This is a simple Chinese vegetable recipe that is suitable for any occasion. This dish is enhanced by the addition of fresh broccoli and scallops in a sauce.
This broccoli and scallop dish is an excellent complement to the other Chinese New Year recipes I previously posted.
Broccoli and Scallop is one of my favorite dishes to have when dining out at one of our neighborhood zi-char stands or Chinese restaurants.
However, it is rarely inexpensive, possibly due to the fresh scallops. That is why I prefer to prepare this dish at home.
As a novice cook, I am unafraid to share my non-purist method of cooking and hence would want to share my shortcut method for recreating this dish at home.
The method is quite simple — blanch the veggies in boiling water for a few minutes, then make a quick and simple cheater’s sauce using instant vegetable stock and corn starch solution to drizzle over the vegetables and fish.
While this recipe requires little effort, it packs a punch in terms of flavor and is also reasonably priced.
This meal is perfect for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, as it is both promising and colorful. The florets of broccoli and carrots cut into flower forms represent wealth and richness.
Each serving of this meal has only 92 calories.
INGREDIENTS:
VEGETABLES:
- 200 g of broccoli
- 200 g of fresh white scallops
- 10 pacific clams
- 3 slices of old ginger
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 1 medium peeled and sliced carrot
SAUCE:
- 4 tablespoons of hot water
- Small piece of vegetable cube
- 1 tablespoon of water
- ½ tablespoon of cornstarch
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Using a large saucepan of water, add vegetable oil and bring it to a boil. After boiling, add the carrots and broccoli and cook for three minutes.
- Toss them into a separate container and leave them to rest for the time being. The broccoli that has been blanched can be kept bright green by placing it in an ice water bath.
- Add ginger slices to the water you previously used to blanch the veggies.
- After boiling the water, add the clams and the scallops. Toss them into a separate container and leave them to rest for the time being.
- Stack the blanched veggies and shellfish on a circular serving platter for presentation. After placing the broccoli around the plate, place the scallops, clams, and broccoli in the center, covering the broccoli stems.
- To make the sauce, melt a cube of veggie in hot water.
- In a large pot, boil the vegetable stock. When the mixture reaches a boil, gradually add cornstarch solution until the required consistency is achieved. The optimal consistency (in my opinion) is a little thinner than oyster sauce in thickness.
- You can thicken your sauce by adding a bit more cornstarch solution, or thin it out by adding water.
- Once you’ve arranged the vegetables, drizzle the sauce over them.