Equipment
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Puree
- 400 g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 60 ml heavy cream
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 2 g kosher salt
Bok Choy
- 250 g baby bok choy, halved lengthwise, washed well
- 5 g kosher salt
Sea Scallops
- 300 g dry sea scallops, tough side muscle removed
- 15 ml neutral oil
- 3 g kosher salt
- 1 g white pepper
Ginger-Lime Butter
- 45 g unsalted butter
- 10 g fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced
- 15 ml lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 10 ml tamari
- 5 g honey
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 747 kcal
- Protein
- 25 g
- Carbohydrates
- 53 g
- Fat
- 50 g
- Fiber
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 13 g
- Sodium
- 3012 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 27 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 12 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 2 g
- Cholesterol
- 151 mg
- Potassium
- 1376 mg
- Calcium
- 235 mg
- Iron
- 3.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 115 mg
- Phosphorus
- 678 mg
- Zinc
- 2.4 mg
- Vitamin A
- 2078 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 64 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.5 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 1.8 mg
- Vitamin K
- 64 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.8 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 2.2 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.24 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.30 mg
- Niacin
- 3.1 mg
- Folate
- 133 mcg
- Water
- 435 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place the diced sweet potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until completely tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Drain the sweet potatoes and immediately transfer them to a blender. Add the heavy cream, 30g of butter, and salt. Blend until perfectly silky and smooth. Keep warm in the saucepan over minimum heat.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 5g of salt. Drop the halved baby bok choy into the boiling water for exactly two minutes until vibrant green, then immediately drain and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
Thoroughly pat the sea scallops entirely dry on all sides using paper towels. Moisture is the enemy of a good crust. Season generously with salt and white pepper just before cooking.
Heat the neutral oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until just beginning to smoke, roughly 200 degrees C or 400 degrees F. Add the scallops, ensuring they do not touch. Sear without moving them for two minutes to develop a deep golden crust.
Flip the scallops and cook for one to two more minutes on the second side until opaque and just firm to the touch, reaching an internal temperature of 54 degrees C or 130 degrees F. Transfer to a warm plate to rest.
Reduce the skillet heat to medium-low. Add the remaining 45g of butter and the minced ginger. Cook for one minute, allowing the butter to foam and the ginger to become deeply fragrant without browning.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Vigorously whisk in the lime juice, tamari, and honey, scraping up any delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pan to build the sauce.
Swoosh a generous portion of the warm sweet potato puree across the center of each plate. Arrange the blanched bok choy and rested scallops elegantly over the puree. Spoon the hot ginger-lime butter sauce heavily over the scallops and vegetables. Serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
- Always seek out dry scallops at the seafood counter. Wet scallops have been treated with a sodium tripolyphosphate solution, which causes them to absorb water, shrink dramatically during cooking, and prevents a proper sear.
- The ginger-lime butter is an emulsion. Adding the acidic lime juice and tamari off the heat prevents the butter from splitting or separating into a greasy pool.
- Do not crowd the skillet when cooking scallops. If necessary, cook them in two batches so the pan retains enough heat to create a hard crust. Overcrowding drops the pan temperature quickly.
- If you want to elevate the presentation further, reserve a few raw microgreens or thinly sliced scallions to scatter over the top of the finished dish for a pop of fresh color.
Storage
Refrigerator: 1 day — Scallops should ideally be consumed immediately. Puree and bok choy will keep up to 3 days.
Reheating: Reheat sweet potato puree gently on the stove with a splash of cream. Eat leftover scallops cold or warm very briefly to avoid overcooking.
Troubleshooting
Scallops are pale, gray, or rubbery without a caramelized crust
Cause: The scallops were wet when they went into the pan, or the pan was not hot enough, causing them to steam instead of fry.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once cooked. To salvage the meal, rely on the intense flavor of the ginger-lime butter sauce to carry the dish.
Prevention: Ensure you purchase dry-packed sea scallops (no chemical additives). Pat them excessively dry with paper towels, and wait for the oil to lightly smoke before dropping them in.
Sweet potato puree is grainy or stringy
Cause: Potatoes were undercooked or naturally highly fibrous.
Fix: Pass the warm mixture through a fine mesh tamis or strainer.
Prevention: Boil until practically falling apart. For guaranteed silkiness, press them through a fine mesh sieve before blending.
Cultural Context
This elegant presentation marries the foundational French culinary technique of a high-heat sear and an enriched butter emulsion with vibrant flavor notes typical of Southeast Asian cuisine. The marriage of zesty ginger and lime beautifully cuts the natural richness of the sweet potatoes and scallops, resulting in a balanced, modern dining experience suitable for special occasions.
