- 1 tsp soy sauce;
- 1 tsp sesame oil;
- 2 tbsp. l oyster sauce;
- 1 tbsp. l vegetable oil;
- a pinch of sugar.
Combine soy and oyster sauce, add sesame oil and sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Heat vegetable oil in a deep skillet or wok. Fry ginger and garlic very quickly. Add scallops and cook for one minute, no more. Otherwise, the scallops will become rubbery and tasteless. Roasting should give the clams a light golden crust. Pour in oyster-soy sauce and fry for another half a minute. When serving, you can sprinkle scallops with chopped greens.
A good addition to scallop dishes is white dry wine. It favorably shades the sweet taste of the mollusk.