Scallop and Asparagus Stir-fry (蘆筍炒帶子)
The recipe uses Chinese Shaoxing rice wine made by fermenting glutinous rice. You can buy it from specialist suppliers and large supermarkets. I keep a bottle in my cupboard because I love cooking Chinese food. If you don’t want to buy a bottle you can substitute dry sherry for the rice wine.
Ingredients
- 16 Hand-dived Scallops cleaned and trimmed
- 1 bunch Asparagus cut in slices
- 100 gr Baby Corn cut in pieces
- 1 small tin Water Chestnuts thinly sliced
- 2 medium Carrots peeled and chopped
- 1 medium Onion peeled and cut chunks
- 1 Red Pepper de-seeded and cut into pieces
- 100 ml Oyster Sauce
- 50 ml Vegetable Oil
- 25 ml Shaoxing Rice Wine
- 25 ml toasted Sesame Oil
- 4 cm piece Ginger peeled and cut into very fine strips
- 2 cloves Garlic peeled into thin slices
- Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Equipment
- 1 Wok
- 1 Large heavy-bottomed Frying Pan
- 1 Sieve
Instructions
- Heat a large pan of water until boiling and add five grammes of salt. Add the asparagus and baby corn and boil for one minute. Strain immediately and plunge into ice-cold water until thoroughly chilled. Drain again and set aside.
- Heat a splash of the vegetable oil in a wok and add the garlic and ginger. Stir for one minute and add the onion and pepper. Add a couple of tablespoons of freshly boiled water and cook stirring constantly for a couple of minutes until the onion starts to soften.
- Add the water chestnuts, asparagus, baby corn and a drop more water and cook for two more minutes then add the Shaoxing wine and the oyster sauce and turn the heat down to a gentle simmer.
- Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high heat and then sauté the scallops for a minute until caramelised and brown. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper then flip over and cook the other side.
- Add the scallops and sesame oil to the vegetables and oyster sauce and toss together. Correct seasoning with more black pepper if required and serve.
Notes
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