SCALLOPS

An international favorite. Sweet, succulent, meaty, versatile and
low in fat

While the distinctive fluted shape of the scallop’s shell is familiar, you’ll rarely find them at your local seafood counter. Scallops are almost exclusively sold as meats. These marshmallow-shaped bits of flesh are the adductor muscles that power the scallop’s shell-flapping flight.

Scallops can be eaten whole from the shell, like clams, mussels and oysters (they are preferred that way in many international cuisines), but unlike other bivalves, they cannot completely close their shells. Once out of the water, scallops quickly lose moisture, surviving for only four or five days while their more watertight relatives can live for up to three weeks. Because of this, scallops usually are shucked soon after harvest.

When shopping for scallops, look for a sweet and briny aroma.

When shopping for scallops, look for a sweet and briny aroma. The odor can be surprisingly strong, but don’t mistake it for a sign of poor quality. Only reject scallops if their odor contains a hint of iodine or sourness. Look for meats that are firm and slightly translucent. The color should be ivory to pinkish white. A pinkish-orange mottling will sometimes occur when the meat is stained by the roe. This natural coloring is harmless and will not affect quality.

Avoid scallops that have been “soaked”—treated with a chemical during processing to reduce water loss and improve shelf life. Soaked scallops will feel “soapy” and excrete a milky white liquid. Scallops that haven’t been soaked are marketed either as “dry” scallops or diver scallops.

Sea scallop shells measure up to 8 inches in diameter with meats 1 to 1 1/2 inches across. There are typically 20 to 30 sea scallop meats to a pound, but larger sizes can be 10 meats to the pound. The smaller bay scallop has a shell size up to 4 inches in diameter and yields meats up to 1/2 inch across. Bays normally run about 100 meats per pound.

One of the world’s great aquaculture success stories, American bay scallops

Nearly 400 species of scallops are found worldwide, but only about a dozen are harvested commercially. Here in the U.S., the sea scallop resource off the Northeast supports one of the largest scallop fisheries in the world. Alaska has a much smaller scallop fishery for weathervane scallops, which are somewhat smaller than the East Coast sea scallop.

The American bay scallop is found in the shallow waters of the Northeast Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras, but the commercial harvest is now very, very small. What few bays that are harvested are sold fresh in the late fall at very high prices.

One of the world’s great aquaculture success stories, American bay scallops are now farmed in China. Begun in 1982 with just 26 scallops, today China is the leading scallop supplier to the U.S. market. Cooperative farms in coastal areas of the Bohai and Yellow Seas produce over 400,000 tons of live scallops each year. Seafood shoppers in the Southeast might also encounter calico scallops from time to time. Found in warm waters from the Carolinas to Tampa Bay, calicos are easily identified by their small size (100 to 200 meats per pound) and white coloration. Because of their small size, calicos are mechanically shucked on shore. Steam is used to open the scallops, partially cooking the meats and giving them distinctive white-colored edges.

Today, bay scallops are down below $5 a pound, making these sweet and nutty morsels an affordable treat for nearly any budget.

Long the most popular and widely available scallop in the U.S., sea scallops are in very good supply due to a management regime that rotates closures of prime scallop grounds, keeping overall stocks very healthy. In fact, catches of sea scallops have been at, or near, record levels for the past seven years.

Bay scallops, meanwhile, are one of seafood’s best buys. Long the most desirable and least available of the scallops, bays used to demand hefty prices. That all changed with the great success of scallop farming in China. Today, bay scallop supplies are up and retail prices are down below $5 a pound, making these sweet and nutty morsels an affordable treat for nearly any budget. Prices are typically at their lowest in early winter, when imports arrive in large quantities.

Scallops are renowned for their sweet flavor and firm texture. They are versatile, which adds to their popularity.

Scallops are very low in fat, with only .8 grams per 3 1/2 ounce serving. Each serving also has 88 calories, 161 milligrams sodium, .1 gram saturated fat and 33 milligrams cholesterol.

To preserve the succulent character of scallops, do not overcook them. The easiest way to avoid overcooking scallops is to stop when the outer surface of the meats turn solidly opaque—by then the insides are nearly cooked, too. Don’t worry if the scallops seen a little underdone in the middle, that’s when they’re most flavorful.

When sautéing, small scallops will take only a few minutes to cook; larger sea scallops will take no more than 4 to 5 minutes. Add a minute when poaching and subtract a minute when broiling or grilling. To make larger scallops (1 1/2 inches or more across) cook quickly, slice them crosswise into 1/4- to 1/2- inch-thick disks.

Recipes:

• Braised Scallops with Grapefruit and Walnuts