WW: Velvet Orange Scallops | A Birthday Celebration

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

I made this stir-fry for Andy's birthday dinner, a few days before the new recipe schedule was up. Much to my surprise it was picked for our second recipe in January. This puts me ahead of the game - and that is always a good thing.

Scallops. I can take 'em or leave 'em - Andy, he loves scallops.

This is the first time I used the velveting technique (marinating the scallops in a mixture of egg white, cornstarch, rice wine, and salt, then a quick poaching in oil laced water) for seafood. I have only used it for chicken recipes. At first I was not sure if it would make much of a difference, being scallops are so succulent on their own, but after one taste, I found they were even more tender than the ones I have made in the past.

Andy liked the scallops, but not the orange flavor from the zest, which seemed to be most concentrated in the carrots - those were left on his plate (my orange was really large, maybe I should have used less zest - I love citrus - more the merrier I thought). Me, I loved the carrots - I finished off his share. Our daughter seemed to enjoy this as well, for her plate was clean.

 

 Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Oil

Bowl 2: Garlic, ginger

Bowl 3: Carrots

Bowl 4: Scallops marinating in egg white, cornstarch, dry sherry, salt

Bowl 5: Broth, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, orange zest, red pepper flakes, dry sherry

Bowl 6: Salt (Oops! the salt should be #4 - added after the carrots.)

Bowl 7: Scallions

Since this was a birthday celebration, I just took a quick picture - nothing fancy. Didn't want to keep the birthday boy waiting!

While I was wokking away, our lovely daughter made the cinnamon rolls (another favorite of Andy's) for our next day's breakfast.

The cinnamon rolls had an overnight stay in the refrigerator - this makes for quick bakery goodness in the morning.

(source)

No picture of the finished cinnamon rolls - completely forgot - our minds were on getting to the airport on time. I can attest that they were delicious! It is an Emily Luchetti recipe after all.

We are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 157 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed. 

 

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