Cantonese style seafood is about bringing out the natural taste of the fresh ingredients. No heavy sauces. A simple dish of sauteed scallop with snowpeas and some straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots... A Cantonese seafood dish at its best!
Picture of the finished dish:
Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3
Preparations:
Main ingredients: (From top right, clockwise) About 3/4 to 1 lb of scallop, ginger (use 1 inch in length), garlic (use 3 to 4 cloves), straw mushrooms (canned), bamboo shoot slices (canned; use 1/2 can), and snowpeas (use 1/2 lb).
Some of these scallops are quite thick. Slice each scallop in half (horizontally).
Marinate the scallop: Scallops are quite delicate. Use minimal ingredients to marinate. Add sliced scallops to a mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp of cooking oil, 3/4 tsp of salt (or to taste), 2 tsp of corn starch. Mix all ingredients.
Set aside the mixture for about 30 minutes before cooking.
Peel and minced 3-4 cloves of garlic. Grate about 1 inch of ginger. Peel the unedible edges of the snowpeas (not shown).
Cooking Instructions:
Use a wok/pan, set stove to high. Add a generous 6 tblsp of cooking oil (or frying oil). Wait for a few minutes until the oil heats up before frying.
Add marinated scallops.
Velvet the scallops in oil until slightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove and drain excess oil.
Add 2 tblsp of cooking oil on pan. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add minced garlic and grated ginger. Stir. Add a pinch of salt (suggest: 1/4 tsp or to taste). Dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. Let it induce a quick flame.
Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
To minimize stir-frying time, I pre-heat the snowpeas in a microwave oven. Snowpeas cook very quickly. Place some water at the bottom of the dish and set for one minute at high. Likewise, pre-heat the canned straw mushrooms and bamboo shoot slices together for about 2 minutes at high.
Add the snowpeas, straw mushrooms and bamboo shoot slices to pan.
Stir well and cooking for a minute. Add corn starch slurry (suggest: 1 tsp of corn starch and 1 tsp of water mixed) to thicken the sauce to the right consistency.
Return the scallops.
Stir-fry for another minute until the scallops heat up.
Finished.
(Note: The quantity of food made in this recipe is about twice the portion shown in this picture.)
Variations:
You may prepare this dish with shrimp or squid, or a combination of any two or all three. The marination and cooking methods are the same.
Edited by hzrt8w, 27 November 2005 - 10:43 PM.
