As you can probably guess from my last post, we had my parents over for dinner the other night for my mom's birthday celebration. It was a great idea (and we had tons of fun)...only, the whole execution part of it was not planned so well :P



In hindsight, perhaps going for a long hike that morning/afternoon was not the best decision. Because between that and picking up the ingredients afterwards, we barely had time upon getting back home to prep, clean (absolutely necessary!), cook -- let alone shower. In my haste, I think I incorrectly measured an ingredient in the curried scallop cakes that we were planning to serve as appetizers; they completely fell apart in the frying pan from lack of enough binder ingredients. Poor AC had the lovely pleasure of discovering this oh, about five minutes before everyone started arriving (isn't that always fun?). As he was scrambling to salvage all of our loose, crumbly scallop cakes, I was scrambling to get the rice started, chicken in the oven, etc. Luckily, last minute chaos is a game we've unfortunately become experts at :D. And after the initial "flurry of activities," the remainder of the night went off without a hitch.



I don't think you can ever go wrong with beautiful, fresh scallops -- especially when they're mixed with cilantro, curry powder, green onions, and dry mustard. This unique combination yields a fragrant yet delicate flavor that makes your standard ole' crab cake seem terribly bland and outdated.


While these cakes were supposed to be creamy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, ours were slightly more "crispy" all around due to the fact that their lovely insides had decided to scatter themselves all over our frying pan.

...which, I think, is the perfect excuse to make these again sometime soon! ;)



Curried Scallop Cakes
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2001

1 1/2 pounds fresh sea scallops, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 large egg yolks, 1 large egg
3 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)*

Mix first 9 ingredients and 1 1/2 cups panko in large bowl to blend. Cover mixture and refrigerate 1 hour.

Place remaining 2 cups panko on large plate. Form scallop mixture into balls, using 1 heaping tablespoon for each. Coat in panko, flattening slightly.

Heat enough vegetable oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat to come 1/4 inch up sides of pan. Working in batches, sauté scallop cakes until golden and cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer scallop cakes to paper towels to drain. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Reheat on baking sheet in 350°F oven 8 minutes.) Transfer scallop cakes to platter.