Originally published on Sep 20, 2009. Updated with new photos.
I love scallops, they are one of my favorite seafood and I try to make them as much as I can at home. One of the easiest way to cook scallops is to pan sear them. The natural briny flavor of scallops shine through in pan-searing, and all you need are a pinch of salt and black pepper.
One of my favorite sauce is a simple creamy garlic herb sauce, infused with the wonderful aroma of the garlic and the fresh herb, plus a little bit of white wine. The taste is simply intoxicating and restaurant quality, right at your own home and at a fraction of the cost. Pair the scallops with some chardonnay and you might well think that you are actually dining in a fine dining restaurant.
Please bear in mind that there are two kinds of scallops available in the market, one is natural and the other is treated with water. When buying scallops, always get the natural untreated scallops as they taste absolutely divine. They look opaque (instead of translucent) and milky white in color. The ones treated with water have up to 30% water content and the flavor is a far cry from the “real” scallops. Costco is a great place to buy scallops, always fresh, big, succulent and untreated. It’s expensive but they are well worth the money spent.
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Tokyo Terrace
These look absolutely delicious. I love vanilla beans- they are so elegant and delicate in appearance but pack such a great amount of rich vanilla flavor. This is such a unique recipe- I love the combination of the vanilla with whiskey in the sauce. Gorgeous!
Rasa Malaysia
Thank you for the comments. It is indeed a delicate yet elegant recipe.
Laszlo
All your recipes are beautiful and awesome I’m always looking forward to your emails Thank you ☺:)
Rasa Malaysia
Thank you Laszlo.
Jen @ MaplenCornbread
Oh my this sounds sooo amazing!! I love the idea of using vanilla and whiskey in the sauce! Im saving this to try!
Rasa Malaysia
Try it out. I am quite sure you will enjoy it :)
Marc @ NoRecipes
Looks wonderful Bee. I love the combo of vanilla with shellfish. One of the best soups I’ve ever had was a blue crab and vanilla bisque. When I sear scallops I like to take advantage of the brown fond left on the pan from searing the scallops to make the sauce. It’s like pure flavour.
Rasa Malaysia
Haha, yes Marc. Sometimes, my husband licked the pan off after I seared the scallops.
Dominique (de vous à moi...)
These scallops (my prefered seafood) looks delicious! I like to combinate vanillia with food… I’ve tried with lobster in a restaurant (it was a creamy sauce)… delicious. Nice recipe and nice pictures! Thank you!
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, I thought about the combination of this recipe with lobster, too! Stay tuned as I just might very well get one done. Thank you!
NYMY
Oh, I heart scallops.
Rasa Malaysia
Seems to me you just heart all good food :)
petite nyonya
Amazing looking scallops & such an interesting use of vanilla beans too. I can imagine the flavors…whiskey & cream. If only I could taste it too!! Great stuff!
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, the result of this scallop and vanilla mix is a wonderful surprise. Try it if you have a chance.
nyonyachef
Scallops with whiskey ! Great creation !
Dropfood handpicked recipes
nice photos,looks delicious,I love it
borneoboy
I normally marinate the scallops with a bit of Japanese light soy sauce and just pan sear them for that fresh clean taste. This looks even better, with a touch of restaurant sophistication.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, scallops are really good by nature so a little bit of seasoning is just what they need.
Myf
Yummy!
I wish they have fresh scallops here in Penang… but somehow, I’ve never seen them in the fresh market…any idea where can i get them, besides those really expensive frozen ones in Cold Storage??
Rasa Malaysia
I have no idea, we got some scallops at the clam island you told us but other than that, I don’t think you can get them fresh in Malaysia. :(
KT
Other than Cold Storage, Jusco frozen food section do stock them in KL Mid Valley. Haven’t compared prices with Cold Storage though. Have not seen fresh ones anywhere.
healthy recipe
It look amazing. can I use something else instead of the parsley?
Rasa Malaysia
You can do without the chopped parsley if you like.
Mike Parton
Cooked this tonight. Outstanding! The whiskey-vanilla bean sauce was delicately sweet and a wonderful counterpoint to the seared scallops.
Glutton skeleton Pete
I mush say Hic! it wash great Hic! adding Hic! wishky-vanil Hic! la in da sauce.
Suzanne
Hey everyone,
I don’t have access to whiskey. Is there a different ingredient I can substitute in its place? Can’t wait to try this recipe out!
Suz.
jason leathers
do you have scotch? single malt.
jason leathers
doing this tonight with a pound of fresh cape cod scallops. I am so so excited for the combination of cream, vanilla, and whiskey. Im using a good ole powers whiskey to add a bit more crisp wood/smoke flaver (not a lot)…. thanks!
Birdman
I made these as an appetizer for Christmas day. I did a test run on the sauce a few days before and decided that I could whip this up fairly easily on the spot for my family. I used small scallops, the big ones are not always available here and are prohibitively expensive to boot, and I set the sauce as a dip. It was a hit with everyone. I absolutely nailed the sauce on my second try, the taste was just right and it thickened perfectly. A wonderful combination of ingredients. Thanks!
Rasa Malaysia
Thank you and great that you love the recipe.
nicholas
what type of cream do I use? whip cream? im sec 3 only so please don’t laugh at me\
Rasa Malaysia
Heavy cream for cooking.
TR
I see whiskey and vanilla mentioned in the comments, but I don’t see them in the recipe. It sounds good. How are they used?
Rasa Malaysia
I updated the recipe to make it more accessible to many people. You can use whiskey in lieu of white wine (but just a little bit since it’s strong) and you can add a little bit of vanilla in the sauce, but not necessary.
Irene
too many clicks to get to the recipe. Should be a better way. It take 3 different clicks.
Recipes are great, taste good and for the most part are quick and easy to make.
Randy
What ever happened to the “save” option, as well as all of your recipes that I had saved over the last 2-3 years? THANK YOU for all of the fantastic pic’s & recipes, keep them coming PLEASE!!!
Rasa Malaysia
The save button’s company went out of business so I had to take it off. To save recipes, you can use the Yum button now it works the same but it’s on another website.
Crab Dynasty
Such a simple, yet flavorful preparation of scallops. The garlicy broth sops up excellent with a cheddar bay biscuit. Definatelly a comfort food!
Rasa Malaysia
Awesome!