Orange-Hoisin Scallops

Living on cape cod has many benefits: seafood.
We get access at times to lobster, scallops and cod.
I'm always more than happy to take whatever I can.
Sometimes you can tire of the same old baked stuffed or broiled scallops, so why not put a little twist
on it and add an asian flare.  Hoisin sauce pairs really nicely with scallops.

It's super easy and has the best flavor-combo one can use for seafood; any seafood too. Works great on shrimp, salmon, scallops and even lobster. Very versatile sauce, and one that will be your go to sauce. Living on cape cod one becomes used to eating a lot of scallops. This dish sounds like it's hard to prepare but its not--I just made the photo all kinds of fancy for you.
All you have to do to make this fancy is place rice in a ramekin, pack it in, then turn upside down
on the plate, cover with scallops.  Easy fancy pants post.



scallops with hoisin-orange sauce
print recipe

sauce
1 8.5-ounce jar hoisin sauce (I used little more than half of this when cooking for 2)
1/3 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

vegetables
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili-garlic sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce (nam pla)
1 bunch watercress, trimmed (sometimes I skip this)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, cut into matchstick-size strips
1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips
3/4 cup cilantro leaves (from large bunch)
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced

scallops
1 1/2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds (I used 1 ts of dried instead)
1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
12 large sea scallops
Vegetable oil

For sauce:
Mix all ingredients in bowl. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before using.) ß I did not do this but cooked the sauce (see below).
For vegetables:
Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add watercress, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and onion and toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand 30 minutes or chill up to 1 hour, tossing occasionally.
For scallops:
Stir coriander seeds in small skillet over medium heat until fragrant and slightly darker, about 2 minutes. Transfer seeds to plastic bag. Using mallet or hammer, coarsely crack seeds. Combine sesame oil and ginger in medium bowl; mix in coriander seeds, then scallops. Let stand at least 30 minutes or chill up to 1 hour.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Thread 3 scallops onto each of 4 skewers. Brush barbecue rack with oil to prevent sticking. Grill scallops until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side. Divide vegetables among 4 plates. Top each with scallops and serve, passing hoisin-orange sauce separately.

Serves 2 in my house (might serve 4)

cook notes: It’s too cold to grill outside, so what I did was cook scallops in pan in a little oil or non-stick pan, set aside, then cooked the veggies, then combined the two together. And then in a separate pan I cooked/warmed up/reduced the sauce with about 1 TB of cornstarch. I used cornstarch to make a thicker sauce. Keep in mind the sauce is really strong and I don’t advise pouring it all over the scallops, just a few dabbles on each plate should be good. Serve with Jasmine or sticky rice. (to make the rice uniform like I did, just stuff a good amount of rice into a ramekin, flip upside-down on plate, let sit for a while or until ready to plate and you should have a nice uniform pile of rice).