Introduction
Quick Navigation
If you are a seafood lover, you will want to know about your beloved seafood dishes in detail. You may know plenty of information about shrimp, lobster, crab, and mussels. And you may also know of some excellent recipes that involve those fish specifically. However, what about scallops? You cannot go wrong with scallops because that is one of the juiciest seafood options you can enjoy. You can enjoy scallops in many Asian and Italian dishes.
You will also want to know about the best time of year to buy this seafood option, as well as the variety of scallops you can enjoy. Let’s now talk more about scallops.
All About Scallops
Have you thought much about scallops? You probably have not put a lot of thought into it. Two shells surround the scallop’s muscle which makes this shellfish similar to clams, mussels, or oysters, which means that this shellfish is a type of bivalve mollusk. The part of the scallop you eat is known as the white adductor muscle. The bright orange section of the scallop is the part you eat, too, known as the coral.
The scallop muscle is round, and when you cook it, it becomes tender. The taste of the muscle is sweet and somewhat salty. You can eat the coral, too; however, in the USA, people rarely consume it. There are also two types of scallops which are the sea scallops and the bay scallops.
The bay scallops are small as they are the size of a penny, but they are incredibly tender. The sea scallops are large and can grow to two inches long. Both types of scallops are tasty and delicious, which also depends on how you cook them. There are plenty of scallop recipes you can find online that are easy and enjoyable. Scallops, for the most part, are very easy to cook too.
The Scallop’s Appearance
What is the best way to describe the appearance of the scallop? The best way to describe the shell of the scallop is that it has the appearance and shape of a hand fan. That is why scallops can swim on the ocean floor, and they can swim quite fast because when they clap their shells, that helps them move on the ocean floor.
They also have 50 to 100 bead-size blue eyes, which are on the edge of the shell’s opening. Their eyes help them detect motion around, in addition to the light and the dark. Their eyes feature retinas which help them remained focus on light, the same way as other animals. Now that you know about the appearance of scallops, you may want to know where you can find them.
Where Can You Find Scallops?
You can find scallops in any body of water which includes shallow water, bays, and estuaries on the East Coast. Scallops from China and Mexico are often imported to the US since scallops near the US are not as abundant as they once were. However, in 2017, marine biologists began working on increasing the scallop population in the US.
The founders of Rappahannock Oyster Company and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are attempting to increase the population of Chesapeake Bay scallops. They caught 400,000 scallop seeds and collected them from Falmouth, Massachusetts. They are creating changes in techniques when it comes to harvesting them for commercial purposes. There are also small scallops you can find from July to October in Northwest Florida.
You can also find sea scallops in cold and deep water in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, and you can find them near the coasts starting from North Carolina to Newfoundland. When is the best time to harvest scallops? Let’s find that out.
When Is The Best Time To Harvest Scallops?
You can harvest scallops at any time of the year. Scallop season is anywhere from late fall to the winter, as that is when they reach the peak of the harvests. That is the time when you know that your catch will be fresh, and that means your scallop meal will be incredibly delicious. Does that mean if you catch scallops outside of scallop season that they won’t be any good? Not at all. That all depends on how you cook them too. However, if you want to catch the best scallops, you will want to grab them during the peak of the harvest. How is the best way to cook scallops?
How Can You Cook Scallops?
Cooking scallops is easy. However, there are different ways to prepare this seafood, and bay and sea scallops have different flavors. When it comes to sea scallops, they have a chewy texture, and you will want to sear them to make the exterior of the meat crispy. Bay scallops have a sweeter taste and a delicate interior, which means they cook quickly. Therefore, you will want to broil, gently poach or saute them.
You can grill both types of scallops but if you do that, always use skewers to flip the seafood effortlessly without pieces of the meat sticking onto the grill. You do not want to lose any part of your scallops during the grilling process or make your grill more challenging to clean additionally.
If you plan to grill your scallops, you need to know that you must pat them dry before placing them on the grill. The rewards of cooking scallops the best way are that you will enjoy salty and sweet goodness that you will want to keep adding to your dinner menu ideas.
Conclusion
You probably have not given scallops much thought about their location, the best times to harvest them, and the types. As you know, there are two types of scallops which are bay and sea scallops. Perhaps you knew that before reading this post, you read the post, which was something new you learned today. All you knew beforehand was that scallops are sweet and salty tasting seafood that goes very well with many dishes‘. You can find many online recipes involving scallops, and you can prepare them in various ways. You have to be careful with how you do it, so they don’t break apart since they are delicate.