Recipe: Stir-Fried Scallops with Sugar Snap Peas (serves 2)

STIR-FRIED SCALLOPS WITH SUGAR SNAP PEAS

"This recipe tastes intense because of the dominance of umami and sweetness in the scallops, sugar snap peas and shiitake mushrooms. A pinch of salt and soy sauce underline this further. The idea can be adapted to similar-tasting foods, such as shrimp, lobster and crab, as well as to peas and bitter-sweet asparagus."

1 scant teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon egg white
6-8 large scallops, without their roe
3 green onions, trimmed
4 thin slices of fresh ginger, finely shredded
4 tablespoons sunflower oil, divided use
1/4 lb snap peas, topped and tailed
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and torn into chunks
2 tablespoons sake
Salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce, optional

Beat the cornstarch into the egg white with a fork.

Clean the scallops by removing the small tough white muscle on their girth and any dark digestive cord. Rinse, pat dry and cut into quarters. Then coat in the beaten egg white mixture.

Finely slice the green onions, separating the green tops from the white stems. Mix the ginger into the latter.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, and add 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil and the snap peas. Cook for 30 seconds and drain immediately.

Heat 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the ginger mix, sizzle for a few seconds, then add the scallops and stir-fry briskly for 20 seconds before adding the mushrooms. Stir-fry briskly, then mix in the sake, snap peas and green onion tops. Season to taste with salt or soy sauce.

Serve piping hot with steamed rice and chili sauce.

Makes 2 servings
Source: Taste: A New Way to Cook Sybil Kapoor