This is a popular vegetable dish we enjoy during our family meals, and you would often see it on the menu during your CNY reunion dinner or at a wedding celebration. There are many variations to this recipe but for us, we love preparing it using shiitake mushrooms and seared scallops to enhance the sweetness and delicious umami flavour. Of course, not forgetting the symbolic meaning behind the round shape of the scallops and mushrooms represents oneness, prosperity and the blossoming of new beginnings – an integral concept of reunion during Chinese New Year.
If you don’t enjoy eating broccoli, you can also replace it with bok choy or kai lan – which are longer vegetables representing long life, while leafy greens like cabbage or sang choy represent growing fortune.
Braised Scallops with Shiitake Mushrooms and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 1 Broccoli
- 1 Carrot
- 8 Shiitake Mushrooms
- 8 Scallops
- 1/2 Onion
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Oil
- 1:2 ratio Cornstarch Solution
- 200 ml Water
- 1 tbsp Hua Diao Wine optional
Instructions
- Cut carrots into thin slices and broccoli into bite-sized pieces, then blanch in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In a pan, heat oil and saute scallops until 70-80% cooked.
- Add mushrooms, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, 200ml of water and let it simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add more water if the pan starts to dry up.
- Add Hua Diao Wine, salt and sugar to taste, then pour in the cornstarch solution a little at a time to thicken the gravy. Once gravy is thickened to your liking, remove from heat.
- Plate the ingredients by lining the outermost of the plate and working your way to the middle - starting with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and scallops.
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