Stir-Fried Spinach with Sautéed Scallop

‘Simple and luxurious vegetable seafood dish for the season’

Hello! Long time no ‘see’… My apology, I have been so busy for the Chinese Lunar New Year. Of course, mainly due to the preparation of feasts, and feasting (chuckles).

Well, for the Chinese, I am sure you are, too, being spoilt with all the good and luxurious festive food. If you really are feasting so much on meat and seafood during the season, I guess it’s time to yearn for some good green dishes!

But, yes, to celebrate such festive occasion, we probably can’t escape from indulging seafood dishes as seafood symbolizes prosperity in Chinese culture. So, I am adding seafood to my greens, but a light one.

Scallops, complementing most of the greens. I liked it with spinach or baby spinach.

Ingredients
300 grams of spinach, trimmed and cut
8 – 10 large frozen scallop, thawed in refrigerator the night before
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of chicken powder
1 tablespoon of oil
1 knob of butter

A bowl of iced water

Method
1) Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Blanch thawed scallops for 30 seconds. Drain scallops on a wire strainer. Then, pour ice water over the scallops. Drain and lightly pat dry with kitchen towel. Sprinkle some chicken powder on the scallops. Set aside.

2) On a large frying pan, heat oil and butter over medium fire. Place blanched scallops and sauté till both sides lightly browned. Dish up and set aside.

3) With the remaining oil in pan, sauté garlic till fragrant. Add in spinach and stir fry for 1 minute. Add in salt and oyster sauce. Stir fry for another minute. Then, return scallop to the pan. Stir fry to mix. Dish up and serve.

A serving of my stir fried spinach with 2 scallops counts about 180kcal.

Tips: Iced water bathing on blanched scallop helps to cease the standing heat in the scallop to retain its moisture as well as bouncy texture.
* The scallops may be sautéed without any fat in pan. Heat up the pan and simply sauté the scallops on dry heated surface. This will help to reduce calorie intake of your portion significantly.
* Get the bigger scallop as it will shrink after cooked. I used the Hokkaido frozen scallops bought from Cold Storage.
* Drizzle some water on the vegetables while cooking to yield more gravy, if desired.