Hed Chef: Feast on Japanese-style grilled scallops with cod roe for CNY

This week's recipe is for seafood lovers who may be feeling a little left out with pork dishes taking centre stage this Chinese New Year.

Hotate mentaiyaki, a Japanese dish of grilled scallops with cod roe, is an oldie but a goodie.

How does one ever tire of grilled scallops lusciously coated in mayonnaise, mentaiko and cheese?

The delicious upside to making your own hotate mentaiyaki is you are in full control of how much mentaiko you wish to add to your scallops.

I managed to get my hands on mentaiko sold in a tube. It is such a convenient solution.

The palm-size Hokkaido scallops I bought from a seafood supplier were satisfyingly large.

Makan

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New year, new nosh

If you have to make do with smaller scallops on a half shell, simply adjust the recipe according.

Scallops usually come frozen, which is convenient as you can take them out of the freezer to cook whenever you feel like it.

I especially recommend beer or a Japanese whisky highball to go with the scallops. Festive feasting can be so simple.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 Hokkaido scallops on half shell (620g)
• 100g Japanese mayonnaise
• 60g mentaiko
• 1tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 36g grated mozzarella

METHOD

1. Rinse the scallops and place in fridge to dry for an hour. Use kitchen paper to pat dry the scallops to remove excess water.

2. Pre-heat the oven grill to 220 deg C for 10 minutes.

3. In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, mentaiko and lemon juice. Mix well.

4. Place the scallops on a foil-lined baking tray.

5. Divide and spoon the mentaiko mixture among the scallops.

6. Top with the grated mozzarella.

7. Place the scallops in oven and grill for three to four minutes.

8. Remove the scallops from the oven and serve immediately.