Print Friendly, PDF & Email

YIELDS:

4 servings

PREP TIME:

0 hours 35 mins

COOK TIME:

0 hours 3 – 4 mins

TOTAL TIME:

0 hours 38 – 39 mins

My Curated Tastes is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

ingredients

3/4 Cup Soy sauce

1/2 Cup mirin

1/2 Cup sake

1 Lemon, thinly sliced

1 Tsp. Momofuku Chili Crunch (or more if you like very spicy)

1 Lb. Sea scallops, large with connector muscle removed

1 Tbsp. Canola oil

Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your scallops by removing the tough connector muscle and discarding. (see photo) Dry scallops with paper towels.

2. In a glass casserole dish, combine the soy sauce with the mirin, sake, lemon slices and chili crunch. Add the scallops and toss to coat. Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning once.

3. Spray a cast iron skillet with cooking spray and put on a medium-high heat on the stove. Add the olive oil and heat until very hot but not smoking.
4. Meanwhile, drain the scallops from the marinade and lightly dry with paper towels to remove excess liquid. Add to the pan and leave space between each scallop. Sear for 1 – 2 minutes util a nice crust forms. (Don’t move them around…let them brown before flipping.) Gently turn them over and let brown on the other side for another 1 – 2 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

NOTES: This is a light, fast and easy dish to make.  It has delicate Japanese flavors that pair beautifully with rice and veggies.  Serve these over brown rice for a delicious meal or they work well as an appetizer too.

Don’t marinade your scallops more than an hour or the lemon will start to “cook” your scallops.  Make sure you dry your scallops slightly after coming out of the marinade otherwise they will steam rather than sear in the pan.  You want a nice hot skillet to the scallops sear and get a nice crust on the outside but stay moist and soft on the inside.

You control the spice level in this dish by adding as much, or as little, chili crunch as you like.  I keep mine mild which doesn’t overpoweer the delicate scallops.

These are perfect served with a cold glass of Sake.  Enjoy.

If you like scallops, be sure to try my Baked Panko Scallops recipe or my Shrimp, Scallops & Asparagus Linguine.  Both are tasty dishes using this fabulous shellfish.  Better yet, sign up for my newsletters and get recipes sent right to your mailbox.