The method
- Pickling liquid of 300 ml rice wine vinegar, 100g caster sugar, 100g soft brown sugar, 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of thyme, 10 corainder seeds, crushed, 6 black pepper corns, 1 clove of garlic, sliced.
- Blanch the cauliflower and peas, seperately, until just cooked, refresh in iced water. Put 100ml water, sugar and vinegar in a pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved, add the herbs and spices. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, take off the heat, put in the vegetables and leave to cool.
- Warm a tsp of cumin seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. Lightly crush. Warm 2 tbsp of oil in a pan add all the the cumin seeds, except a pinch, a crushed garlic clove and ½ tbsp of curry powder. Put aside for 20 minutes to infuse, then strain through a coffee filter.
- Break shallots into rings, cover in milk and soak for 10 minutes, then dry on kitchen paper.
Mix a tbsp of plain flour with a tsp of curry powder and the pinch of cumin seed, season and add milk to a single cream consistency. - Remove coral from scallops and dry with kitchen paper.
- Heat a frying pan with a film of oil until shimmering. Dip the shallot rings in batter and drop into a deep fryer at 180oC or a saucepan with an inch of oil that is hot enough to brown a piece of bread in less than a minute. Fry until crispy and then drain on kitcehn paper.
- Season the scallops and cook for just less than a minute on each side then drain on kitchen paper.
- Place two scallops on each plate, top with a couple of shallot rings, add drained pickled vegetables and drizzle the curry oil around the plate and top with a couple of sprigs of peashoot.
John Burton Race is a Michelin starred chef, restaurateur, author, and media personality
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