Pan seared Scallops with a Thai Sauce

This is our first time with scallops and i must say i wasn't too disappointed. Ro got all excited at the prospect of making a scallop dish and he completely took over. We paired it with noodles stir fried in a spicy Thai sauce and a Chardonnay to accompany the spicy, tangy food.

Scallops- 8 to 10 meduim ones

Olive oil- 2 tbs

Salt and pepper- for seasoning

Sauce:

Olive oil- 2 tbs

Fish sauce- 1 tbs

Lemon juice- of half a lime

Dry red chillies- 2 crushed (we used 1/2 a tsp of Thai massaman paste)

Garlic- 2 cloves, thinly sliced

Butter- 1 tsp

Coriander- 2 tsp,finely chopped. We used the dried ones..fresh would be apt

Wash the scallops and pat dry

Warm a wok (or large frying pan) over medium-high heat (allow pan to warm up at least 1 minute). While the pan is warming up, use a paper towel or clean tea towel to gently dab any remaining moisture from the scallops.

Add 2 Tbs oil to the frying pan and swirl around. Gently place the scallops in the pan, leaving enough space between so you'll have room to turn them. Cook the scallops for at least 2 minutes (or skin will tear) and while doing so, season with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Turn the scallops and season the other side with salt and pepper. Scallops are done when both sides have a nice crispy-looking crust and are firm to the touch. Remove cooked scallops from the wok/pan and drain on a kitchen towel.

For the sauce, place all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat-high. Stirring occasionally, warm the sauce for 1-2 minutes only, without actually cooking it. Add the seared scallops to the sauce or palce the scallops on a serving plate and pour the sauce over it.

Notes: The scallops must be very dry before frying them in order to achieve a good sear on both sides.

We made the sauce a bit runny so it teamed up as a nice side to the noodle dish.

Recipe has been adapted from about.com