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Seared scallops, recipe with Harry Fung Ng

Fresh seafood sits and swims in abundance in the cold, clean waters off the coast of New England. Bluefin tuna, oysters, and the world-renowned Maine lobsters all call this region home. But on the seabed, beneath the seagrass and rocks, lie a true delicacy that thousands brave the freezing water to harvest.

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Ingredients:

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SCALLOPS:

  1. 6 large, fresh scallops

  2. Sea salt

  3. 1 tbsp unsalted butter

  4. Olive oil

  5. 1 lemon

 

SPINACH PUREE

  1. 2 cups raw spinach

  2. ½ cup heavy cream

  3. Sea salt

  4. Black pepper

  5. 1 tsp butter

 

MASHED POTATOES:

  1. 1 Yukon Gold Potato

  2. Butter (as you see fit)

New England scallops are some of the best in the world, renowned for their melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and a subtle, slightly sweet taste. Fortunately, most New Englanders have easy access to fresh, wild, hand-dived scallops, at a fair price. And with the shape of scallops, anyone can easily follow this recipe to create a fine-dining feel in under twenty minutes and with less than fifteen dollars.

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If you live in another part of the world, where fresh scallops are not as cheap, don’t fret. You only need two scallops per person, and so if you are cooking for two people, you only need to pay for four scallops, and this would not amount to a large cost. All the other items used in this recipe are very cheap, so really do spend your money on getting the best and freshest scallops you can. Frozen scallops or dried scallops really do not come anywhere near the delicious taste of fresh scallops.

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METHOD:

 

For the mashed potato:

  1. Boil a saucepan full of water.

  2. Wash and peel the Yukon Gold Potato.

  3. Cut the potato into small chunks, using the video for reference.

  4. Boil the potato chunks, until soft enough so that a fork can be inserted into the potato chunks without effort.

  5. Once potatoes are soft, strain, and mash with a potato ricer.

  6. Stir in butter until smoothly combined.

NOTE: mashed potatoes are only for making dots in the plating process, so they don’t need to taste perfect! You’ll only have six tiny dots of it anyway.

 

For the spinach puree:

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan.

  2. While the water heats, wash the spinach.

  3. Blanch spinach, working in batches if needed, until soft, around 20 seconds. 

  4. Put blanched spinach into a blender with 1 tsp butter, 1 pinch salt, and 1 pinch black pepper.

  5. Blend on medium-high until smooth. Adjust with a bit of cooking water if it is too thick. Taste pureé for seasoning level.

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For the seared scallops:

  1. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat until the oil is lightly smoking.

  2. While the pan heats, pat dry the scallops, and season LIGHTLY with salt and black pepper. Scallops naturally contain a bit of salt, so do not season heavily.

  3. When the pan is hot, arrange scallops in the pan. Imagine the pan is a clock: 

    1. Place the first scallop in at 12 o’clock to sear

    2. Place the second scallop in at 1 o’clock to sear

    3. Place the third scallop in at 2 o’clock to sear

    4. Place the fourth scallop in at 3 o’clock to sear

    5. Place the fifth scallop in at 4 o’clock to sear

    6. Place the sixth scallop in at 6 o’clock to sear

  4. Lower the heat to medium right after placing the sixth scallop.

  5. By the time the 6th scallop is in the pan searing, the first scallop should be ready to flip. Flip according to the order you put in the scallops.

  6. After you flip the sixth scallop, melt in one tablespoon of butter. Turn the heat off, and allow the residual heat from the pan to continue searing the scallops. Tilt the pan so that the melted butter flows into the scallops.

  7. Ten to twenty seconds later, take scallops out onto a plate lined with paper towels to rest.

 

FOR PLATING (see video for reference):

  1. 20 minutes prior to cooking, preheat the oven to 160F/70C.

  2. Place two dark-colored plates in the oven. Restaurant-style plates work best.

  3. Warm plates in the oven until warm and slightly hot to touch, about 10 minutes.

    1. Meanwhile, cook the meal!

  4. Once food is ready and plates are warm, begin plating by putting a large dollop of spinach pureé on the table.  See video for reference.

  5. Using the spoon, draw a line straight down the creamed spinach across the middle of the plate, finishing in the bottom.

  6. Place two scallops onto the plate. Place one in the upper part of the spinach line, to the left. Place the other in the lower part of the spinach line, to the right. Ensure that both scallops sit on the puree for a balanced look.

  7. Garnish with the mashed potatoes. Using a squeeze bottle, pipe mashed potatoes onto the plate to form six small dots, following the video for instructions.

  8. Serve!

STORY:

This recipe was a recipe that I made for Mr. Harry Fung Ng, an 86-year-old resident at the Hebrew Senior Life care home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Originally from Guangdong, China, Mr. Ng immigrated with his family to Massachusetts at the age of fifteen. After graduating high school, Mr. Ng worked odd jobs around Chinatown, and eventually became the head chef at a Chinese restaurant.

 

Mr. Ng has been passionate about food his whole life. Growing up in Guangdong, Mr. Ng developed a taste for the region’s seafood-heavy diet. Then, when he moved to Massachusetts, he gained access to some of the world’s best seafood. During his tenure as a chef, he frequently served delicious seafood-based dishes to his guests. 

 

Now a resident at Hebrew Senior Life, Mr. Ng remains a passionate home cook, and enjoys making himself seafood meals. Despite being an expert Chinese chef, Mr. Ng enjoys New England scallops the Western style, simply seasoned lightly with salt and gently seared in olive oil and butter, as the scallops are so delicious that they do not need any more preparation than that. 

 

To elevate the dish and create a restaurant-style fine dining dish, I’ve added a spinach pureé and mashed potato to be plated with this dish. While seared scallops will taste equally great regardless if you plate them or not, by decorating a heated plate with various pureés, the scallops just feel that much more elegant. Neither of these pureés need special equipment, and both can be easily made within twenty minutes. 

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