Most of us associate seared scallops with fine dining and expensive dinner bills, but what if you could cook them to perfection yourself – at a fraction of the price?
Making Michelin Star-worthy seared scallops takes some practice, but it’s not as impossible as you might assume.
If you’re ready to wave goodbye to fancy restaurants and cook up your own top-class scallops from home, here’s what you need to do.
First, grab your scallops and figure out which side is which.
Yep, scallops really do have two sides to them – a seared side and an unseared side.
You’ll notice that one side is smaller, and the other is larger. You’re aiming to sear the larger side, which helps create a really nice presentation.
Next, season your scallops with salt and a little pepper.
You don’t want too much pepper on your scallops to begin with. You can always add more later on if you like.
Remember, both sides of the scallops are just as important, so make sure to season them evenly on the front and back.
N0w it’s time for the fun part: the searing!
Place a pan on a high heat setting and add some oil. Wait until the oil is so hot that it’s on the verge of smoking before you add your scallops.
Place the scallops large-side down, making sure not to overload the pan with too many scallops. You want to keep the pan nice and hot, so two scallops per pan is best.
You’ll start to see a little bit of color on the bottom of the scallops, which means it’s time to baste them with oil.
This essentially means tipping your pan at an angle, collecting all the oil on your spoon, and tipping the spoon over your scallops again and again.
Because the oil is so hot, you need to be very careful when doing this, and make sure the oil only ever splashes away from you.
Pro tip for buying scallops: it’s best to get them from your local fish market, where they tend to be top quality.
It’s time to flip the scallops over and add some thyme and butter – this is optional but adds a bit of extra flavor.
Continue to baste your scallops with the oil-butter mixture, then switch off your heat and transfer your pan to a cool surface.
This recipe is for medium-rare scallops, so you may want to leave yours on the heat for slightly longer, but watch out – you don’t want them to burn. They should also be seared on one side more than the other.
So there you have it: cooking scallops at home really isn’t so hard!
This is a great recipe to attempt on a date night at home, or whenever you fancy something a little fancier.
When you remove the scallops from the pan, feel free to add the thyme on top and serve them up fine dining style.
You could enjoy the scallops on their own as a starter, or pair them with a creamy risotto for a flavor match made in heaven.
If you thought scallops were too difficult to attempt yourself, that couldn’t be further from the truth!
The handy video below, produced by Chefs Ease, gives a visual step-by-step on what to do.
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