Scallop sashimi/chilled silken tofu, seaweed salad, fresh mooli and cucumber

This was the starter for my Japanese-Inspired supper club at Brown and Green, in Crystal Palace, and a real highlight for me, as I pushed myself in a culinary manner. I was going to go for a tuna sashimi, which I am pretty used to doing at home, but inspired by a really good scallop carpaccio at a local recipe and a confidence in my fishmonger, I went for these seriously sweet and tender sashimi grade hand-dived scallops. If you are wary when it comes to preparing the sashimi, then ask your fishmonger to do it for you. I also mention juilene vegetables here, which can also be off-putting, but I used this handy and easy-to-use julienne tool.      Look it up; soon you’ll be julienning everything…  

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Serves 6

30g dried wakame seaweed  

2 tbsp soy sauce 

2 tbsp mirin

juice and zest of 1 lime

10g coriander 

40ml light olive oil 

6 chilled sushi-grade hand-dived large scallops, without the orange roe (see vegan swap below)

1/4 of a piece of mooli, julienned or very thinly cut into sticks 

1/2 cucumber, julienned or very thinly cut into sticks 

2 tbsp black sesame seeds 

red pepper shichimi togarashi (find this on Ocado), to garnish  

6 nasturtium flowers and 12 nasturtium leaves 

Place the dried wakame seaweed in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Allow to stand for 10 mins. Drain and refresh with cold water to wash any grit or dust away. Dress with the soy sauce, mirin and lime zest and juice. Mix thoroughly and chill until needed. 

In a food processor, blend the coriander and oil together, then drain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Squeeze the oil through the coriander with the back of a spoon, then discard the coriander in the sieve. 

Divide the seaweed mixture between six serving plates. Removing any sinew-like attachments around the scallops. Slice the scallops very thinly, against the grain (so hold the scallop so the non-circular side is facing the chopping board). Top each seaweed pile with a sliced scallop and top with an each amount of both the cucumber and mooli. Scatter the dishes with the black sesame seeds and drizzle the coriander oil around the seaweed. Dust with the red pepper shichimi togarashi and garnish with the nasturtium flowers and leaves. Serve. 

To make the dish vegan, exchange the scallop for 30g of sliced ice-cold silken tofu.