Scallops and Pak Choi

This one's been hanging around in the saved-but-not-published file for some time.  I was faffing about whether or not to post it because it's not really a recipe, and it's so light it's not a full meal.

Then I got a text from my sister asking me for simple fish dishes she can do as she doesn't have the use of an oven at the moment.  This seemed ideal.

It's been gloomy and raining ever since, but you may remember we had a few really glorious days back at the beginning of April.  I took advantage of the sunshine and went down to Brighton for the day.  Next time you go, head for the Fishing Museum, under the arches on the seafront, not far from the Palace Pier.  There are a couple of fishmongers there as well as a stall selling delicious snacks like whelks and cockles - I had a couple of crab claws.

The fishmonger had local scallops at a price I couldn't resist so those came home along with a couple more goodies.

Scallops are the easiest shellfish to prepare - no messing about with shucking them as they generally come already done.  Eating the orange part - the coral, or roe - is down to personal preference but I trimmed it off these ones, for presentation as much as anything else.  They're a nice way to introduce non-believers to the whole idea of shellfish as well, as they have a delicate flavour and they're so easy to eat - it's purely a piece of muscle, not like having to shell a prawn!

Gently score a noughts-and-crosses pattern into one side of each scallop, going about a quarter of the way through.  This will help keep them in shape while cooking and add a bit more surface area for the spice.  All I'm using in terms of spice is Chinese 5-spice - just dust it over.

Cook the scallops for no more than two minutes on each side, in a really hot griddle or frying pan.  While they're cooking, cut a pak choi in half lengthways and fry that in another hot pan - again two minutes each side is plenty.

Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over and serve.

To me this is the best thing to do with fish, especially if you've got limited cooking facilities - just choose appropriate herbs or spices, fry it hot until just cooked through and serve with simply prepared veg.