Stir Fried Scallops with Snow Peas and Peppers

One of my favorite types of dishes during the summer is fresh seafood. Whether it's some form of sushi or a nicely cooked fish fillet with a tasty glaze, it's no matter, I'll eat it all! And as much as people say that too much shellfish is bad for you, I absolutely love having scallops. I even add it to macaroni and cheese :)

So when I was at Whole Foods a couple weeks ago, imagine my delight when the big sea scallops were on their "weekly buys!" So I had to buy a pound of it and cook it up. Normally, I'll cook this dish but I decided that I needed to experiment this time. So out came Grace Young's Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen and lo and behold, I found a recipe! Enjoy :P

Stir-Fried Scallops w/ Snow Peas and Peppers

Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients
4-6 ounces snow peas
1 pound fresh sea scallops
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp cornstarch (separate)
1 tsp + 1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil (I like the chili sesame oil :D)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup Chicken Broth
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp canola oil
4-6 slices of ginger
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into small squares (about an inch)
2 scallions, ends removed, sliced

Method
1. String the snow peas, rinse, set aside.
2. Wash the scallops in cold water, drain well and slice into quarters.
3. Mix together 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/2 tsp sugar, and the scallops. Stir to coat well.
4. Combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, salt, and remaining 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp rice wine, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well.
5. Add 1 tbsp canola oil to the scallop mixture. Heat a wok under high heat until hot (when a droplet of water sizzles away in a couple seconds). Add 1 tbsp canola oil and the scallops. Cook for a couple minutes without disturbing the scallops, and then use a spatula to stir fry for another couple minutes. Remove and set aside.
6. Add remaining 1 tbsp canola oil, ginger, and garlic. Let the ginger and garlic sizzle, and then add the snow peas, red pepper, and scallions. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add the sauce mixture and stir well. Add the scallops back in and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice

Cantonese Style Stir-fried Seafood

Now for the real post, I was a little tired yesterday so threw up the cannoli post real quick.

Every so often, Whole Foods has Mexican Bay Scallops on sale as one of their weekly buys. Being a scallop fan, I always pick up some for one of my favorite seafood dishes, a Cantonese stir fry with some oyster sauce. I also like to toss in shrimp and some fish (a fish that stays together well when stir fried) but I only bought additional shrimp for this meal.

One thing about Chinese cooking is that the actual cooking takes about 10-15 minutes usually. However, the preparation time can be long! I've spent over an hour chopping things just for fried rice! And fried rice takes 5 minutes to cook!

Anyway, this is one of the quicker recipes I've tried, after marinating the seafood, everything else gets thrown in quickly :)

I've listed the mushrooms as optional, they're mentioned in the recipe but I'm not a huge fan of them, so I don't use them :)

Cantonese Style Stir-fried Seafood

Serves 4-6 with rice
Ingredients:
1 lb bay scallops
1/2 lb medium shrimp (heads removed, deveined, chopped)
5 tbsp canola oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 to 1 inch piece of ginger, grated (Or: slice about 6 pieces of ginger and peel)
4 scallions, chopped and separated
4-6 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 lb snow peas, ends removed
2 tbsp Shaohsing wine or sherry
1 tsp sesame oil

Marinade:
1 tsp white pepper
2 tsp cornstarch
2 egg white, lightly beaten (save the yolks)

Sauce:
1/2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp water
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp oyster sauce

Optional:
Chinese mushrooms

Method
1. Wash the scallops and shrimp. Slice each shrimp into 3-4 pieces, the bay scallops are small enough they don't need to be sliced. Mix the marinade with the seafood. Set aside for 10 minutes. Slice the veggies in the meanwhile
2. Prepare the sauce and set aside.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 2 1/2 tbsp oil and swirl.
4. Add half the garlic, half the ginger, and half the white scallions, let sizzle.
5. Add the seafood and use a spatula to turn and toss the seafood for about a minute. Splash 1 tbsp of the Shaohsing wine around the seafood. You want the seafood lightly cooked on either side.
6. Remove the seafood, set aside. Add the rest of the oil with the garlic, ginger, and white scallions to the wok. Add the rest of the wine or sherry as well as the celery and snow peas. Toss for a minute.
7. Add the seafood back in along with the sauce (I also add the two egg yolks as well), toss for another minute or so to continue cooking the seafood.
8. Add the green scallions, give another few tosses with the spatula and remove from the heat. Add some sesame oil to enhance the flavor.