Scallops & Asparagus Stir-fry
Make your seafood and veggies shine in this delicate banquet dish!
Cooking Summary
Ingredients: (detailed list)
- Main Ingredients: scallops, asparagus, carrot, ginger, garlic, red onion, corn oil
- Blanching: boiling water, salt, corn oil
- Sauce: oyster sauce, chicken bouillon powder, cornstarch, salt, sugar, water
- Miscellaneous Ingredients: cooking wine, sesame oil, corn oil
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Top 3 Mistakes
- Skipping the scallop pre-cook:
Follow the brief hot-water preparation for the scallops before stir-frying. It firms them up so they need less time in the wok, helping you avoid the shrinkage from overcooking.
- Ignoring the scallop size:
Adjust cooking time for the size of your scallops. Large and small pieces do not finish at the same moment, so watch their doneness rather than relying on one fixed time for all.
- Overcooking the vegetables:
Follow the recipe’s short cooking time and watch the vegetables as they change. Leaving them over the heat too long can sacrifice the crisp texture you are trying to keep.
Overview
You might think of banquet and celebration foods as rich and heavy, but this auspicious Asparagus and Scallops Stir-fry dish is light and refreshing! The sauce is light and subtle, so the sweetness of the scallops and freshness of the asparagus can really shine. Follow my dad’s recipe below so you can bring this to your table!
Ingredients
Why this recipe
Most scallops & asparagus stir-fry recipes online are tested only a handful of times. My dad used to make this dish multiple times a day, every day, for 60+ years and can make this in his sleep.
I know you'll love it as much as our community does! This recipe has over 501.7K views, 6.1K likes on YouTube.
How to pick scallops
If you have access to fresh seafood, great! Select firm scallops that aren’t dry or discolored. For the rest of us, frozen scallops are perfectly acceptable, since seafood is already flash-frozen at sea.
If you’re looking for sustainable seafood options, make sure to reference the “Seafood Watch” website from Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Although Cantonese cuisine loves dried scallops, we're looking for the more typical fresh, white type in the seafood section or freezer area. Save your intensely flavored dried scallops for recipes like Dried Scallop and Chicken Soup and Dried Scallop & Egg White Fried Rice.
Tasty and beautiful
Like other banquet dishes, you can really up the presentation factor when serving this dish. Here are some ways that we beautify Asparagus & Scallops Stir-fry:
- Perfect color: Blanch your veggies to perfection in a controlled blanch-and-shock and avoid the dull coloring of overcooked veggies.
- Color contrast: Gorgeous orange carrots, bright red onion chunks, and white scallops with beautifully seared tops and bottoms contrast against the vibrant green of asparagus.
- Presentation-worthy aromatics: Instead of chopping the aromatics into a rough mince, the ginger and garlic are sliced into cute shapes.
- Visibly appetizing texture: You can see the bounce in the plump scallops when they haven't been overcooked. Similarly, you can see the tasty texture of the asparagus when they're the right color of bright green.
- Glossy finish: That final drizzle of finishing oil gives the whole dish a lovely glossy look.
Bring these skills to other dishes that you cook! Or, skip these steps when appearance is less of a priority and you just want to throw together a tasty dish.
How to make Scallops & Asparagus Stir-fry
Place the scallops (8 oz) in a bowl. Add cooking wine (1 tbsp), which will help to remove fishiness. Add hot, boiling water (1 cup) to the scallopsand let them soak. The heat will start to gently cook the scallops and help them firm up, reducing shrinkage later on when we stir-fry them.
Soak the asparagus (10 oz) in cold water to clean them. Leave the scallops and asparagus on the side while preparing the rest of ingredients.
Cut the ginger (0.25 oz) into slices. Stack up the slices, then cut into quarters to create triangular pieces.
Peel the garlic (2 clove). Cut and discard the hard woody ends. Cut into thin slices.
Cut the onion (2 oz) into triangular, bite-sized chunks.
Carefully cut triangular notches into the sides of the carrot (1 oz). Then slice into circles; the notches will result in flower-shaped slices!
Remove the asparagus from the water. Snap (or cut) off the tough, fibrous ends. Optionally, use a vegetable peeler to peel the ends where the peel may be tough.
Cut the asparagus into bite-sized pieces at a 45-degree angle.
Remove the scallops from the bowl of water. Gently but firmly squeeze out excess water from the scallops. Place the scallops on a paper towel to dry. Set them aside.
Prepare the sauce by combining oyster sauce (1 tbsp), chicken bouillon powder (1 tsp), cornstarch (2 tsp), salt (0.50 tsp), sugar, and water in a separate bowl.
Boil a pot of water on high heat. Add salt (1 tsp) and oil (1 tsp) (Daddy Lau’s secrets to glossy, green blanched vegetables!)
Gently add asparagus into the pot and cook for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of cold water.
Add the sliced carrots to the pot as well, and cook for 20-25 seconds, until all the vegetables are just about tender. Transfer them all into the bowl of cold water to shock them and stop the cooking process.
Heat a wok on high heat. Add oil (2 tbsp) and swirl it around the wok to coat.
Add the ginger and garlic, and cook until aromatic, or around 15 seconds.
Add scallops and lower the heat to medium, so they won’t burn. Let the scallops sear undisturbed until the bottom is golden brown, or 45-60 seconds. Flip them over to sear the other side until golden brown, or 30-40 seconds.
Add the red onions, and stir-fry everything together for about 30 seconds, until the onions begin to soften.
Turn the heat to high, then add the blanched vegetables. Stir and cook everything for 30-50 seconds, so the flavors of the ingredients have time to combine, but nothing overcooks.
Give your bowl of pre-mixed sauce a quick mix to recombine anything that may have settled. Gradually pour the sauce into the wok while stirring, monitoring the amount and thickness of the dish; you may not want to use all of the sauce. If the sauce gets too thick, thin out the consistency by diluting it with small amounts of water. My dad added an extra tbsp of water.
Turn the heat to low, then drizzle in sesame oil (1 tsp) and oil (1 tsp) for extra aroma and gloss. Stir to combine, then turn the heat off and plate. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you choose the best scallops?
In the US, seafood is flash-frozen at sea, so it's perfectly safe to buy either fresh from the counter or frozen scallops from the freezer section. If you can, choose scallops that aren't dried out or discolored.
Does the size of scallops matter?
Larger scallops have had more time to grow and mature, so they're more expensive. Taste- and texture-wise, it doesn't make a huge difference. Just make sure to cook for the appropriate time so they don't under- or overcook.
How do you keep scallops from shrinking when cooking?
Scallops shrink noticeably when you overcook them. To prevent that, soak the scallops in boiling water. The heat will gently start to cook them and firm them up, so when they go into the wok during the stir-fry step, they don't need to cook for as long, and they'll remain juicy and tender.
Can you make a vegetarian version of Asparagus & Scallops Stir-fry?
Yes! Replace the chicken bouillon powder and oyster sauce with vegetarian versions. Then, to replace the scallops, get king oyster mushrooms and cut them into thick coins; they'll be your "vegan scallops". Sear them on either side and proceed with the rest of the recipe as is. Enjoy!
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Made with love ❤️
We started Made With Lau to celebrate Cantonese culture and honor the legacy of our wonderful parents, Jenny and Chung Sun Lau.
Our hope is that these recipes and stories help you spread the joy, love, and nostalgia that I felt growing up.