Scallops

Scallops are characterized by offering two flavors and textures in one shell: the meat, called “scallop”, which is firm and white, and the roe, called “coral”, which is soft and often brightly coloured reddish-orange. Sometimes, markets sell scallops already prepared in the shell, with only the meat remaining. Outside the U.S., the scallop is often sold whole. In the UK and Australia, they are available both with and without coral.

Scallops without any additives are called “dry-packed”, while scallops that are treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) 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 Galician cuisine, scallops are baked with breadcrumbs, ham, and onions. In Japanese cuisine, scallops may be served in soup or prepared as sashimi or sushi.  In a sushi bar, hotategai (帆立貝, 海扇) is the traditional scallop on rice and, while kaibashira (貝柱) may be called scallops, it is actually the adductor muscle of any kind of shellfish, e.g. mussels, oysters, or clams.  In Chinese cuisine, scallop is more loosely used to include other shellfish species with round-shaped flesh (the adductor muscle), such as Atrina (帶子). Dried scallop is known in Cantonese Chinese cuisine as conpoy (乾瑤柱, 乾貝, 干貝). Smoked scallops are sometimes served as appetizers or used as an ingredient in the preparation of various dishes and appetizers.

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.