day-boat Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Seared Scallops, Crispy Prosciutto, Smoky Chickpeas

Seared Sea Scallops, Crispy Prosciutto
Smoky Chickpeas with Spinach

The inspiration for this super dish comes from another Las Vegas restaurant, this time, Superfrico at The Cosmopolitan.

Their current menu serves roasted sea scallops with cannellini beans, smoked butter, and prosciutto. A past menu served the scallops with chickpeas, Calabrian chile, and kale. Here, with a nod to both the old and new menus, I heat the chickpeas with a smoked paprika butter, then add baby spinach to wilt.

The pan-seared buttery sea scallops have a rich, sweet flavor. Prosciutto brings savory salty notes and when cooked, it develops a delightful crunch while retaining its intense umami taste. Nutty, earthy, and slightly creamy chickpeas are paired with tender garlicky spinach where the paprika butter adds complexity, depth, and an alluring smokiness. It is one tasty Vegas-style dish that comes together in minutes with very little prep!

Superfrico Instagram: Scallops, Prosciutto, and Cannellini Beans

Seared Scallops, Crispy Prosciutto Recipe

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Maine Scallop Crudo

🌊 Maine Scallop Crudo 🌊
Maine Dulse Seaweed, Kumquat, Radish, Jalapeño, Lemon Ponzu, Cilantro

Maine’s long coastline and clean, cold waters inspired this dish featuring raw, buttery, day-boat Sea Scallops with their slightly sweet flavors; and Dulse (Palmaria palmata) a beautiful red seaweed that has a rich, meaty, umami flavor.

Crunchy peppery radish balance the tender scallop slices, jalapeños add vegetal spiciness, and seasonal kumquats add sweet tart notes. Lemon ponzu provides a base of sweet, sour, and salty flavors, where the olive oil adds a subtle richness.

When they’re raw, dulse flakes taste like briny ocean waters, but when sautéed, the smoky and savory characteristics emerge, giving dulse the nickname “bacon of the sea,” which pairs perfectly with this coastal crudo.

Lastly, a little mound of cilantro leaves brings the bright herbal notes, a sashimi style learned from Chef Nobu.

Maine Scallop Crudo

Maine Scallop Crudo Recipe

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Scallop Sushi ~ Gunkan Maki Style

Tender and buttery, day-boat sea scallops from Maine are simply delightful with their slightly sweet flavors, and slightly briny hints of the sea. They are harvested by fishermen that go to work in the icy waters then return to port that same day.

Since the fishing trip is short, day-boat scallops do not need to sit on melting ice like longer expeditions, and therefore do not absorb water over the course of the trip. The taste is pure and natural, as the scallops are not bloated with water after harvest. These scallops are treated with the utmost care, and never soaked in a solution of sodium tripolyphosphate which is commercially used as a preservative but unfortunately degrades the quality of the scallop.

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Gunkan maki was invented in 1941 by Hisaji Imada, the chef/owner of restaurant Kyubey in Tokyo. His new-fangled presentation allowed for the sushi service of soft/loose toppings, such as sea urchin and fish roes. These toppings could not be served in the traditional nigiri style, which consists of a solid slice of raw fish atop an oblong rice ball.

The shape of the newly-developed sushi resembled that of a battleship, hence the name. Gunkan is battleship in Japanese, Maki means roll. Sushi rice is hand-formed into a cuboid, rolled/wrapped with nori, then a soft/loose filling is spooned into the interior.

Here our battleship is filled with diced raw day-boat scallop lightly tossed with Japanese mayonnaise and sea salt. Aromatic shiso adds complex herbal notes where a bit of pungent wasabi flavors the seasoned rice. To quote one of my favorite chefs on a famous seafood dish, “It was a morsel of perfection.”