This is a fairly straight forward meal for either a dinner party, or just to indulge yourself and your loved ones.
Ingredients
Jumbo Scallops* (2 per person for appetiser, 4 – 6 for a main course)
Butter and/or Olive oil for cooking. [I prefer butter]
Dijon Mustard
Namida® Wasabi Paste made from Namida® 100% Pure Wasabi Powder and cold water
Heavy Cream
Sea salt
Portobella mushroom, Large (one per serving), sliced
Mesclun or salad greens
Method
- Mix the Namida® 100% Pure Wasabi Powder and cold water together to make a stiff paste. Cover and set aside while scallops are cooking.
- Get the pan and cooking fat hot. Heat a nonstick pan over medium-high heat for a minute or so; then add the fat and let it heat up. If you’re using oil, it’s ready when a drop of water sizzles as it hits the hot oil. If you’re using oil and butter, wait until the butter stops foaming.
- Don’t crowd the pan. There should be enough room between the scallops so that they sizzle rather than steam, that’s the only way you’ll get a good crust. If your pan isn’t big enough to hold the scallops without crowding, sear them in batches.
- Scallops only need a few minutes per side to get nicely browned. They’re done when they feel barely firm to the touch, and when you cut into one, it should be faintly opalescent. Don’t overcook them or they’ll be dry and rubbery.
- Transfer the seared scallops to a platter and keep warm while making a quick pan sauce.
- Combine cream, mustard and wasabi. Ingredient amounts will vary with taste. Stir constantly over medium heat until slightly thickened and only just warm. Do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange individual portions of greens on large platter. Place slices of Portobella mushroom on top. Arrange scallops on top (heat of scallops will gently ”cook” mushrooms. Drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt. [I normally serve this with a crusty piece of french bread to mop up the sauce :)]
* Dry scallops are essential. At the store, ask for dry sea scallops, which means that they haven’t been soaked in a sodium solution. The solution whitens and plumps the scallops, but when you cook them, all that liquid leaches out, making it impossible to achieve a good sear.