Scallops..

Three ways..

Continuing with Japanese flavours and with scallops, here is a simple yet light dish with a deep fried scallop in gyoza on soba noodle broth, seared sesame on nori/shiso and matcha steamed on green kosho

Toys.. Fantastic ingredients to play with, the first matcha....

it translates to mean ground and is the base ingredient for the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. The tencha plant is grown slowly which produces a higher amount of chlorophyll and then finely ground or rubbed and the result is matcha, this is the tea you will see in Japan which is whisked to a light frothy broth..

The light sweet flavour is a perfect balance for steaming scallops, just dust them before steaming, these are served on the second of my favourite taste extravaganza.. Kosho

I love Kosho, this one green, it gives you that unforgettable experience, like the first time you taste.. galangal or kaffir lime leaf, I think everyone remembers there first real authentic taste of Thailand, where flavours just seemingly unrecognised before to your palate explode into senses and enliven your taste buds.

Well, you are in for a real surprise when you taste Kosho for the first time, it is a paste made from Yuzu zest, yuzu to me is an amazing ingredient, it can be either yellow or green and is a citrus fruit which is a hybrid of a  sour mandarin and a Ichang Papeda (which is a kind of chinese lemon) This fruit looks like a grapefruit but tastes like nothing else. The kosho is made from the zest and the colour relates to that with the addition of green or red chillies and salt..

Here the two contrasting flavours are a delight..

Sesame.. The scallop is pressed into the tan on one side and the black seeds on the other, mixing the 2 different seeds with lightly smoked sea salt, they each gives the textured crunch and the flavour profile of gomashio which is a powder used for sticky rice in japan, I love to grind this into a paste with shiso leaves to create a tahini like texture..  great to paste over beef tataki or alike, but thats for another post..

Just to continue that bite and crunch of flavour as well, I take the micro leaves of daikon and tempura them, delicate yet full of flavour..

Last post I used hontsuyu, again this noodle soup base I used but reduced it to intensify the flavour, a nest of soba noodles just for the scallop to sit on. I shredded gyoza wrapper and the mixed that through with a pinch of kosho, a generous helping of shichimi and hijiki seaweed and then literally just kept moulding it around then scallop, there is enough natural dampness on the scallop to make it stick together, I first tried adding egg white to make sure, but that really isn't necessary.. so just mould it around the scallop and then into a pan drop in and deep fry, it doesn't need need long, the flavours that you achieve from the kosho stay with it but the spice and deep notes of mandarin and poppy seed from the shichimi just bring it to life wonderfully... The crisp gyoza gives a fantastic crunch which turns the whole thing into a taste explosion!! As you bite into it, the whole thing crunches into the mouth.. fantastic!!

The shichimi also adds that little bite you need to bring the noodles alive, often found in japan sprinkled on top of soups and noodles alike, on the side I finished the dish with a red miso sauce, the rich earthy flavour is a nice accompaniment for the sweet scallop and the salty addition of a little ikura (salmon roe)

Hotatagei

Scallops...
Barely cooked... Sashimi... In the shell.. So many options..

We all love Scallops, I have been playing with Japanese flavours recently.. and over the next few weeks will be posting some simple yet uncompromising asian influenced dishes

Here simply flash fried fresh hand picked divers, start in a smoking pan of rapeseed oil, crisping nicely on the exposed flesh and the a knob of butter before turning.

These are set aside and the pan is then finished with a touch of garlic, ginger, a dash of yuzu juice, hontsuyu (Hon Tsuyu is basically extracted bonito and japanese niboshi sardine oil mixed with soy sauce. It's used as a soup base for noodles such as Udon) and fresh chilli. I love adding a touch of hontsuyu to the scallops as they start to caramelize it just helps the process along and adds a depth and intensity of flavour with umami found in the garum of sardines. Garum was a fish sauce similar to the fish sauces used in Asian cuisines, which are equally ancient (if the Roman Empire had not toppled, we’d most likely be using garum in Western cuisine today). 

Garnish..

I have a lot to post about garnish, in plating Japanese food, simple yet beautifully aesthetic garnish which eats with the dish is a key to achieving perfect balance and flavour...

Benriner Mandolin - Fresh seasonal beetroot, the earthy sweet flavor is a perfect marriage for scallops...

The dish here has alternating beds of beetroot and mooli for each plump scallop to sit on and that little touch of nigella shoots and daikon cress livens the mouth with each fresh bite