(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Scallops on the half shell are hard to find, as far as I know. I have been searching high and low for them for quite some time now. I asked, I looked, I googled, but I hadn’t found any stores that sell them in SoCal–until I found the seafood store that I mentioned in my crawfish post. (The seafood store sells live crawfish, scallops on the half shell, cockles, various fresh oysters, crab legs, etc.)
I love regular scallops (especially the untreated ones), but scallops on the half shells are–in my opinion–better, tastier, and prettier! Plus, I can take great pictures with the scallops strutting in their half-shells.
Anyway, to preserve the most original flavors of these scallops, I opted to steam them with the simplest of ingredients: soy sauce and garlic oil. Succulent, sweet, and delicious…
Now if only the scallops are bigger. Well, that’s just me, I am just never satisfied. *wink*
Related Recipes:
- NOBU’s Scallops with Creamy Spicy Sauce
- Steamed Scallops with Fermented Black Beans
- Seared Scallops in Spicy Cream Sauce with Buna Shimeji Mushrooms
Ingredients:
6-8 scallops on the half shell
1 stalk scallion (cut diagonally)
3 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce (Kim Lan brand recommended)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon water
3 gloves garlic (chopped finely)
2 tablespoon oil
Method:
Mix the soy sauce, sugar, water and blend well. Set aside. Heat up a wok, add in the oil and stir fry the chopped garlic until light brown. Dish out and set aside. Lay the scallops on a plate, add the soy sauce on each of them and steam for 4-5 minutes or as soon as the scallops turn opaque. Add some garlic oil and chopped scallions on each scallop and serve immediately.
Cook’s notes:
- As different brand of soy sauce has different sodium level, please taste the soy sauce mixture so it’s not too salty. If it’s too salty, add more sugar or a little water to neutralize the saltiness. Personally, I use Kim Lan soy sauce.
- For the garlic oil, dish it out as soon as the chopped garlic turns light brown. They will continue to cook in the oil and will eventually turn golden brown.
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{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
What an elegant presentation! I have never seen scallops in half shells before but I’ll have to keep an eye out for them.
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oh la la…I have to taste that..no choice, it seems so tasty and delicious !!! Bravo
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Oh..you are satisfied Bee, but only by the best ;)
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this is such a beautiful dish. lovely. i can see why you like scallops on the shell. here they are SO expensive!
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Rasa~ so yummy so cute
can you read chinese here?
这儿能显示汉字么，可以的话，以后就用汉字给你留言，呵呵
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That looks so sophisticated! :) And the flavors deliciously simple…Can’t wait to hear the recipe as I’ve also found a vendor here selling scallops on the half shell :)
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The presentation is lovely — I don’t think I’ve ever seen scallops on the half shell at my regular fish market, but will look for them at the large Asian supermarkets.
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What a beautiful dish! Now I’ll have to find scallops on the half shell too! ;)
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These look so good. Do you know if that same seafood store sells raw oysters?
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We got fresh scallops in the market with or without shells. :)
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I also wish for these scallops to be bigger :O and I like them steamed this way. DA BEST! Can taste the unami.
Good you found this seafood store - seems to have lots of seafood. Lucky you!
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Did the seafood store also sell cockles?
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This looks so amazing that even though I know squat about cooking, I’m gonna give it a try… Yummers!
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The photos look amazing. I now want to go out and pick up some scallops right away.
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very pretty indeed. macam pakai skirt pulak kan?
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I don’t know what’s more impressive: the food or the photos!
Your blog and photos inspired me to get my first DSLR camera! The cherry tomato photo is one of my favorites!
Tell me, how do you get your photo shots so white and bright?
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somebody shud start a scallop mee shop here in Pg or KL soon
( mild aka fish ball soup and spicy aka prawn mee style versions )
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Thanks so much for answering my question!
I’ll definitely play around with the post processing software. Thank you very much for the advice!
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I know I wasn’t seeing thing when said I saw Scallop on half shell here in L.A. Are they any good, taste and texture compared to the frozen ones ?
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This is such a gorgeous dish.
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Your and your food: I love!
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If the scallops aren’t big enough, just eat more of them. (^_~)
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I’m drooling all over myself. I can go hungry for days–and all I’d have to do is visit your blog and be satisfied staring at these yummy posts.
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Amy - Yeah, they are hard to come by…so when I saw them, I just had to buy them.
Claude - tasty! Yes. :)
Unka - somehow your comment reminds me of that song “are you satisfied?” Whahahaha.
Andreea - I got them for $1 each…it’s really not so bad. :)
Yoyo’s Food - 我可以看到你的comment. :)
Joey - oooh, you will have to show me the scallops on the half shell in the PH…I am sure they are bigger and more succulent than these!
Lydia - exactly! I don’t know why they are so hard to find in the US.
