Seared Five-Spiced Sea Scallop on Sauteed Leeks, Oyster Mushrooms and Corn with a hint of Honey Lemon "F04"

You will find this very familiar if you have caught the NBC TV series Top Chef. Or if you haven't already, you're missing one hell of a culinary show. Tre(Season 3) made a seared scallop on truffled corn pudding dish before he packed his knives away and I can never forget that dish having it so related to my style of cooking.

So this is my version of the dish, which i used some asian spices and french methods. I'm gonna post the recipe again, but it takes some precision to make it work, so don't really bet on it.



Serves 2 lucky people
Sauteed Vegetables:
80g of Oyster Mushrooms, Chopped
Corn Kernels from 2 medium cobs
Half a leek, chopped
1 stick of butter
2 tsp Manuka Honey
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp Chopped Chilli
200ml Chicken Stock
1 cup Dry White Wine
Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Scallops:
4-5 Fresh Sea Scallops, Deshelled
1 tsp Five-spice Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Butter

Parsley Oil:
a handful of Italian Parsley
50ml Canola Oil
Sea Salt



First things first, put all the ingredients for the scallops except the butter, together in a small bowl, toss and set aside for it to marinate.

Using a pestle and mortar, bash up the parsley then drizzle in oil and salt. Mix it up then strain. If you don't have a pestle and mortar, a food processor will do just fine. Set aside.



Get a saute pan on medium low heat and throw in butter. When it melts, throw in corn and leeks with a pinch of salt. Saute for about 5 mins. Now throw in your corn, mushrooms and chilli toss it for a while. Crack in some pepper and a pinch of salt. Add the wine and reduce for 5 mins. Add chicken stock and reduce for a further 10 mins or until the sauce like consistency. Squeeze in lemon juice, then turn off heat. Stir in honey. Check seasoning. Leave it to cool for a bit.

Now bring a seperate pan up on medium heat and melt butter. Sear marinated scallops for 2-3 mins a side.



To plate, spoon the sauteed vegetables onto the centre of a plate and lay scallops on top. Drizzle scallop jus and parsley oil. Garnish with alfafa or garden cress. Enjoy!