Dry-packed scallops

[HelperGuy]

Have you ever asked for dry-packed scallops at any of the fish places around here? I didn't know for years that many scallops aare packed in sodium tripolyphosphate to keep them looking white, making them so full of liquid that it's impossible to sear them properly (the water just leeches out during the cooking process, and I end up with steamed or boiled pieces; patting them dry does not help this). This explains my continuing failure at searing scallops.

[Canamex]

I didn't know they were packed in preservatives, but for shrimps I usually pack them after they're thawed, drained & shelled in a couple of [clean] tea towels in the fridge for the day or overnight, a trick I learned from a New York chef during a clinic in Toronto (the towels then have to be very well washed). Might that not work for your scallops? It's pretty passive work and only requires that you plan a day ahead.

If anyone has them it could be the Pacifico fish place across from Rancho del Oro in the La Huerta plaza. They really are the best in town. Frozen yes, to arrive here in decent condition, but they come from one of the best suppliers in Jalisco.

[HelperGuy]

Interesting. I've never had any problems with shrimp being too waterlogged. Meantime, I did buy my scallops at Pacifico, in an unmarked package... looked to be the same as the ones at the new meat/fish market in the gas station plaza on the libramiento.

[More Liana]

HelperGuy, have you ever been to the Mercado del Mar in Zapopan? It's worth the trip and you will probably find what you are looking for.

http://mexicocooks.typepad.com/mexico_cooks/2007/05/fishing_for_sea.html

[camillenparadise]

Terrific article, and one I'd missed! How exactly would one get there, please?

[More Liana]

Here's a Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/V0B9o

[HelperGuy]

HelperGuy, have you ever been to the Mercado del Mar in Zapopan? It's worth the trip and you will probably find what you are looking for.

http://mexicocooks.t...ng_for_sea.html

Only once; it was a zoo, and lots of fun. But I'm far too busy (or lazy) to trek into Guadalajara every week for my fish fix. I will of course keep it in mind next time I head that way, though. I'm also going to ask at the markets here next time, and see if they know themselves.

[Canamex]

I agree with HelperGuy, it's a big trek. We used to live in Zapopan and frequented that particular fish market - I would caution anyone who wants to go to get there bright and early before the sun warms things up and makes things stink and brings out flies by the millions.

[HelperGuy]

Well, I sauteed the scallops from Pacifico last night and I can report they weren't packed in any salty preservative. Almost no liquid emerged during the cooking process. They were dee-lishus. I followed the technique in this video, and any restuarant would be happy to offer these: http://www.finecooking.com/videos/seared-scallops-recipe.aspx?ac=ts&ra=fp

[Beeland]

The Pacfico Pescaderia in West Ajijic´s La Huerta Plaza is a branch of Pacifico Pescaderia headquarters outlet in the Mercado Del Mar in Zapopan and, as one who has often purchased fish and shellfish at various retail/wholesale fish mongers in the Mercado Del Mar, I can assure the reader that the quality of the fish and shellfish at the Ajijic branch is excellent and on a par with any fish and shellfish one might purchase at the mercado itself. The Zapopan mercado is still worth a visit just for the pleasure of being there in the frenetic and raucous atmosphere of a thriving a wholesale seafood market. While at it, one can enjoy a seafood lunch in one of the restaurants lining the market largely in front of the fish monger stalls with the attendant fishmonger atmosphere. However, since Pacifico opened its Ajijic branch, there is no longer any need to drive to Zapopan and seek out the mercado just for the great seafood as, now, one can now find the same variety of quality seafood right here at Lakeside.

We live very close to La Huerta Plaza and observe the fish trucks bringing seafood to the Pacifico outlet there every day. The inventory is large and intended for wholesale and well as retail markets.

I haven´t purchased scallops at Pacifico in Ajijic as of yet so I´m heading over there right now and, if I find the quality of scallops I expect to find there, intend to prepare myself some coquilles st. jacques (minus the requisite shell and orange roe one would find in France but unavailable here in Mexico) and will report my experience later on this forum.

[JayBearII]

Helper Guy, I used to make seared scallops when we lived near the New England coast and could get fresh ones. Tried it here twice and the scallops were awful both times. Gave up! I don't think you could leach enough water out of them with the towel method to make any difference.

