How to prevent poaching of Scallops when sauteeing (ginger, black pepper, fish)
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How to prevent poaching of Scallops when sauteeing?
Whenever I sautee scallops, they end up getting poached in water because of all the water that is in the scallop. It all ends up outside and in the pan. The Scallops just sit there in boiling water now.
When I see youtube vids of scallop cooking, I alway see a really good sear/browning of the outside. I can never get this. They never show how to extract the water.
How do you extract the water? Do you salt and let rest for long time? Or do you squeeze it out? I also like to wash the scallops. Will that put more water into the scallop and therefore I should cease?
I use a well-seasoned cast iron pan and a little butter. If your scallops are frozen, let them thaw in cold water and even if they are fresh, rinse and pat them dry on paper towels. Come back later and pat them again.
Heat pan and butter until when you sprinkle a drop of water on it it sizzles and dances away. The heat should be high, the time on each side should be short and you turn them only once. Don't be afraid to have a hot pan but beware of over cooking.
You may benefit from reading the section on searing scallops on "The Spruce Eats" cooking site. He has some good ideas and explanations.
Oh heck, as long as I'm here I'll share my latest favorite seared scallop recipe:
12 scallops
2T. oil (Butter is your friend when you want a nice brown crust.)
When done remove scallops and add 1 1/2 t. minced ginger and brown
1/2 C. apricot jam
1T. soy sauce
A little liquid if you think it needs it - wine or water
Salt and pepper
Heat and stir and pour over scallops.
Serve on your favorite rice pilaf with a spritz of fresh lime. My pilaf has rice and peas, parsley, chives and a bit of lime zest.
Oh heck, as long as I'm here I'll share my latest favorite seared scallop recipe:
12 scallops
2T. oil (Butter is your friend when you want a nice brown crust.)
When done remove scallops and add 1 1/2 t. minced ginger and brown
1/2 C. apricot jam
1T. soy sauce
A little liquid if you think it needs it - wine or water
Salt and pepper
Heat and stir and pour over scallops.
Serve on your favorite rice pilaf with a spritz of fresh lime. My pilaf has rice and peas, parsley, chives and a bit of lime zest.
I have done that though. Does not help. Do I need to let rest of paper towel for long time, and let water drip out?
Hmmm...it has worked for me.
I actually wrap my scallops in paper towels, put in the fridge, change out the wet paper towels and then repeat.
I then season with a dash of Old Bay (good ol' So MD boy here) some cracked black pepper, then into an f'hot pan with some butter (and some oil to keep the butter from burning).
"Due to their extreme perishability and the high costs of only taking a boat out for a day at a time, some scallop fishermen treat their scallops with a solution of sodium tripolyphosphate, or STP, which helps keep the scallop from drying out. Used judiciously before freezing, treatment with STP is not necessarily a bad thing.
Unfortunately, when used in great quantity, a soak in STP causes scallops to absorb a lot of excess moisture, sometimes as much as 50% of their weight. Of course, since scallops are sold by weight, this artificially inflates the price."
As the site says, try to get dry pack scallops (good luck). STP is the bane of this era. Look at the frozen fish, look at the price, and then double it to see what you are really paying. Frozen seafood packed very safely before its use. I still remember dollar bricks of one pound of cod that was almost enough for a second meal for two.
Rather than saute, you might consider using a grill that has a way for fat to runoff as a way to dump the water that comes out in cooking. There is only so much water I've been able to get out before applying heat.
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