Koji-cured scallop with smoked mussel and dill sauce

  • medium
  • 8
  • 30 minutes plus 4 hours smoking, curing and simmering time
Not yet rated

Hand-dived scallops are lightly cured and paired with a sweet, salty and smoky mussel broth which is split with a vibrant green dill oil. The recipe makes excess oil which can be frozen to preserve the colour. Shio koji is a Japanese condiment; you can either buy it ready-made or learn how to make it at home here.

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Scallops

Dill oil

  • 50g of dill
  • 100g of vegetable oil

Smoked mussel sauce

Equipment

  • Smoker
  • Thermometer

Method

1

The oil and sauce for this dish can both be made a day in advance, which means the vast majority of the work will be done before you plan to serve

2

Begin by making the dill oil. Blitz the dill and oil together in a blender for 5 minutes or until bright green and smooth, then strain through muslin cloth (or a sieve lined with a j-cloth) into a bowl. Set aside to strain in the fridge 

 

  • 50g of dill
  • 100g of vegetable oil
3

To make the sauce, place a large saucepan over a high heat. Once smoking hot, add the mussels with the wine. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes, shaking the pan every now and then

4

Once the mussels are cooked and the shells have all opened (discard any that don’t), strain the mussels through a fine sieve and collect the liquid in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and leave to simmer and reduce by half

5

Pick the meat from the mussels and discard the shells. Place the picked mussel meat into a bowl and cold-smoke them for 2 hours, either using a smoking gun or a cold-smoker

6

Once smoked, place the mussels, mineral water, kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms in a saucepan and gently heat to 80ºC. Simmer for 1 hour 

7

After an hour, remove the kombu and mushrooms and then simmer for a further hour. Strain the liquid into a clean pan and place it in the fridge to chill

8

To cure the scallops, cover them with the shio koji and leave in the fridge for 2 hours

9

When ready to serve, set up a large bamboo steamer. Wash and pat dry the scallops, then steam them for 6-8 minutes, depending on size. As they are steaming, stir the crème fraîche into the strained, chilled sauce and gently warm through in a pan

  • 500g of crème fraîche, ideally organic
10

Stir in some dill oil to split the sauce then use a hand blender to froth it up. Divide the sauce between 8 bowls and add a scallop on top

First published in 2021

Combining local produce with Asian influences, Luke French is part of a new generation of modern British chefs pushing the county’s cuisine forward.

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