“Scallops and citrus have a wonderful synergy whether they’re raw or cooked,” says Saint Peter chef Josh Niland. “This dish was put together at the beginning of summer a few years ago, I had recently seen how to take apart the individual cells of a fresh pomelo and was excited to add this to a dressing along with as many other citrus fruits as I could find. Adding the zest, juice and segments of the fruit it gives you a fantastic balance of sweet, sour and bitter. The white soy sauce adds a wonderful complexity and savouriness to the dressing and a little sugar rounds it out. This dressing can be made with just one or two types of citrus for a similar result, but it’s a truly beautiful dish if all the citrus can be found. It’s also great served with raw fish – John Dory, black flathead and wild kingfish would all be excellent choices.”
Ingredients
Citrus dressing
Method
Main
1.Hold a scallop shell with the mouth end facing you and gently insert the blade of a bread knife near the hinge. The scallop flesh is in the centre of the shell, so be careful not to damage that. Staying as close to the top shell as possible almost scrape and carefully slice scallop off the top shell, then lever the top shell off. An intact scallop should be sitting in the bottom shell surrounded by its skirt, which is generally covered in sand, and the scallop roe. Carefully pull the skirt and small white adductor muscle off the scallop flesh, being careful not to tear or damage the scallop or roe, and discard. Quickly dip the scallop flesh in the shell into a small bowl of salted water to remove residual sand, then immediately pat dry with paper towel. Cover and refrigerate until required (this can be done a few hours ahead).
2.For citrus dressing, combine lemon and lime juices and rinds in a bowl, then mix in white soy sauce and sugar to dissolve. Add citrus flesh, season to taste and stand at room temperature for an hour for flavours to develop. Season again to taste with extra sugar or white soy sauce. Add oils and stir before serving.
3.To serve, cut flesh from the bottom shell, then slice scallop in half, spoon dressing over and arrange on a plate of ice.
White soy sauce is available from Japanese grocers; if it’s unavailable, substitute light soy sauce or fish sauce.
Drink Suggestion: Blanc de noirs sparkling from Orange, NSW Drink suggestion by Wimmy Winkler
William Meppem
