Pan Seared Scallops with Miso Blood Orange Sauce
Dry sea scallops seared hard in a heavy skillet, then finished with a glossy pan sauce of red miso, blood orange juice and butter built in the same pan. About ten minutes of cooking, and the crust comes from letting the scallops sit uncovered on a dry towel first.
Ingredients
For the Miso Blood Orange Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon blood orange zest zest the fruit before you juice it
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice from 1 to 2 blood oranges
- 1 tablespoon red miso paste or 2 tablespoons white miso, which is milder
- 1 tablespoon water to loosen the miso so it whisks smooth
For the Scallops and the Pan
- 12 ounces dry sea scallops about 9 to 12 large ones, U-10 to U-15, side muscle removed
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon Morton or fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for the sear
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided, 1 for basting and 1 for the sauce
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons shallot minced fine
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely minced, added off the heat
Instructions
Mix the Sauce and Dry the Scallops
- Whisk the blood orange zest, blood orange juice, miso and water together in a small bowl until completely smooth, and set it beside the stove. Miso dropped into a hot pan in lumps stays in lumps.
- Pull the small rectangular side muscle off each scallop with your fingers, then pat the scallops very dry on paper towels.
- Leave them uncovered on a fresh dry towel for 10 minutes, or uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. This is what produces a crust; patting alone only takes off the surface water.
Sear the Scallops
- Season the scallops on one side only with the kosher salt and the black pepper, just before they go into the pan. The sauce carries plenty of salt from the miso.
- Heat a 12-inch stainless or carbon steel skillet over medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until a drop of water skitters across it, then add the olive oil. Do not use nonstick; it will not build the browned fond the sauce is made from.
- Lay the scallops in seasoned side down, spaced so they do not touch, and do not move them for 2 to 3 minutes. The crust releases them from the pan by itself when it is ready. If one sticks, it is not done.
- Flip them, add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the thyme sprigs, tilt the pan and spoon the foaming butter over them for 45 to 60 seconds. Pull them when the flesh is firm, pearly and opaque, at an internal 145F, and move them to a warm plate.
Build the Pan Sauce
- Take the pan off the heat for 30 seconds so it stops smoking, pour off all but a thin film of fat, then return it to medium-low and cook the shallot for 1 minute, stirring.
- Off the heat, pour in the miso mixture and whisk, scraping up everything stuck to the base of the pan. Return it to low and let it bubble gently for 30 to 45 seconds. Do not boil it hard, or the miso turns bitter and grainy.
Finish and Serve
- Take the pan off the heat again and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter a piece at a time until the sauce is glossy, then stir in the parsley. Butter whisked into a boiling sauce splits.
- Return the scallops and any juices from the plate to the pan, turn them once to coat, and serve straight away over polenta, risotto or plain rice.
Notes
Buy dry or dry-packed scallops. Wet-packed scallops are soaked in a phosphate solution, release that water into the pan and cannot be browned at all, whatever you do. Frozen dry scallops beat fresh wet ones.
Doneness: the FDA recommends an internal 145F for seafood and describes cooked scallops as firm, pearly and opaque. Three to four minutes total in the pan is the whole window for large scallops.
The drying step is the recipe. Ten minutes uncovered on a dry towel, or up to 4 hours uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator, which is better still.
Substitutions: white miso instead of red, at 2 tablespoons rather than 1. No blood oranges, use 1/4 cup orange juice with 2 teaspoons lemon juice.
Make ahead: the sauce mixture, the shallot and the parsley all hold a day in the refrigerator. The searing does not hold at all.
Doubles cleanly for 4 as a first course.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 920mg | Potassium: 540mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 460IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1.1mg