Seared Scallops with Herby Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
Despite how sunny these photos look like, we are in the middle of a super awkward cold front in our neck of the woods. It’s July, our house is freezing, and I desperately want to dig out my winter clothes from the closet. I thought we moved out of San Francisco to avoid the unseasonal weather patterns!
However, if you live where the weather is less awkward and enjoying the bliss of summertime, this week’s recipe is perfect for you! Whenever I feel like cooking something fancy for dinner my mind always goes to scallops or some relative in the mollusk family. Scallops in particular feel like a treat, yet they are so effortless to cook! You might as well make them yourself instead of spending 4x as much at a restaurant for 3 scallops.
The key for cooking scallops is using a quality fat (butter or olive oil) and cook them hot and fast. I prefer to use a nonstick pan for easy release and make sure the crank the heat up high. Then sear on either side until they are deeply golden brown, takes a few minutes! Seafood often has a natural salinity so you can finish them with a pinch of salt to taste or save the salt and rely on a beautiful vinaigrette instead. That verdant swoop under the scallops is a blend of cilantro, basil, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, and rice vinegar - all my favorite things! It’s bright, refreshing, and punchy. It’s light enough that it doesn’t over power the scallops but still pack full of flavor.
I’m not kidding then I say this recipe takes no-time. If you’re efficient you can make it start-to-finish in about 15 minutes. Then you have all night to split a nice bottle of wine ☺️
Seared Scallops with Herby Fish Sauce Vinaigrette
Serves 2
Vinaigrette:
2 garlic cloves
1/2” knob of ginger
Handful of thai basil leaves
Handful of cilantro
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of white pepper
12 oz large scallops
2 tbsp butter
Thinly sliced radishes for garnish
Juice of 1 lime
In a food processor or small blender, combine garlic, ginger, basil, cilantro, rice vinegar, fish sauce, olive oil, and white pepper. Blend until smooth.
Pat the scallops dry. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, place the scallops into the pan and sear until deeply golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and sear the other side until deeply golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Spread the vinaigrette on a platter and arrange the scallops. Garnish with radishes, extra basil leaves, and juice of a lime before serving.