If you are a fan of hell's kitchen, you must notice that scallops are often on their dining menu. Scallops is a gourmet meal that is nutritious and versatile. They are often sold in a fine dining restaurant because their preparation is a bit daunting. However, if a beginner like me can do it, why can’t you? so, I am going to let you know the process from cleaning to cooking scallops in this post.
There are many ways to cook scallops into a palatable cuisine. It can be added to soups, seared, or into salads. Even there are some differences in preparation in western and eastern cooking. In the western cuisines, chefs added wine as the sauce and usually pan seared the salmon meanwhile in most oriental cuisines and Indonesian cuisines scallops are cooked with the shell in a sauce dominated with sweet and spicy flavor. But before cooking, ensure that your scallops are fresh and they are not leaving their shells.
| Serving | Ready in | Cooking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| 2 person | 30 minutes | ⭐️⭐️⭐️(difficult) |
Ingredients
- 3 and half ounces scallops
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 150ml Chicken/vegetable broth
- 6 garlic
- Half lemon
- Some salt, oregano, and pepper
Directions
How To Clean The Scallops
| step 1 | step 2 | step 3 |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
- Separate the shell with the meat by shucking the scallops
- Clean their innards (the black part and also the orange part) make sure you only get the cleanest part of the meat
- Give them a good rinse with cool water
- Pat them dry before cooking them
How To Cook Lemon Butter Garlic Scallops
 |  |  |
- Pour 2 tbsp of cooking oil into the skillet and let it hot
- Add the scallops into batch and don’t overcrowd them in the pan
- Season with salt, oregano, pepper and give it a taste
- Sear them for another 2 minutes then transfer them into a plate
- Melt 2 tbsp of butter into the same skillet
- Add in mashed garlic until the aroma comes out and it turns golden brown
- Pour in vegetable broth/chicken into the skillet bring to simmer
- Add the scallops back and pour over the sauce into the pan for 1 minutes
- Squeeze half lemon juice into the mixture and mix them well
- Serve warm with rice or pasta or anything of your preference
Note from Mac
This is my first time preparing the scallops from scratch. I normally get the clean version and a bigger one from the restaurant which of course was pricey. There are also many scallops-like in a skewer that is sold in the street food stalls. But cooking them from scratch is something I have never done. I got the scallops at a price of 1.5$ for 3 ounces and half. However, many of them are shells instead of actual scallops. That added into another reason why I am disappointed with my first time cooking it. Another reasons I think this scallops trial was a flop is here:
First the scallops were too small. I was expecting a big juicy scallops but all I got was the size of a penny. It was very tiny that you can’t even really get the actual taste of the meat.
Second, I missed the wine. Obviously, I don’t have wine in the house and I think it would have been better to add wine instead of the pre-made chicken stock that I have.
My final disappointment, I added too much salt. Please don’t be like me. Butter will give salty-flavor to it and if you add too much salt, it’s gonna be too salty to taste.
So that’s it from my cooking lab experiment for the day. I will be moving into some desserts or simple snacks that you can try cooking at home.
