Scallops
Scallop is a common name for any one of numerous species of saltwater clams or marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. Many species of scallops are highly prized as a food source.
The word "scallop" is also applied simply to the meat of these bivalves when it is sold as seafood. The name "scallop" is also used as part of the name of dishes based on the meat of scallops, and is even applied to some dishes not containing the meat of these bivalves but prepared in a similar fashion.
As food
Scallops are characterized by having two types of meat in one shell: the adductor muscle, called "scallop", which is white and meaty, and the roe, called "coral", which is red or white and soft. Sometimes, markets sell scallops already prepared in the shell, with only the adductor muscle intact. Outside the U.S., the scallop is often sold whole. In Galician cuisine, scallops are baked with
bread crumbs,
ham, and
onions. In the UK and Australia, they are available both with and without the roe. The roe is also usually eaten. Scallops without any additives are called "dry packed", while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate are called "wet packed". STPP causes the scallops to absorb moisture prior to the freezing process, thereby increasing the weight. The freezing process takes about two days.
In Japanese cuisine, scallops may be served in soup or prepared as sashimi or sushi. Dried scallop is known in Cantonese Chinese cuisine as conpoy. In a sushi bar, hotategai is the traditional scallop on rice, and while kaibashira may be called scallops, it is actually the adductor muscle of any kind of shellfish, e.g. mussels,
oysters, or
clams.
Scallops have lent their name to the culinary term 'scalloped', which originally referred to seafood creamed and served hot in the shell. Today, it means a creamed casserole dish such as scalloped potatoes, which contains no seafood at all. Smoked scallops are sometimes served as appetizers or as an ingredient in the preparation of various dishes and appetizers.
Recipes using Scallops see
Here and
Here.
