Question on Scallops

Sheanie

Sheanie

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These little seafood thingies. What the hell are they? Where do they come from? Are they cut from a larger fish or are they shell food?

Tonight I tried duplicating bacon wrapped scallops, skewered and drizzled with teriyaki sauce. And they smelled divine, looked even better, and then I took a bite. And they were SO FISHY I didn't even chew before I spit them out. WTF? I used applewood smoked bacon, raw, and wrapped the scallops raw, then skewered them all in a row, sprinkled them with sesame seeds, baked them first until browned, then drizzled on the teriyaki. Should I have marinated them in the sauce first? Like I do my bacon wrapped shrimp? I used the tiny scallops. Was this why they were fishy? The ones I bought pre-wrapped were larger sized scallops. They were expensive, was the problem, so I tried making them myself to save money. But wasted it all.

Well, the "girls" liked them (Sadie, the labradear; Lucy the akita). They said they were delicious. But they eat goose shit as if it were a delicacy, so what do they know?
 
I love scallops and oysters! The larger ones are meatier and less chewy, I think- and to me they're like little steaks. I don't like swimmy fish, but shellfish are probably my favorite food. However, I still haven't been able to cook them well (without them becoming really chewy) so they are my favorite restaurant treat.
 
If they weren't really fresh they stink terribly. I had a terrible experience with salmon the first time I tried to cook it. Literally open all the windows and doors in the house. I had only eaten it one time before at a restaurant.

Fresh seafood shouldn't stink.
 
They taste LOTS better when you don't know about their various gender assignments and eyes...lots and lots of eyes.
 
Oh nonono, they should not be fishy OR chewy! Done right they're amazing! I had some last night for the first time in ages and they were super yum. FYI- I don't like swimmy fish either (unless raw in sushi) because it tastes too fishy to me, so I'm very sensitive to the fishy thing, either they were not fresh or they were way overcooked.
 
Get the Costco ones when they have the seafood roadshow events. Butter and garlic is all you need. No fishy taste at all.
 
Oh, no, they shouldn't be fishy at all. They are a very mild, lovely seafood. They come in teeny versions (like size of a dime or less) and the mondo versions. I have seen some people cut them in half so they are flatter, but there isn't like a seafood cucumber that they come in that they are sliced from :)

I don't recommend bacon wrapping them, though. They cook so fast, there is absolutely no good way to wrap them with raw bacon and cook the seafood and the bacon to perfection - you either get underdone floppy bacon or overcooked yucky scallop.

They really take no time at all. Maybe 3-5 minutes total. Just seafood to plate, pat 'em dry to get a nice crust. Salt em, put them in the pan with oil, don't frig with em. When they release their death-hold from the pan and are no longer stuck, they should be nice and golden brown and ready to flip. Err on the side of underdone. Nothing worse than a rubbery overcooked scallop.
 
Scallops, veal and now chicharonnes - foods that are too expensive and too much trouble to fuck with at home - they are restaurant food.

I ruined two attempts at cooking veal as a grad student, trying to replicate a recipe I'd eaten on our honeymoon. The meat was like 5% of my monthly stipend - and inedible. I've never tried again. Besides the sadness at ruining the expensive meat, it was just so disheartening!!
 
Yeah, thanks for all the good information. I'm never cooking them at home again. In the restaurant, I can send the little basterds back. The other night at Red Lobster my shrimp scampi were soft and mushy. I sent them back twice, then gave up. Ate my crab alfredo minus the pasta and left. Some foods are just better eaten out.

Now, I can cook ribs better than any restaurant. And last night I made some pork and ricotta meatballs and used some new Prego bacon and smoked provolone spaghetti sauce that was dynamite. Mr. Sheanie didn't like it, but I loved it. There are no leftovers, either, so he didn't hate it.
 
DianaCox said:
Scallops, veal and now chicharonnes - foods that are too expensive and too much trouble to fuck with at home - they are restaurant food.

I ruined two attempts at cooking veal as a grad student, trying to replicate a recipe I'd eaten on our honeymoon. The meat was like 5% of my monthly stipend - and inedible. I've never tried again. Besides the sadness at ruining the expensive meat, it was just so disheartening!!
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And lobster.

Oh, yeah...and prime rib...because we both want medium rare and you can't cook it so it ALL comes out medium rare.
 
Well, we are on vacation in an un-named Florida location, and I just had my second meal in two days of sea scallops. They were both magnificent. Succulent, soft, and not at all fishy tasting or rubbery. At both restaurants they were larger than a silver dollar and seared only on one side. I shall attempt cooking the larger ones, and IF I wrap them again, it will be in thin prosciutto, not bacon. Thanks for all the tips. This is my new obsession, correctly cooking sea scallops.

Oysters? Blech. I've sat at two bars down here and watched them pry their shells open, and NO THANK YOU. "Raw bar", indeed. Yucky.
 

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