Jump to:
Scallops are one of the sweetest, juiciest and tasty seafood treats. With this scallop ramen soup we showcase all these beautiful molluscs have to offer with some healthy wakame seaweed, king oyster mushrooms and some fresh greens. All put together in a classic dashi stock enriched with velvety rich butter.
Our delicious version of a scallop ramen recipe
This is a simple highly flavoured scallop ramen broth using traditional elements of Japanese cooking fused with a western style to elevate the classic subtle and refined flavours of Japan into a new easily approachable dish for everyday healthy cooking or to entertain.
It is often the perception that in Japan the main foods that the Japanese people eat are rice, raw fish sushi and sashimi. However, much more frequently eaten are soups and broths - shirumono. There is rarely a meal served in Japan that will be served without a bowl of miso soup, for example. This is a refined clear broth made with a fermented white and red bean paste.
Many of these commonly consumed soups though, will mostly be known in other guises such as a noodle dish like Udon, Soba or Somen, which can be categorised as a noodle dish but will in fact be served in a flavoursome clear broth with a dipping sauce on the side, hence also a soup. Nabemono is another great example of this type of soup dish that combines many other ingredients in one pot. Nabemono is also one of the go-to dinner party dishes in Japan due to the ease of putting it together. Not too dissimilar from the way a fondue works, a large pot - donabe - of water is placed on a portable burner in the middle of the table and flavoured with kombu (dried seaweed) and your ingredients are placed alongside so that your guests can participate in the cooking of their own chosen fillings which are then ladled into the soup bowls to be slurped down.
The base for these broths comes from the kombu which is a sheet of dried kelp that when steeped in water infuses it full of its luscious distinct Japanese flavour. The result is a stock known as Dashi. Many soups in Japan due to this way of creating them are clear when served and often subtle and refined in flavour. Adding another stock such as chicken or vegetable to this dashi will create some exciting flavours which are where the influence of this Japanese Scallop ramen broth comes from.
How to make scallop ramen
The preparation for this scallop ramen soup is also very easy and yields a very rewarding tasty and visual treat.
Making the dashi is the first step. Simply add boiling water to a large jug or pot and place in a sheet of kombu and a stock cube of your choice. The overall dish does have a seafood / seaside influence but a chicken, vegetable or even a mushroom stock adds nicely to the depth of flavour. Adding dried wakame which is tasty edible kelp adds to the distinct Japanese flavour and adds firm morsels to bite, giving the soup varied and exciting textures too. Steep the seaweed for at least twenty minutes but the longer you leave it the richer the flavour, this part is all about how much time you have.
Once you have left the soup stock long enough, it is time to start preparing the finished article. Scallops don’t take much time at all to cook, so they are fried in a pan with a little oil and butter for only about three minutes turning halfway through so that they are nicely caramelised on the ends. You then just set them aside whilst you cook the rest of the ingredients. If you like to add a little 'cheffy' finish to your scallops, just criss-cross each end with a knife about 2-3mm deep to get that classic scallop look.
Once the scallops are cooked and set aside, add the sliced courgette and some sliced lemongrass smashed with the back of a knife which helps release their full flavour. The sweet perfume of the lemongrass permeated through the broth and compliments all the ingredients. These ingredients don’t need too much frying time either. What we are doing here is adding some colour to our vegetables. This is not the Japanese way as the clarity of the soup will not be as crystal clear. However, this is the western way of cooking to add the depth of flavour that we really want in our finished soup. After about a couple of minutes of cooking the courgette and lemongrass, add some sliced king oyster mushrooms. These giant mushrooms have a wonderful deep earthy flavour and the texture is meaty, what’s more, they look very impressive. We want a nice light charring on these mushrooms too and to help that along we add another traditional Japanese ingredient or red miso paste. Then add the lot to a pot with the stock and remove the kombu sheet, which is too tough to eat. Now simply bring the soup to a gentle simmer and add the scallops, along with any juices that may have run out of them for any little bit more flavour you can gather and finally stir in a large knob of butter, just as the French do to enrich a beautiful sauce. This adds our final flourish of richness and fusion to our Japanese scallop broth.
To present the soup, make sure each bowl has an equal amount of ingredients in and then scatter over some fresh coriander/cilantro, sliced spring onion and a drizzle of pure sesame oil.
Step-by-step pictures
Create more delicious versions
The ingredients in our scallop ramen soup are also interchangeable to your liking. Scallops are beautifully plump and sweet but can be quite a treat due to their price, so this can be very much a dinner party dish but swapping them for prawns or some firm white fish such as cod will still deliver an awesome soup. Likewise, the vegetable ingredients such as courgettes, mushrooms and spring onions can be also swapped for your favourite greens. Do strive to keep the seaweed though as this ingredient is very healthy and totally tasty.
More tasty ramen recipes on the blog
Easy Vegan Ramen Noodles With Wakame and Shiitake Mushrooms
Latest recipes
- Duck Sandwich - Philly-Style Loaded with Epic Cheese Sauce
- Salmon Larb Salad
- Burrata Dip with a Tzatziki Twist
- Lemongrass Risotto with Clams
- Duck Enchiladas with Orange and Chipotle
Scallop ramen soup with butter recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g of Scallops minus the roe
- 2 King Oyster mushrooms
- 1 stick of Lemongrass (smashed with the back of a knife and sliced)
- 1 Courgette/Zucchini, sliced
- 2 Spring onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon of Red Miso Paste
- 1 tablespoon of Salted Butter
For the Dashi stock
- 1 sheet of Kombu
- ¼ cup (or 4 table spoons) of dried Wakame
- 1 stock cube Chicken, vegetable or mushroom work well
- 1.5 liter (or 6 cups) of boiling water
Optional garnish
- Fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, a drizzle of pure Sesame oil, Togarashi seasoning
Instructions
- Combine all the Dashi ingredients in a large heatproof jug or pan and leave to infuse for at least 20 minutes. The longer you leave it the more intense the flavour of the seaweed.
- Heat a frying pan with a touch of olive oil and when hot add the scallops with a small knob of butter. Fry for about 3 minutes turning them on each end regularly to caramelise them. Remove the scallops from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan add the sliced courgettes (zucchini) and lemongrass and stir fry them for 3-4 minutes. Add the sliced king oyster mushrooms and stir in the miso paste and fry for a further 1-2 minutes so that the vegetables are lightly browned.
- Remove the kombu from the Dashi and pour the stock into a large saucepan and add the vegetables from the frying pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and stir in the salted butter. Add the set side scallops to reheat them.
- Ladle into bowls putting equal amounts of each ingredient in and garnish with coriander and a drizzle of the sesame oil.
Leave a Reply