The consumption of sparkling wine need not be limited to New Year’s Eve, weddings or other special occasions.
Whether it’s Champagne from France, Prosecco from Italy, Cava from Spain, or sparkling wine from some other winegrowing country, bubbly can be blissful throughout the year, especially when paired with sushi or various delights from the sea.
Salt can be an enemy of wine, but sparkling wine can solve that pairing conundrum. Today’s recipe contains a good amount of salt, so pop the cork on a bottle of bubbly and turn tonight’s dinner into a celebration.
This recipe yields two servings.
YAKITORI SCALLOPS
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 12 small-to-medium dry sea scallops, cut in half, tough muscle removed
• 8 medium button mushrooms, halved
• 6 scallions
Preparation
1. Combine soy sauce, wine, mirin, sugar, molasses, Worcestershire and ginger in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat, pour into a medium bowl, and cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes).
2. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the sauce in a small bowl.
3. Add scallops and mushrooms to the remaining sauce, and stir well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat grill to medium. Oil the grill rack.
5. Trim scallion whites. Separate scallion greens into individual long greens. Wrap one scallion green around the perimeter of each scallop, and thread the scallops onto skewers, piercing through the sides to keep the scallions in place. Alternate 4 mushroom halves and 3 scallion-wrapped scallops on each skewer.
6. Grill the skewers, basting with some of the reserved sauce, for 3 minutes. Turn, baste, and continue grilling until the scallops are firm and opaque (about 3 minutes more).
