Scallops with black quinoa tabbouleh recipe

Quinoa has been eaten in the Peruvian Andes for thousands of years. It’s a slowly digested (low GI) carb – so a great choice to keep your energy levels up –and it’s also contains small amounts of heart-friendly Omega-3 fatty acids too.The black variety used in this recipe has a toasted aniseed flavour that complements the scallops, and sweet but citrusy kumquat.

Ingredients (serves 6)

6 large scallops, roe on

6 large scallop shells

1tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for frying

A little salt-sludge (add a few drops of water to salt until it looks like sand)

For the candied kumquats:

120g sugar

1 tbsp glucose (or honey)

2 tbsp water

200g kumquats, halved

2 tbsp pistachio kernels

2 tbsp cachaça – a Brazilian liqueur (or sake wine)

For the black quinoa tabbouleh:

50g black quinoa

15g flat-leaf parsley

15g mint leaves

15g dill fronds

15g spring onions

25g banana shallots

½ small ripe avocado (about 75g) finely cubed

For the dressing:

4tbsp yuzu (or lemon) juice

½tsp sugar

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 red chilli (about 12g deseeded and finely diced)

1tsp Maldon sea salt flakes

For the garnish:

A sprinkle of shichimi pepper

A sprinkle of Maldon sea salt flakes

Micro herbs

Method

First, make the candied kumquat. Mix the sugar, glucose (or honey) and water in a small pan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and bring it to 120°C (248°F). Add the kumquat halves and the pistachios and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the sugar syrup cool. Once cool, add the cachaca or sake, whichever you prefer, and gently mix. Keep in a sterilised jar in the fridge until needed.

Next, prepare the tabbouleh. Add the quinoa to lightly-salted boiling water (use twice the volume of water as quinoa) and once it returns to boiling point cover the pan and simmer very gently for 17 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest for a further 5 minutes, without taking the lid off. After this time, use a fork to fluff the quinoa. All the water should have been absorbed by the seeds, but if not cook the quinoa on a low heat, uncovered for a couple of minutes more until the water evaporates. Then, let the quinoa cool completely.

To make the dressing: in a bowl, combine the yuzu or lemon juice with the sugar, whisk well until the sugar has dissolved. Add the olive oil, chilli and salt, and mix until combined.

Next, finely chop the herbs and spring onions and finely dice the shallots. Now assemble the tabbouleh. In a separate bowl, gently mix the chopped herbs, spring onions and shallots into the cooked quinoa. Drizzle over half of the tabbouleh dressing and mix well. Finally, fold the cubed avocado gently into the black quinoa tabbouleh to avoid breaking up the avocado. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside briefly.

Heat a non-stick frying pan (or skillet) with a little olive oil until very hot and pan-fry the scallops for 30 seconds on each side.

Try using scallop shells to serve this dish. Put a mound of the salt sludge (salt and water mixture) in the middle of a small serving plate on which the scallop shell will sit; this mixture will stop the shell from rattling around the plate.

To serve, place a tablespoon of black quinoa tabbouleh in the middle of each scallop shell, top this with a charred scallop. Now add half a candied kumquat with a few pistachios by the side of each scallop with half a teaspoon of the kumquat liquor. Then, using the reserved tabbouleh dressing, drizzle over the scallops, finishing with a sprinkle of shichimi pepper, Maldon sea salt flakes and a scattering of micro herbs.

Recipe and image extracted from Nikkei Cuisine: Japanese Food the South American Way by Luiz Hara. Photography by Lisa Linder. Published by Jacqui Small (£25)