[hrothgar]

A number of folks have been asking for my scallop recipe. Here it is, written down for the first time... (You none scallop eaters are getting this because the sauce works brilliantly on poached chicken and can even be used to liven up Seitan and tofu)

Please note: The recipe consists of three parts:

A recipe to make “red oil” (a hot chili oil that is the base for many Sichuan recipes
A recipe to make the sauce that will top the scallops (this sauce works equally well on chicken, pork, shrimp, broccoli, you name it.)
Instructions for preparing the scallops

All of the recipes are all dirt simple. Here are the “issues” that might cause some trouble.

First: The dish is very dependent on the quality of the scallops. Flavor and safety both depend on having nice fresh scallops.

Second: Some of the ingredients are a bit uncommon. You'll probably need to wander down to a Chinese grocery store. The chili oil really should be made a couple days in advance.

Third: The scallops are cooked sous vide. You're going to need some mechanism to keep a water bath at roughly 122 degrees. (this recipe is actually fairly forgiving... Some people who like rare scallops will cook them as low as 108. People who like well done poach them at 140. 122 gives you medium rare)

With this said and done, here we go:

Chili Oil (hong you):

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut oil
½ cup chili flakes or carsely ground chilies with seeds
1 inch ginger sliced and crushed
2 star anise pods

Heat the oil with the ginger until smoking hot (use a cast iron sauce pan if you have one)
Let the oil cool until its between 225 and 250
Add the ingredients and let sit
When the oil has cooled a bit, transfer everything to a gasket topped gas jar.

Store in a cool, dark place

(Modified) Fish Fragrant Sauce (yu xiang ji si)

Ingredients

2-3 scallions, green parts only (finely sliced)
1 tablespoon very finely chipped fresh ginger (ginger grater)
1 tablespoon very finely chopped garlic (microplane)
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinking or black Chinese vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons chili oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan pepper (crushed)

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar
Add the oils, followed by the ginger, garlic, and scallions and stir well

(A traditional fish fragrant sauce would substitute 1-2 tablespoons of pickled chili paste for the Sichuan pepper corns)

Scallops

Fill a large bowl with water.
Place scallops into a ziplock bag.
Optional: Add a small amount of mustard oil
Slowly submerge the bag into the water with the opening facing towards the ceiling. Submerge until the ziplock seal is under the water but the opening is above the water (You are using the weight of the water to force all the air out of the bag). Seal the bag and remove from the water.
Push the scallops around until they are in a single layer

Get your water bath to somewhere around 122 degrees (You'll need to figure this one out for yourself. I bought a sous vide set up. I've heard that quality crock pots / slow cookers work decently)

Submerge the scallops (bags and all) into the water bath for 20 minutes. While the scallops are cooking, get a cast iron pan screaming hot and add a small amount of high smoke point oil (grapeseed and sunflower works well). Alternatively, if you have a kitchen torch for crème brulee, now's the time to drag it out...

Use whatever method you prefer to carmelize the scallops.
Plate and serve

[blackshoe]

I had to look up sous-vide.

Interesting recipe, I'll have to give it a try sometime.

[kenrexford]

This sounds good.

Somewhat related in feel, perhaps, I recently tried scallops a fairly easy way that were rather good. You simply dip each flat side on a plate with five spice spread out, to create a five-spice crust, and then sear. Scallops seem to love anise.

[Winstonm]

Slightly off-topic but I made a Shitake mushroom risotto today that was to die for.