SCALLOPS, CRISPY GINGER AND BRUSSELS SPROUT LEAVES WITH HOT, SWEET AND SALTY DRESSING
25 August 2013Often tossed aside and forgotten, Brussels sprouts are the black sheep of the veggie family. This recipe combines tender, buttery scallops, an Asian dressing, crispy ginger and fried Brussels sprout leaves. When I was doing my series of cooking demonstrations at Paddy’s Markets, I substituted the scallops with char grilled baby octopus.
INGREDIENTS:
1 dozen scallops, roe off1 dozen Brussels sprouts, trimmed, leaves separated
¼ cup duck fat for frying, plus extra
2 tbsp butter, plus extra
1 garlic clove
3 birds eye chillies, roughly chopped
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp AYAM fish sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
4cm ginger, peeled and julienned
METHOD:
In a non-stick pan, melt butter and fry scallops until golden, approximately 1-2 minutes on each side depending on the size of the scallops. Set aside.
In another clean pan, melt duck fat over medium high heat. Fry Brussels sprout leaves until crispy. Drain, reserving the fat, and set the leaves aside.
Using the same fat, fry ginger until crispy. Set aside.
In a mortar and pestle, pound the fried garlic clove with the chillies until you get a rough paste. Add brown sugar, fish sauce and vinegar and mix well, adjusting the taste to your liking.
To serve, scatter Brussels sprout leaves on a plate and randomly place scallops on the plate. Drizzle the dressing and garnish with fried ginger.
