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Scallops with Pink Grapefruit Beurre Blanc

Scallops sautéed and served in a pink grapefruit beurre blanc sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,081 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Scallops with Pink Grapefruit Beurre Blanc

serves 2
Time3 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the scallops

  1. Pat sea scallops dry and cut them into ½-inch-thick slices.

  2. Toss the scallops, flour, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

Sear the scallops

  1. Heat the oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.

  2. Sauté the scallops in the oil, stirring for 3 minutes.

  3. Transfer the scallops to a plate.

Make the beurre blanc

  1. Add the wine to the skillet, scraping up the brown bits.

  2. Stir in the clam juice, shallot, grapefruit juice, zest and sugar.

  3. Boil the liquid until it is reduced to about ⅓ cup.

  4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve set over a saucepan.

  5. Set the pan over low heat.

  6. Whisk in the butter a little at a time, lifting the pan from the heat occasionally to cool the mixture and adding each new bit of butter before the previous one has melted completely.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the scallion and the scallops with any juices that have accumulated on the plate.

  2. Heat the mixture until the scallops are heated through.

  3. Divide the mixture between 2 plates.

  4. Garnish each plate with some of the grapefruit sections.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1114Calories
65 gProtein
29 gFat
143 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Clam100g cooked148
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Shrimp100g cooked99
Grapefruit Juice1/2 fruit (123g)52
Grapefruit1/2 fruit (123g)52
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Flour + shallottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Olive + shallottop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,659 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + grapefruittop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together117 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Olive + grapefruittop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together132 recipes

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

  5. White wine + shallottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together881 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Sea scallops
Main protein; searing browns the surface while the centre stays tender when cooked briefly.
Butter
Emulsifies into the reduced liquid, giving the sauce a silky, rich body.
Pink grapefruit juice
Provides the acidity and fruity flavour that defines the sauce.
Dry white wine
Adds acidity and depth when reduced, and lifts the browned bits from the pan.
Shallot
Adds a mild onion flavour that builds the base of the sauce.
Flour
Lightly coats the scallops to help them brown in the pan.

The step that matters

Whisking in the butter. Butter must be added gradually and the pan lifted off the heat so the sauce emulsifies. If it gets too hot, the butter separates and the sauce turns oily instead of creamy.

Swap the grapefruit

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (scallop, flour, pepper, olive, white wine, clam, shallot):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Avocadofits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Grapefruitthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against scallop, flour, pepper, olive, white wine, clam, shallot. 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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