Delicacies for Busy Days
29 April 2008
Somehow my days just seem to fly since we've moved to Tokyo. While Simon is at work I spend a lot of time studying Japanese, and I actually start to notice some progress as I gradually get along better in every day life. Apart from that, I continue pursuing my favourite hobby, figure skating. And of course, I enjoy taking my time for food shopping…
Of course this is a real luxury version of being busy. But still, I just get caught up in these things, and even on the weekends I often just cannot get away from my vocabulary book or my kanji (the sign characters used in Japanese writing) workbook. I am more and more fascinated by this language, and the more I actually start to understand it, the more I am eager to learn.
But there are days when I feel quite overwhelmed and exhausted, as the learning just never stops. Even the usually most brainless activities bear some kind of effort, be it watching TV (where I try to understand as many bits and pieces as possible) or taking the metro (where I always try to decipher the kanji signs on the notice boards). Some nights I even dream of kanji signs or Japanese grammar.
I am by no means complaining (I really like it this way!), but on such days I am grateful for dishes that are quick to prepare, but are nevertheless fresh and yummy (even if busy, the quality of my food should never suffer – I would rather not eat at all than not enjoy it!). So here is a very simple and yet very tasty scallop recipe. The dish is a little bit similar in type to the one I posted last week (both seared seafood with a marinade on top), but the dressing is actually quite different. The key point for this one is to take very fresh and excellent quality scallops for this, as they are best when seared on the outside but still a bit raw inside.
Seared Scallops with Japanese Herb Dressing
| serves 4 |
| 20 scallops, sashimi quality |
| 3 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions |
| 2 tablespoons of watercress, chopped |
| 3 shiso leaves |
| 1 dent of garlic |
| juice of 1 yuzu (alternatively: lime or lemon) |
| 2 tablespoons of ginger, grated |
| a dash of soy sauce |
| some shichimi
(Japanese assorted chili pepper) |
| some oil for frying |
Squeeze the yuzu and add the spring onions, the water cress and the shiso leaves, all finely chopped, to the juice. Squeeze the garlic through a garlic press and add the ginger, either grated or very finely chopped. Finally season to taste with a little dash of soy sauce.
Season the fresh scallops with a little bit of salt and some shichimi (Japanese assorted chili powder; alternatively you can also just use other chili powder). Sear the scallops in a very hot frying pan for about 30 seconds on each side. It should be slightly browned on the outside while still having a raw core.
Arrange the scallops on little plates and spread the dressing on top. Serve immediately while the scallops are hot!
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