Elegant Sous Vide Scallop Ceviche

This was a very fun dish to create. It is a playful take on ceviche, trying to mesh those flavors and profiles without using the standard ingredients. The scallops in this dish are sous vide, of course, but cooked lightly without a sear to maintain the look of raw scallops. With this scallop ceviche, I used a bit of molecular gastronomy. If you are interested in molecular gastronomy and don’t have the materials, you can look online at great shops like Molecule-R for supplies. If you don’t have the ingredients you can incorporate tomatoes and peppers into the dish. You will need a silicone sphere mold for this recipe.

Author

Mike Castaneda

Christian. Disabled veteran. Father. Named "One of the 10 best cooks in America" by Food Network, World Food Championship Qualified.

Prep Time: 09:00

Recipe Time: 00:02

Temperature : 179.6F / 82C

Ingredients

• 1 English cucumber
• 1 cup Clamato juice
• 1/3 gram calcium lactate
• 5 sea scallops, side muscle removed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 grapefruit, halved
• 1/2 gram soy lecithin
• 2 cups distilled water
• 1 gram sodium alginate
• Celery salt, for serving
• Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving

Directions

1. The night before serving, prepare "Bloody Mary" spheres: Peel one half of the cucumber. Cut into a fine dice.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the Calmato juice with the calcium lactate. Add the minced cucumber. Spoon the mixture into a silicone sphere mold. Freeze.
3. The next day, set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 179ºF (82ºC). Season the scallops with salt and pepper. Place in a large zipper lock or vacuum seal bag. Seal the bag using the water immersion technique or a vacuum sealer on the moist setting.
4. Place the scallops in the water bath and set the timer for 2 minutes. If, after 2 minutes, the scallops are still translucent, cook for 1 more minute. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath and transfer immediately to an ice bath.
5. Make the grapefruit foam: Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes. Add the cut side of the grapefruit and sear until charred, 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Squeeze grapefruit juice into a medium bowl. Add the soy lecithin. Blend with an immersion blender until a thick foam forms. (Alternatively, squeeze grapefruit into a blender, add the soy lecithin, and blend to form foam.) Set aside.
7. In a second medium bowl, combine the distilled water and sodium alginate. Blend using the immersion blender until all of the powder is dissolved. Let rest until the bubbles dissolve, about 10 minutes.

Finishing Steps

1. To finish the dish: Slice the remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch slices. Remove the "Bloody Mary" spheres from of the freezer.
2. Remove the spheres from the molds and transfer to the sodium alginate mixture. Let them sit in the mixture, gently stirring, for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of water.
3. Slice the remaining cucumber half into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place slices on serving plate in a long row, alternating with scallops.
4. Using a slotted spoon, place one "Bloody Mary" sphere on each cucumber slice. Season the scallops with celery salt. Spoon grapefruit foam around scallops and cucumber. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve.