Fried Scallops With Citrus Ginger Sauce

Submitted by Denver cooks

"Easy to make, and quite elegant."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fine julienne of peeled fresh gingerroot
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon oriental sesame oil (available at most supermarkets and specialty food shops)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1⁄2 lbs sea scallops (halved or quartered if large, rinsed and drained well)
• 1 1⁄2 cups cornstarch
• vegetable oil (for deep frying)

directions

1. Make the sauce: In a small bowl stir together the lemon juice, orange juice, ginger root, cornstarch, sesame oil and salt.
2. Dredge the scallops in the cornstarch, coating them well and shaking off the excess.
3. In the fryer, heat the oil to 370º F. Fry the scallops in the basket, in batches, for 1 ½ to 2 minutes or until they are golden, transferring them as they are fried to a large skillet. Stir the sauce, pour it over the scallops, and bring it to a boil, stirring.
4. Simmer the mixture, stirring to coat the scallops with the sauce, for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the sauce is thickened and the scallops are heated through.

Reviews

[Laura2of7]

I'm really only here to review the sauce, as I didn't deep-fry the scallops. Instead, I dusted whole sea scallops with about a tablespoon of cornstarch after seasoning with sea salt and finely-ground black pepper and pan-seared them in a tablespoon of plain sesame oil. After removing the scallops to a plate, I added the sauce mixture into the oil and juices left in the skillet. After cooking for about a minute, I simply poured the sauce over the scallops to serve.<br/>That said, I found the sauce extremely tart, even after reversing the amounts for the lemon and orange juices. It seemed to want a touch of extra sweetness. Also, it was VERY thick. I should have realized that a full tablespoon of cornstarch would overwhelm the liquid ingredients, as they don't amount to more than 1/3 cup. I'll try this again, but I would reduce the amount of cornstarch by at least half, maybe even to only a teaspoon. And I would either replace all of the lemon juice with orange juice, or add a touch of sugar or honey. Oh, and I used a toasted sesame oil in the sauce, which I don't feel made any impact on the flavor, so I would probably just sear my scallops in butter and use the browned butter in the sauce instead.<br/>I did like the combination of citrus and ginger flavors, but I felt this needed a little something more to bring those flavors out. I can see using this sauce on grilled salmon or shrimp. Thanks for sharing it. (By the way, there was enough of the sauce on the plate to dress the steamed asparagus I was serving - rather like a gingered Hollandaise without the eggs.)