Asian Inspiration

Tonight's dinner inspiration came courtesy of Ming Tsai, a chef whose restaurant I've had the pleasure of visiting a few years ago with RRR, Mitch & the Contessa. I was watching Simply Ming this afternoon and he was singing the praises of marinading in soy sauce. Having purchased some scallops at The Lobster Place earlier in the day, I decided why not?

After a quick trip to epicurious to get some guidance on soy to citrus ratios, I went with the following:

2/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 tbsp + 1 add'tl tsp sugar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
dash dried ginger (didn't have fresh in the house, oh well!)
orange zest

I marinaded the scallops a few minutes on each side then seared them for about five minutes with one turn in the pan. While the scallops were cooking, I reduced the marinade in a small saucepan.

After the scallops were cooked to perfection, I placed them on top of matchstick-cut green & yellow squash that I sauteed with some garlic and a bit of rice wine, keeping with my Asian theme and drizzled a couple of tablespoons of my reduction over the scallops and around the plate.

I didn't succeed in the amount of carmelization I was shooting for but the result was quite tasty. The orange & soy provided a gentle kick to the freshness of the scallops that gave just enough added flavor without taking away from the freshness of the seafood. The squash provided the perfect bed to rest the tender pillows of scallops. The result: an Asian-inspired, low-calorie, healthy meal.