Day boat scallops

Day boat scallops are a thing, a thing I never heard of until a few months ago. Our good friend is a chef and he was having us over for dinner. When we got to his place he was so excited we could join him because he had these gorgeous day boat scallops.

The thing that I love when we go to Martin’s for dinner, we sit at his island and watch him cook. I can tell he is creating the meal as he goes along. He has been a chef for decades and has worked and owned restaurants in NYC, The Hamptons and many other places. His food is delicious; I have tried more new food in the year that I have known him, than I ever had in my life. Fancy scary stuff that I now like. He loves to cook for people and he is very passionate about it.

As we watched him prepare the scallop dinner, I noticed that the scallops required very little effort. When I used to make scallops they didn’t sear as nicely. Until now that is, but I will get to that. The meal was incredibly delicious. The scallops were sweet and tender with the perfect sear. I love that I have a cooking lesson every time we eat over. I share with him all the time how much I am learning by watching, I think he really likes that.

I started looking up the types of scallops. There are basically 3 different kinds at 3 different price points. Wet scallops are often sold in the fresh fish section usually sold as previously frozen or frozen in your supermarket. They range in price from $9.99-$15 a pound give or take. The second kind are called dry scallops. They have these in the fresh fish section at your supermarket and have never been frozen. These are the kind that recipes tell you to use for searing scallops since they aren’t waterlogged. These run between $15-$30 a pound. Actual day boat scallops you won’t find in a supermarket, they are found at only the finest fish markets. They are the creme de la creme of scallops and will cost you between $29-36 a pound. I looked up scallop prices this morning since they can really fluctuate.

Wet scallops are shucked on the boat and are put directly into a container filled with cold water to preserve them. The water preserves them for a longer time, but makes them wet. These tend to be older by the time they get to the seller. A preservative is added to the water to prevent the scallops from spoiling. They can be sold as fresh, frozen or previously frozen.

Dry scallops are also shucked on the boat, but they go into a dry container with no water or preservatives. This gives the scallops a more pure and concentrated flavor. They have a shorter shelf life, but are fresher when you buy them.

Day boat scallops are also called diver scallops. It actually refers to the method of harvesting. Instead of being dredged, these scallops are harvested by hand by actual divers. This is incredibly labor intensive and very pricey. It is rare to find them outside of a restaurant or a high end fish market.

I used to be intimidated by scallops and always ordered them when went out to eat. Now I felt confident enough to start experimenting and figured out how to turn frozen, wet scallops into dry ones that sear beautifully. Being frugal, unless it was a special occasion, I would only buy the frozen ones.

I started by defrosting my scallops the safe and proper way in the refrigerator. Next, I ran them under cool water hoping to rinse off those preservatives. They’re wet already, so who cares if they get wetter. Right?

Next, it was time to clean and remove the muscles from the scallops. this is the muscle that is attached to the shell. Don’t leave them on, they are tough and you don’t want to eat them. Lift the little rectangular piece of tissue and just pinch with your fingers and pull it gently off.

The next step was to remove all the water from my wet scallops. I used clean, dry paper towels stacked in a couple of layers under and on top of the scallops, This is where you only get what you pay for. I am frugal with some stuff, but I buy name brands of some pretty important items. Bounty paper towels are one of those items and we use them in both my home and production kitchens. No plug for Bounty, just my preference. I put some weight on the plate to press them down. I stuck the plate in the refrigerator for an hour. I took the plate out and repeated 2 more times with fresh, dry paper towels. you will be shocked vat the amount of water that comes out of the. Let me warn you to take your trash out that night or you garbage will be very stinky the next day!

When I was ready to cook them I removed them from the fridge and plumped them up with my fingers again after being flatten. They bounced back nicely. I only season my scallops right before I am ready to sear them. Right before, not 10 minutes before. I sprinkle them with kosher salt and pepper, that’s it. Before I season my scallops I get a cast iron pan screaming hot. I use a higher smoke point oil and squirt just a small amount and swirl it around in the pan. I have to stress just a small amount, using a lot of oil is the last thing you want.

Place the seasoned scallops in the hot pan. Do not move them around or even touch them for 2 minutes. Peek under one to see if they are nice and brown. You don’t want to go too far and dry them out and over cook them. Flip them over and add a knob of butter. Let them go for another 2 minutes. While they are cooking spoon some of the butter over the scallops. Peek at them again. If they are nice and brown and go from translucent to opaque turn off the heat.

Now here is what they don’t tell you. Remove them from the pan immediately and get them on a clean plate. Cover them loosely with foil to keep them warm. Now you can take a big deep breath and not have to worry about over cooking them by leaving them in the hot pan. If you are going to serve them like this, do it. Just a squeeze of fresh lemon on the scallops before plating is so simple and delicious. If you are going to make a pan sauce, this is when you would reuse the pan without washing it. You don’t want to get rid of all that delicious flavor the scallops and butter left behind. There are dozens of sauces to make to serve with your scallops.

So that is the story of day boat scallops. Now you know more about scallops than you ever imagined! I never thought I would ever spend so much time on scallops, but I learned a lot myself. Don’t be intimidated. It is ok to practice. Everyone who is a good cook has ruined a shit ton of meals while learning. If your scallops aren’t perfect, you can still eat them, and please don’t beat yourself up like I do. I am learning on my journey that I can’t expect to get everything perfect the first time.