In keeping with the fact that we bought a whole bag of scallops while on the Big Island of Hawaii—more than we could eat in one meal, here’s yet another scallop recipe.
I prepared a much more spartan version of this recipe a long, long time ago when Sarah and Kaitlin were very young. We were camping in Cape Cod and bought some giant scallops. We didn’t have much in the way of seasoning besides an almost-empty can of Pringles potato chips, so I used them as a crust on the scallops, and we served them with a really simple torn lettuce salad. All cooked and served out of a mess kit.
Have we told you that we get pretty intense with the food while camping?
I have done many variants of this recipe over the years, and the most important point is to have good quality scallops. If you’re buying frozen, make sure that they’ve only been flash frozen once. If buying fresh, look for a slightly pink color and a clean smell. Once you have the fresh scallops and fresh tropical fruit for the salsa, the rest is easy.
This time in Hawaii, I thought that a corn tortilla crust for the scallops would be more appropriate to go with the tropical fruit salsa. The salty and more crunchy crushed tortilla chips pair much nicer when served with the sweet and juicy salsa.
I made these in Hawaii but you can make these just about anywhere!
Recipe Instructions
Combine all the salsa ingredients and set aside. Feel free to customize the quantities to suit your tastes.
Use a blender or food processor to pulverize the tortilla chips into a coarse meal. You can also hand-crush them with the back of a spoon. You should end up with about a quarter cup. Transfer to a large flat plate.
Rinse and pat your scallops dry. Beat the egg in a small bowl. Dip both of the flat sides of each scallop into the egg and then lightly press each side into the ground tortilla chips. Heat a non-stick pan with a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Place the scallops in the pan.
Let them cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on the first side. You should be hearing a good sizzling sound.
When they’re nicely browned on one side, turn them once and cook until the other side is browned and the middle of the scallops just go opaque.
Plate and serve immediately with the salsa!
