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Fried Scallops

Fried scallops coated in cracker dust and fried, served with lemon cubes or tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Fried Scallops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cover the scallops with boiling water and let them stand for 5 minutes.

  2. Drain and dry the scallops on a cloth, then marinate in olive oil, lemon juice, and onion for 1 hour.

  3. Drain and dry the scallops again.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll the scallops in seasoned cracker dust, dip in beaten egg, then coat with cracker dust again.

  2. Fry in deep hot fat until well colored.

Serve

  1. Serve with lemon cubes or tomato sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Scallop + saucetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together130 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Scallops
Main protein; the frying turns their outside golden while the inside stays tender.
Egg
Binds the seasoned cracker dust to the scallops so the coating holds during frying.
Seasoned cracker dust
Forms a crisp, browned crust when fried.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the marinated scallops.

The step that matters

Drying the scallops before coating and frying. Surface moisture keeps the coating from adhering and makes the fat splatter and cool. Patting the scallops dry before the dust and egg helps the crust stay on and brown well.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (scallop, olive, onion, egg, tomato, sauce):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Cherryfits about as well
  4. Plumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against scallop, olive, onion, egg, tomato, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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