1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Culinary Arts

How To Make Pan-Seared Sea Scallops

By Danilo Alfaro, About.com

1 of 5

Season Scallops with Kosher Salt

Season Scallops with Kosher Salt

Season Scallops with Kosher Salt

Photo © Daniel Robert Cohn

Season Scallops with Kosher Salt

Most scallops you buy at the store have been soaked in a liquid solution that keeps them looking white. So you'll need to drain and rinse them thoroughly, then pat them dry with paper towels before seasoning them.

If you're lucky, your seafood purveyor carries "dry-packed" scallops, which haven't been treated with this liquid. If you can get these, you don't need to rinse them -- you can just season them with Kosher salt and they'll be ready to cook.

Heat a nonstick sauté pan over a high heat, and add a tablespoon of clarified butter (or raw, unsalted butter) and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. The oil/butter mixture needs to be very hot before you add the scallops -- you should actually see just the tiniest bit of smoke.

Next page >>

1 of 5

Explore Culinary Arts

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Culinary Arts
  4. Culinary Fundamentals
  5. Cooking Methods
  6. Dry Heat Cooking
  7. How To Make Pan-Seared Sea Scallops: Step-By-Step Tutorial With Photos

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.