Pan-Fried Scallops

Imagine seared scallops with ginger and spring onion. Now stop imagining and go cook them!

Ingredients

Serves 2 people as a main course

300 g (10 oz) scallops (with coral preferably)
300 g (10 oz) cooked vermicelli noodles
8 spring onions (scallions) cut into 1″ (2cm) lengths
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil

Vegetable oil for brushing

Method

1	Brush one side of the scallops very lightly with vegetable oil.
2	Put the vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan and heat it until it starts to smoke. Meanwhile put a non-stick pan over a medium heat.
3	Add the ginger to the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute.
4	Add the spring onions, the noodles and the soy sauce. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes to warm the noodles through. Meanwhile…
5	Place the scallops oil-side down in the non-stick pan. Sear the scallops for 1 minute, during which time you need to brush the top side of the scallops with a little oil.
6	Turn the scallops over and sear the other side for a further minute. Remove from the pan and quickly fry the coral for 1 minute.
7	To serve, make a bed of noodles on a plate and arrange the scallops on top. Grind on some black pepper and serve to your hungry guest.

Titli’s Tips

Fresh scallops are always best for this dish, but you can use frozen scallops too. Do check the packet. Scallops that are without any additives are called “dry packed”, while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) are called “wet packed”. STPP causes the scallops to absorb moisture prior to the freezing process and therefore they will lose a lot of moisture when you cook them.