We’re going to make a delicious scallops & leek dish. It’s a pan seared scallop that we are serving with a roe crispy, a fermented leek cream, a green leek & dill coulis, a Shiso tempura and a beautiful hollandaise.
How to clean the scallops
Instructions
- Carefully insert a thin knife in the scallop on the flat shell and cut the scallop loose. Now open up the shell and break the joint.
- Then take a thin spoon and insert it between the scallop and the muscle next to it. Now twist the spoon and scoop out the scallop.
- Put the scallops in some water and add ice to cool them down for 5 minutes.
- After that remove any membranes from the scallops and place them next to each other on a kitchen paper. Then cover them and keep them in your fridge for later.
Scallop roe crisp or cracker
Ingredients
- 90 g scallop roe
- 700 g water
- 100 g rice
- 5 g salt
- 4 g smoked piment powder
Instructions
- Pour the water in a saucepan together with the rice and the salt. Bring this to a boil on a medium heat till the rice is fully overcooked and the water is almost all vaporized.
- After that pour it into a blender and add the scallop’s roe. Then season it with the smoked piment powder and blend it till completely smooth. This takes around 5 minutes.
- Once it’s smooth pour it on a silicon sheet and spread it using a pallet knife. It needs to be around 2 millimeters thick. Now let it dry in an oven or heat draw at 60 °C for around 6 hours till all the moisture is gone.
- Then we need to deep fry it. Do this in some frying oil that’s 200 °C. Just submerge the crisp and keep it submerged for around 3 seconds. Then directly take it out of the oil to prevent it from becoming too bitter. Be careful because the oil is very hot.
- Now let them cool down and then you can keep them dry and covered for later.
Fermented leek cream
Ingredients
- 4 leeks
- water
- salt
- 200 g cream
- xanthan gum
Instructions
- Cut off the roots from the leeks and then also the green part. Keep the green leek for a green leek coulis. Now make an incision to the middle of the leek and wash it well under running cold water. Then cut it in even thick rings.
- Now transfer the leek into a preserving jar and press it down a bit. Then submerge the leek completely with water. After weigh the jar. An empty jar weighs 600 grams and now it weights 1600 grams, so the water and leek weigh 1000 grams.
- Then add 1.5% salt. So, in this case 15 grams. Press it down once more. Now close the lid and gently mix it to dissolve the salt. Then open it up and remove the sealing ring. If you don’t do this, it might explode. Label it and then let it ferment for 6 or 7 days.
- Every other day I pressed it down and tasted it until I was happy with the flavor. I fermented mine for 7 days.
- Once it’s fermented drain the water and keep it for the sauce. Then transfer the leek into a pan and cover it with the cream. Now bring this to a boil and then let it simmer for 15 minutes. I only add the cream for some fattiness, for me it doesn’t need any other flavor. The leek is already delicious! Then transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth. Once it smooth add a touch of xanthan gum and blend it for another minute. This will prevent the cream from splitting. Then keep it in your fridge for later.
Green leek and dill coulis
Ingredients
- 4 green parts of leeks
- 150 g white wine
- 250 g vegetable broth
- 5 g salt
- 30 g dill leaves
- xanthan gum
Instructions
- Start by chopping the green part of the leeks and then transfer it into a colander. Now wash it well under running cold water and then let it drain for a couple of minutes.
- Then transfer it into a big pan and also add the white wine, the vegetable broth and the salt. Now we need to cover it slightly. For that fold a piece of parchment paper a couple of times to the same corner and then cut it to the desired size with a scissor. Also cut a small hole in the center. Now unfold it and cover the leeks with the paper. Then let it simmer of a medium heat till the leeks are fully cooked. Just take your time for this.
- Meanwhile we can pick the dill. In total you’ll need 30 grams of dill leaves.
- Once the leeks are cooked remove the paper and transfer it into a blender. Also add the picked dill leaves and then blend it till smooth. The dill will color the coulis and give a nice flavor.
- Then add a touch of xanthan gum to prevent it from splitting. After that pour it into a jar and cool it down as fast as possible to prevent it from losing its color.
Tempura Shiso leaves
Ingredients
- 20 g rice flour
- 30 g flour
- 10 g cornstarch
- 3 g salt
- 100 g ice cold water
- 25 g whole egg
- 20 green shiso leaves
Instructions
- First mix the rice flour with the flour, the cornstarch and the salt. Then while stirring add the ice cold water and the whole egg.
- Once it’s smooth directly stop mixing it prevent too much gluten from forming.
- Then the Shiso. Take a couple of leaves and submerge them in the batter. Then place the leaves on the side so all the access batter can drip off. For this I prefer a super thin layer of batter.
- Now deep fry them at 160 °C and base some of the hot oil on top for an more even frying process.
- When the Shiso leaf stops bubbling gently take it out of the oil and continue frying.
- Then season them with salt and keep them dry and covered for later.
Fermented juice hollandaise
Ingredients
- 300 g fermented vegetable water 1.5% salt
- 40 g white wine vinegar
- 100 g egg yolk
- 100 g cold cubes of butter
- 1 tbsp store bought mayonnaise
Instructions
- First reduce the fermented vegetable water till it weighs 100 grams.
- Then add the white wine vinegar and while mixing with a hand blender add the egg yolk. Directly blend some air in the mixture as well.
- After while beating it heat it up till the sauce starts to thicken and it’s cooked.
- Then turn off the heat and directly add the cold cubes of butter to prevent the sauce from overcooking. Now I also add a small amount of store bought mayonnaise. The stabilizers in the mayo will stabilize the sauce making it far more full proof when you want to reheat it.
- Now you can use it like this or transfer it into a syphon. In a syphon the hollandaise will become much airier, but it will be a lot easier to reheat it.
How to finish the dish
Instructions
- First season the scallops with some salt and pan sear them in a hot pan with some oil. Once they start to color add a couple knots of butter and let them fry till golden brown. Then turn them around and base them with the hot butter for 30 seconds.
- Now pipe a small dot of the hot leek cream on a plate and place the scallop on top. Season it with some flaky salt.
- Then pipe the lukewarm green leek coulis around the scallop and place a piece of the roe crispy on top.
- Now place a couple spoons of the hot hollandaise on the plate as well and then decorate it with the crispy Shiso leaf and dust some smoked piment on top!