Scallop – FoodWatcher

How to Make the Best Grilled Scallops

The best grilled scallops are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside—perfect to plunk on top of arugula salad, buttered spaghetti, creamy risotto, you name it, or served alongside everything from potato salad to charred corn. The worst gri…

To help you reach Peak Scallop Perfection (it's out there!), we called in food writer and classically trained cook Christine Burns Rudalevige, who shares her top nine cooking tips below—plus, a ruby red grapefruit and chile glaze that the scallops totally love. (Psst: They also love an extra-cold rosé to go with.) And for even more A+ grilling recipes, tips, and tricks, check out our book Any Night Grilling by Paula Disbrowe. Now, fire up the grill and let's get started.

Can You Eat Raw Scallops? A Definitive Explainer

The day I joined Alex Todd on his scalloping boat out of Portland, Maine, I missed a key memo: Bring lunch. Alex is a day-boat scallop fisherman, which means he drags for scallops only in the short winter season, leaving at dawn and staying at sea until he’s filled his 15-gallon quota, which that day took 12 hours. Alex’s generosity saved me. While he and his crew ate prepacked sandwiches, I lunched on his scallops, untouched, shucked from their shells minutes before. The answer to can you eat raw scallops is emphatically, 100 percent yes.

Raw scallops are not just edible; they’re incredible. The scallop’s natural sweetness is never on display so clearly as before it’s cooked. And uses for raw scallops are endless: carpaccio, crudo, tartare, sushi, or, as on that day, just popped in your mouth like candy. The one catch: To go raw, you need to choose your scallops carefully. What you find behind most supermarket seafood counters won’t live up to my lunch at sea.

A Love Letter to Scallops, the World’s Most Perfect Food

Over the years, I have decided that scallops are a favorite special occasion food that doesn’t, as it turns out, require too much work to make delectable. Before this realization I was kind of lukewarm when it came to these bivalves. The truth is—and I say this to everyone, so forgive me if you’ve heard it before—that anything we really don’t like is probably a food scar. Someone prepared the thing poorly, often under- or over cooking it, and it is up to us to come to terms with that reality and charge forward: brave and hopeful that there can be a fantastic experience to be had, just around the corner. This approach has served me well over time and scallops have been firmly in my “passionate about” department ever since.

Scallops swim using an adductor muscle, which clicks their two iconic shells together, propelling them through the water at the ocean floor. It is this meaty muscle that when shucked, appears in dining rooms and frying pans around the world to great delight. Male scallops are only white, but female scallops’ adductor muscles turn a rosy hue when spawning, and are sought after by chefs and savvy home cooks for their sweeter, richer flavor.

How to Cook Tender, Buttery, Melt-in-Your-Mouth Scallops

For many of us, the thought of cooking seafood at home is a bit overwhelming, even scary. We order it in restaurants or save it for special occasions, and yet cooking seafood can be totally accessible. Scallops, for instance, involve very few ingredients and steps, ideal for weeknights. They don’t require any fussy pre-prep like marinating or salting, either—just a thorough rinse in some cold water and a good pat dry. Scallops are the perfect quick meal: little effort, simple ingredients, delicious results.

First, let's break down a few essential distinctions, so you can shop confidently at the fishmonger or market when you're ready to dive in to these new waters.

Pan-Seared Scallops Are for Date Nights With Yourself

Table for One is a column by Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and only himself—and seeks to celebrate the beauty of solitude in its many forms.

For years, one of my favorite places to be alone was the Grand Central Oyster Bar. Specifically th…

Table for One is a column by Eric Kim, who loves cooking for himself—and only himself—and seeks to celebrate the beauty of solitude in its many forms.

For years, one of my favorite places to be alone was the Grand Central Oyster Bar. Specifically the saloon in the way back, where the lighting was dimmer, the drinks were stronger, and people left you alone at the bar.