Grilled Scallops Vietnamese Style

My Grilled Scallops Vietnamese Style dish goes along great with cut #4 on the KitCHEN MuSIC album, "Fly Me To The Moon," written by Bart Howard, one of the catchiest tunes in the Great American Songbook.

On the album I'm accompanied by a rhythm section, horns, organ and guitars.



I created this dish in honor of singer Tony Bennet, an American treasure, a great vocalist, a fine painter, and an inspirational figure for musicians around the world. The full recipe and directions are below.

Vietnamese food is one of the lightest and freshest of the Asian cuisines. Vietnamese food's characteristic flavors include Nuoc Mam (fish sauce,) kaffir lime leaves, fresh lime juice, red chili paste, Thai basil and jasmine rice, among other things. This scallop dish is only lightly Viet-style, but it is delicate, colorful and delicious.

GRILLED SCALLOPS VIETNAMESE STYLE

PREP TIME: 10 minutes. Cook time: 14 minutes. Tools: Chef's knife for chopping, tongs, large sauté pan

INGREDIENTS
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil or Canola Oil for sauteing
• 1 large Red Onion, chopped
• 3 cloves Fresh Garlic, minced
• 1 medium-to-large size green Zucchini squash, cut into medallions, skin on (but washed)
• 1 medium-to-large size yellow Summer Squash, cut into medallions, skin on (but washed)
• 1 medium Red pepper, sliced into spears
• 1 small to medium lime for squeezing over scallops
• Canola Oil Spray, enough to lightly cover stovetop grill
• 6 to 8 large fresh Sea Scallops
• 3-4 medium sized leaves of Thai Basil
• 1 cup cooked Jasmine rice

Serves 2

DIRECTIONS
1. Have all ingredients prepared and ready to go before turning on the stove.

2. Start by heating your large sautée pan over medium heat.

3. When the pan is hot, add the olive or canola oil, tilting to cover the bottom of the pan.

4. When the oil is hot (look for it to become more liquid, less viscous, and just about to smoke,) turn the heat down to medium and add the diced red onion.

5. Saute onion until it is mostly translucent

6. Add garlic to an area of the pan that is wet with juices from the onion. Move the garlic around so it doesn't burn

7. Add sliced zucchini, squash and red pepper

8. Cut lime in half. Squeeze 1/2 lime over sauteing vegetables

9. Turn heat down to low

10. Add a little bit of water (1 or 2 tablespoons) to keep vegetables from burning while simmering

11. Put top on the pan to simmer vegetables

12. Spray grill with Canola oil

13. Add scallops to hot, oiled grill

14. Be sure to clean hands after touching raw scallops

15. Take a pinch of kosher salt and spread it over the scallops as they grill

16. While scallops are grilling, check sauteing vegetables to make sure they're not burning. Turn off the fire under the vegetables, but leave the top of the pan on to keep the vegetables warm.

17. When you have nice grill marks on one side of the scallops, turn them over (using tongs) to cook on the opposite side.

18. After a few minutes (1-3 minutes per side,) Check scallops for doneness. There should be grill marks on both sides.

19. The scallops are done when they divide easily when pressed with a butter knife. DO NOT OVERCOOK

20. Squeeze/drizzle the other lime half over the scallops as they grill.

PLATING
Array the cooked vegetables on two serving plates. Put half of the scallops on one plate and half on the other plate. Drizzle the sauce (olive oil, lime juice and water from the vegetables) from the pan over the scallops. Add steamed jasmine rice to each plate. If you have any leftover sauce, drizzle that over the rice. Alternately, you could put the rice down first on the plate (a "bed" of rice,) and lay the vegetables and scallops onto the rice bed. Using your hands, shred the Thai Basil leaves over the plates. Serve immediately.

OPTIONS
Lemongrass, added to vegetables
Cracked Black Pepper, to taste, added before simmering
Hot sauce, to taste, added before simmering
Fish Sauce (nuoc mam), to taste, added before simmering

ENJOY! - Roberto
©2009 Celestial Media, Inc.