Scallop Ceviche

Ingredients

Prep-time 20 mins.

Serves 4 people.

  • 200g scallops

  • Herbs tarragon, dill, chives, basil or cilantro, etc

  • Acid verjus or citrus juice

  • Crunch cucumber, sweet onion, peppers, etc

  • Oil extra virgin olive oil

  • Salt malden or other flaky salt is nice

Chef’s tip: Be creative with the garnishes. Try edible flowers, fruits (apple, ground cherries, yellow plums) and other crunchy dry garnishes (fried shallots, toasted sesame seeds, nori crackers, freshly microplaned almonds or macadamia nuts).

Artwork by Adrian McKerracher

ScallopCevicheMacro.jpeg

Preparation

  1. Prepare garnishes. Thinly slice or dice crunchy vegetables. Wash and pick fresh herbs.

  2. Slice and marinate scallops. Slice scallops into horizontal discs 1cm thick or less. Place in a bowl and add the prepared crunchy vegetables and acid to taste (about 60ml). Drizzle with fruity olive oil and let marinate up to 10 minutes. (see below for how to make verjus)

  3. Plate and enjoy! Arrange on a lipped platter or large plate. Season scallops with some flaky salt. Top with fresh herbs and enjoy.

Garnish Ideas

 

Verjus

Verjus is an ancient way of using unripened grapes to produce an acidic juice that can be used for a variety of different preparations. Verjus contains primarily tartaric acid. It is quite mild in flavour when compared to the juice of citrus fruits, for example. This makes it an interesting choice for use with scallops as it is subtle and better suited to the delicate and sweet flavours that might be overpowered by the bracing tartness of citrus juices, vinegars or other strong acids.

We will be offering a very limited production of verjus for sale through Tide to Table. We had the pleasure of visiting Ben and Jill at SouthEnd Farm Winery on Quadra Island while they were pruning their vines. They prune their aggressively to promote the ripening and sweetness of the remaining fruit. We are using the pruned grapes from their farm to make this delicacy! If you live near a vineyard, you can make it too. Here’s how:

  1. Find underripe grapes, red or green, that are somewhere between bracingly tart and mildly puckering! We pruned Petit Milo for our Verjus. Find some herbs you like too. We like taragon!

  2. Remove grape stems.

  3. Mash grapes and fresh herbs together in a mortar and pestle or a cocktail muddler.

  4. Strain liquid, taste and adjust intensity with salt, sugar, citrus juice or reduced and cooled white wine if desired. Note that a dry white wine is recommended if using as a flavour enhancer/ph adjuster.

  5. Pour liquid over raw, sushi-grade seafood and add your favourite aromatic and textural garnishes.

We’re proud of all of our family, friends and the fisher-people who harvest and process seafood with Walcan Seafood and Tide to Table!

The We Wai Kai Nation cultivate and harvest scallops in their cold, fast moving waters off of Rebecca Spit Provincial Park. A video will follow shortly about this exciting program and collaboration.

Scallops will be seasonally available fresh or frozen. Frozen scallops are treated to the same flash freezing process used to prepare sushi grade fish; these are a premium product.

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