[Beeland]

" Well, I sauteed the scallops from Pacifico last night and I can report they weren't packed in any salty preservative. Almost no liquid emerged during the cooking process. They were dee-lishus. I followed the technique in this video, and any restuarant would be happy to offer these: http://www.finecooki...spx?ac=ts&ra=fp "

Thanks for that encouragement HelperGuy. I´m on my way over there right now.

Now, we have your positive perspective, JayBear´s more negative New England fresh-not-frozen experience and this dichotomy will make my Alabama/France/San Francisco perspective even more fun - at least for me.

[Beeland]

As advertised, I went over to Pescaderia Pacifico in La Huerta Plaza to look for scallops mndful of the fact that scallops here do not come in the shell or ever come with the roe attached so one needs to trust one´s fishmonger as I suppose anything could be cut as one would cut a scallop and call it a scallop - a not unusual occurrence in California where I lived prior to coming here. They had three sizes of scallops and all were frozen dry and separately with no liquid whatsoever. These were scooped out of the shipping box according to one´s order. I bought a little over a half kilo of the medium scallops which I intend to cook simply tomorrow discarding the notion of getting fancy with my recipe. I think perhaps a simple saute with butter, garlic and white wine will do since I am inexperienced at cooking scallops and, if I should get it wrong and end up with the Michelin Tire Guy over rice, I can feed them to my dogs without lamenting the work that went into ruining them.

I agree with JayBear that once you freeze most seafood, the taste is never the same and almost never as good as fresh with the possible exception of abalone, conch, goeduck and a few other things. The other day, I wrote that all the shrimp one gets here in Mexico except occasionally along the coasts is always frozen or frozen and subsequently thawed to simulate fresh, never frozen shrimp but those familiar with the taste and texture of fresh, never frozen shrimp are never fooled by this technique unless the taste and texture of the shrimp is masked by complex ingredients. Surely the same is true of scallops.

[HelperGuy]

Helper Guy, I used to make seared scallops when we lived near the New England coast and could get fresh ones. Tried it here twice and the scallops were awful both times. Gave up! I don't think you could leach enough water out of them with the towel method to make any difference.

I agree with you about the towel method. Only the surface liquid would come out; it would be like trying to get water out of corn cobs; at that point, it's intrinsic to the food.

[HelperGuy]

I wrote that all the shrimp one gets here in Mexico except occasionally along the coasts is always frozen or frozen and subsequently thawed to simulate fresh, never frozen shrimp but those familiar with the taste and texture of fresh, never frozen shrimp are never fooled by this technique unless the taste and texture of the shrimp is masked by complex ingredients. Surely the same is true of scallops.

There is a not-too-old thread about frozen shrimp on this board somewhere. The truth is, all commercially-caught shrimp is frozen at sea (except for some odd reason one esoteric British fishing outfit). So there is really no such thing as "fresh" shrimp, unless you happen to live in an area where shrimpers toil for the local shore business. When you get iced shrimp at a tiangui, it's being or has been thawed already. So, buying frozen shrimp in a commercially branded package is generally going to be a better purchase.

[canmex87]

Costco sells frozen scallops (Kirkland brand) that are excellent and no problem with excess water when cooking.

[Beeland]

HelperGuy writes:

" There is a not-too-old thread about frozen shrimp on this board somewhere. The truth is, all commercially-caught shrimp is frozen at sea (except for some odd reason one esoteric British fishing outfit). So there is really no such thing as "fresh" shrimp, unless you happen to live in an area where shrimpers toil for the local shore business. When you get iced shrimp at a tiangui, it's being or has been thawed already. So, buying frozen shrimp in a commercially branded package is generally going to be a better purchase. "

Actually, HelperGuy, most of the shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico and sold in coastal retail outlets specializing in seafood is harvested by day boats and the shrimp is almost always delivered to shore fresh and never frozen. I know this because we used to live on the western shore of Mobile Bay near the shrimping village of Bayou La Batre, Alabama of Forrest Gump fame. I also, as a child and young man, spent every summer vacationing along the beaches of the Florida Panhandle from Destin to Fort Walton Beach. It would have been unheard of for any fishmonger selling shrimp or crabmeat in any retail outlet in that region to try to sell frozen shrimp or crabmeat and if you think freezing changes the texture of shrimp; the normal process of freezing (except for certain flash-freezing techniques) literally ruins crabmeat and makes to dry, stringy and relatively tasteless which is why you cannot buy a decent crabcake around here or one without supplemental surimi.

