Scallops and Stuff!

Whether I am mad or just stupid, I don’t know but yesterday was experimentation day! It sort of reminds me of the time I used to spend with my old mate Stuart re-creating chemistry experiments in some old shed – normally with an accident or two!

So the idea came to experiment with scallops and see what I could serve them up with. I went to a Korean Supermarket to buy some fresh scallops and whilst there I picked up an array of goodies adorned with ‘toe-nail clippings’ – ie all that writing that looks like hieroglyphics to me!

So, I ended up with a bag of mixed dried seaweed, various sauces and potions etc etc. I’ll tell you more about those over the coming weeks.

Experiment number one was to look at the mixed seaweed – this needed to be hydrated in warm water and it expanded to huge lumps of weed that smelt of the sea – I am still trying to decide if the texture was right with the scallop as they were very soft. They were chopped. flash fried with garlic, ginger, chilli, oil and a tiny bit of soy sauce but this made the mixture very glutinous – leaving them to stand for a while really improved the texture. The taste was very complimentary but I wasn’t happy with it. So, I think the next stage is to consult a book or two to point me in the right directon so that I can get the flavours and textures I am after.

Tomorrow I will experiment with scallops on a bet of pureed pea and wasabi – not sure if they will all go together but I’ll let you know.

Seared tuna next! I seasoned the tuna steak and served this up on some spicy egg noodles – fresh tuna, lightly cooked is so good.  Noodles were not too powerful so as to distract from the Tuna but again – it didn’t set the taste buds alive.

Back to the lab ….