Scallops to Dive For - Sashimi and Maki

For World Ocean Day 2020

Guy Grieve, a good friend and truly ethical fisherman, has been fishing off the Isle of Mull in Scotland for over a decade. Or more accurately diving off the Isle of Mull as Guy is literary foraging the seabed for the finest quality scallops. Guy will carefully select the right size and returning back smaller scallops to the seabed in good hiding places waiting until they have grow to the perfect size for a later return.

My husband David, who’s steady hands are delicately preparing the maki roll in the thumbnail picture of this recipe, our children and myself went fishing with Guy about 8 years ago when the children were small. The children were absolutely fascinated how Guy would disappear below a red sea boi for 20 minutes at the time, to eventually be stepping out of the sea like ancient Greek guardian with a sack of freshly picked scallops. And so were we with Guy’s 3D understanding of every dent, cove, corner and cranny of the seabed around the island, like the truthful Nereus from Greek mythology, the eldest son of Pontos (synonymous with sea itself). They call Neureus the Old Gentleman because he is trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his mind are mild and righteous. I think this best describe Guy’s commitment to the scallop population, the bio-diversity of the water around the Isle of Mull and his comprehensive understanding of the scallops sustainability.

This is a far cry from the devastation of traditional scallop fishery with their heavy cast iron trawls tearing the scallops from the seabed and in their wake destroying habitat and diversity for the decades ahead and potentially for the seabed never to recover nor its scallop population.

Scallops are heavenly any day of the week as long as they are freshly dived, but ironically even better during the freezing cold Scottish winter when the sea is colder. However, this has not deterred Guy in the past. The Ethical Shellfish Company now deliver in Scotland and have some distribution south of the Scottish border, it is now a Farther and Sons enterprise and they can best be contacted via twitter.

The recipes here are for sashmi and sushi maki, both eaten raw so ensure that the scallops are diver fresh. These are equally delicious on robata and I recommend 2 recipes from my Robata - Japanese Home Grilling, one cooked whole in their shell and the the skewered with seaweed butter.

Serves 4, a portion of sashimi and 3 maki pieces each

8 hand dived scallops

1/4 portion of sushi rice

2 1/2 nori sheets

1/2 portion of mooli salad from 1/2 a cucumber and 1/2 piece of mooli

1/2 a cucumber

15 ml. olive oil

15 ml. sesame oil

5 grams anori powder

5 grams mixed sesame seeds

1 clove of garlic

10 grams of butter

salt and pepper for seasoning

40 ml. soy sauce

40 ml. mirin

20 grams of honey

3 cm pieces of fresh ginger

1 spring onion

1 dried shiitake mushroom

1 tsp potato flour

Prepare the sushi rice, wash and rest following the recipe here.

Chuck the scallops: insert a shucking or a filleting knife into the hinge of the scallop and twist the knife a few times until the two shells separate slightly. Run the knife along the flat shell to detach the scallop and remove this shell. Now gently cut between the scallop meat and the shell to detach the scallop from the curvy shell. Remove the stomach and intestine to discard. Keep the ‘frilly’ membrane. Gently clean the scallop and orange carol under cold running water; be very sparing with the water to avoid washing away the sweetness of the scallop, while still ensuring these are cleaned. Set the scallops aside.

Return to the membrane and gently wash under the tap, place in a small saucepan with the ginger, spring onion, shiitake and 100 ml of water. Bring the saucepan to a boil and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

Make the mooli salad following the recipe here and leave to rest on the icy water in the fridge.

Return to the simmering sauce pan, drain keeping the liquid behind and discard membrane, ginger, onion and mushroom. Add soy sauce, mirin and honey to the liquid, stir whilst heating up to just below boiling point. Dissolve potato flour in a little water, add to the mixture and stir for a smooth silky teriyaki sauce.

Fry the coral in butter on medium heat adding 1 clove of freshly crushed garlic and when cooked through season with salt and pepper. Mash into a paste with a fork.

Use the other half cucumber, cut into quarters on the length and remove seeds. Place a piece of nori on a rolling mat, spread 100 grams of sushi rice evenly across the sheet. Sprinkle rice with anori and turn sheet over. Smear 1/2 of the coral paste across the middle and place 2 pieces of cucumber sticks across the middle. Pick up the bottom of the rolling mat and fold nori over cumber filling shaping into a cylinder. Use the rolling mat to share the cylinder into a rectangular block. Repeat process. Cut each maki into 6 pieces and place on a serving platter.

Slice 4 scallops in 3 disks each and place a slice on each, then drizzle with teriyaki. Drain the mooli, divide between 4 serving plates and then slice the remaining scallops in 4 disks. Mix politics e oil and sesame oil, heat to just below boiling point, drizzle equally over the scallops and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Both dishes are ready to serve.