Shrimp and crabmeat are also usually sold fresh and never frozen in many parts of France where I had the good fortune to live for quite some time over the years.

In some 30 years of living in Coastal California, I cannot remember finding shrimp that had not been frozen or frozen and subsequently thawed in fish markets from San Diego to Eureka. The same goes for crabmeat unless one lived near Fisherman´s Wharf in San Francisco as I did for some time and bought crab at the dock. I have never seen fresh, unfrozen shrimp or crabmeat in Mexico at any retail outlet anywhere.

If one has not had the good fortune to dine on fresh, never frozen shrimp or picked, fresh lump blue crabmeat then one cannot know what one is missing but that´s life. Just think of those folks today along the Louisiana coast sweating bullets in that 90 degree sultry heat at 90% humidity with no electricity, perhaps for days or weeks to come and, thus, no air conditioning or even fans for even minimal comfort and thank your lucky stars you live at 5,000 feet elevation at Lakeside - frozen seafood and all. Everything´s a trade-off.

I used to get a kick out of heading for the docks along Mobile Bay when the shrimpboats passed our home coming back from the Gulf. There, we would purchase fresh shrimp from the crew and that not purchased locally often was loaded onto trucks and frozen for shipment to the midwest. Then, we moved to San Francisco and a few years later, Hurricane Frederick blew our old bayfront home to kingdom come so, like HelperGuy, we since have had to settle for frozen shrimp and crab in California and Mexico but, what the hell, it hasn´t been a bad run in either of those places.

[Beeland]

Costco sells frozen scallops (Kirkland brand) that are excellent and no problem with excess water when cooking.

Tonight, the frozen scallops from Pescaderia Pacifico in Ajijic will be prepared at the Beeland house, not by the klutz writing this but my wife raised in France and much more adept at cooking scallops and other seafood than I. If the excess water when cooking problem fails to materialize, perhaps future excursions to Guadalajara for frozen scallops will become unnecessary. We shall see.

By the way, Pescaderia Pacifico also sells frozen arrachera which complements the excellent pork chops cut to order at the adjacent carneceria. If this keeps up, we may find traveling to the Eastern reaches of Chapala Municipality, much less Guadalajara for shopping for meats and fish, to be events of the past.

[HelperGuy]

Actually, HelperGuy, most of the shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico and sold in coastal retail outlets specializing in seafood is harvested by day boats and the shrimp is almost always delivered to shore fresh and never frozen.

No argument there; that's why I qualified my comment by saying "commercially caught" and "local shore business". For example, Highliner: nothing fresh there, everything frozen at sea... but you don't find Highliner shrimp at the local stores and markets. I lived in Victoria and in Halifax/Dartmouth, and there's fresh lobster there, fer shure. But never a fresh shrimp.

I know it sounds weird, and I myself was surprised, but an Internet search quickly reveals this. Even here in Mexico, it has to be frozen to survive the trip to Guadalajara no matter how close it is caught. And as long as it's flash-frozen, it's pretty good. (On the other hand, the size of the ship and the money behind it are a huge factor... local shrimpers off the coasts of any country don't have that kind of capability, so they just ice it as best they can. Even so, most "iced" ends up frozen by the time it hits shore, so you want to sell it quickly; otherwise, it has to be frozen properly, which in effect makes it twice-frozen.

[tomgates]

A little tip on pan frying scallops is to cook them on one side only toget a good sear on that side and not risk over cooking them. Serve them seared side up.

[camillenparadise]

Couldn't wait for Beeland's review, so took myself to the fish market this afternoon and came home with a quarter kilo of nice big beauties. Thawed 'em out

real slow in the fridge while I made a pot of stewed okra, tomatoes, and onions with fresh dill. Caramelized garlic in butter, added the scallops for just a few minutes, I did turn them, finished off with fresh Meyer lemon juice, and they were just KILLER!!

Also I learned Pacifico will order real robalo for you, authentic Chilean Sea Bass, with a day's notice. Be advised that if you ask for "Basa" you'll get the farmed VietNamese catfish which should not be on your menu.