East Meets West Kitchen - Good luck hunting them. :)
Marvin - yes, you should come and get their fresh oysters too…many different kinds. All the good ones.
The Cooking Ninja - are you you based on? You are lucky!
Tiga - I love my scallops bigger too, but not too big. These are too small lah. But it’s OK, better than none. Hehe.
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Hakka House - yes they do, but their cockles are different from the ones we get in Malaysia / Singapore. They are big and scary looking, actually I decided not to buy them after seeing them…they seem to have hairs on the shell too, scary! But you can get frozen cockles (the small ones) from Ranch 99, but I have never tried them.
V. Chick - that’s cool my post prompted you to try making this. :)
Kevin - yeah, the shells are just pretty…but the shells are all white…instead of that brown color shades, but anyway, I can’t complain too much. :P
Princess - you are right…macam skirt, cantik-nya. :)
BSG - aiya, scallops are meant to be steamed…not to put in some noodles lah. :P
Toki - thanks for your sweet comment and congrats on the new DLSR. I left you a comment on your blog. :)
Cooknengr - they are good…taste like the good and untreated ones. Actually the store told me they are sashimi quality and actually restaurants buy from them for sashimi…the only thing is that they are small…perhaps it’s seasonal? I dunno.
Big Boys - thanks. :)
Cynthia - hehe…you are too nice…come to LA and I will make you some. ;)
CP - I did. LOL. But bigger scallops are just better…and of course, the more the merrier.
Alicia - haha, you are too funny.
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that’s enticing. I love the way you take the pictures. Similarly, I have difficulty getting fresh seafood here in Australia!
I bet it will taste just as good with other seafood recipes.. mmmm..
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Awesome photography!!!!
I love scallops too but rarely get to eat them because they are SOOO expensive.
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yummy this looks so pretty and delicious!
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Nice shots!!!
Love scallops
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I’m so jealous of your seafood store…
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Rm, I will try your recipe as soon as I can the fresh scallops!
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hi Rasa,
I choose to link your blog on mine for the “Blog Day” event because I love it ! My blog is in French, sorry, but still I hope you like being chosen for this day !
Marion.
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Love your blog! I adore scallops too but something about them really intimidates me (in the home kitchen anyway!). This recipe looks good enough that I might have to overcome my cowardice and venture into steaming these little goodies!
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Those scallops look amazing!
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I love scallops.
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These are gorgeous scallops…
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oh boy……. lovely! wanna have a bite right now!!!!! :D
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i am always like scallops, will try it soon.
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oh rasa this is the most beautiful recipe i’ve seen all summer! bar none so succulent and delicate. i’m bowing to you, YUM!
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I LOVE scallops!!
And this is steamed:D
Really nice presentation, you should run a fine dining restaurant or become a food designer:D
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Daphne - thanks for your nice comment about the pictures. I thought Australia is abundant with fresh seafood?
Ming - yeah, scallops are expensive, but I got these for only $1 each…not too bad at all.
Budding Cook - thanks…yeah, I like it that the scallops are dressed in the shell. :)
Andaliman - thank you…scallops are great. I didn’t get to eat scallops that much in Malaysia so now I am on revenge here in the US. LOL.
Steamy Kitchen - I know…that seafood store is too awesome…wait till you see the list of fresh oysters they have…oh my!
Anh - thank you for wanting to try my recipe…:)
Marion - thanks so much for linking me…I don’t mind at all…I really appreciate your kind gesture. :)
Marias23 - actually cooking scallops at home is not too bad…try it. :)
Stephen - hehe, I wish they were bigger though. ;)
Lemongrass - is it hard to get scallops on the half shell in London?
Anonymous - thank you.
Meiyen - you can go to Tambun in Penang…the steamed scallops on the half shell are great and cheap. ;)
Addie - I love all kinds of scallops, bay, diver, frozen, on the half shell, even the dried ones…the dried ones are killer for Chinese soup. Yum yum.
Aria - you are really too sweet. I take your comment as a great honor…bowing back to you for being so nice to me.
Christy - I wish to run a fine dining restaurant one day, and yes, I want to be a food stylist / designer too. I would love to do something like that? Anyone wants to hire me? Hehe.
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will you marry me?
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im in love with this steamed scallops with soy sauce and garlic oil! i like how you use minimum ingredients in your steamed scallops with soy sauce and garlic oil recipe.
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Nice and simpe recipe. I would even try it with the 'non-shell' scallops ones.
I'm in Australia, seafood is not hard to find but they're just so expensive so I hardly eat them. Shrimp are probably the most common seafood item that I eat and wish that I could eat fish more.
I might try the soy sauce with scallion & garlic oil on steamed fish as my partner is very fussy and this sauce will definitely make the fish taste 'less fishy'
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