Recipe by Chef Anupam Banerjee
Created for Dilmah Chefs & the Teamaker in Colombo in May 2014

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

Pan-fried scallops
2 scallops
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Green pea purée
25g green peas
1 sprig thyme
10g butter
10ml vegetable stock
2g mint leaves

Scallop escabeche
100ml vinegar
100g sugar
100ml water
100g chopped coriander leaves with stem
10g minced garlic
10g shallot rings
10ml mandarin juice
10ml lemon juice
10g Thai chilies

Dilmah tea jelly
5g Dilmah t-Series Bueberry and PomegranateTea
1g cinnamon powder by Ceylon Spice Company
500ml aerated water
3g basil leaves
1g salt
5ml lemon juice
7 nos. gelatine leaves
5g sugar

Preparation:

Pan-fried scallops
Pat dry the scallops on a paper towel.
Heat a non stick pan and add the olive oil and butter.
Allow it to heat up then place the scallops.
Turn them once golden on the sides, allowing 1.5 minutes of cooking time per side.
Season with sea salt, lemon and serve.

Green pea purée
Sauté the peas in butter along with thyme and mint. Add vegetable stock. Simmer till the peas are cooked. Strain, season and blend to a smooth purée.

Scallop escabeche
In a heavy stock pan, add all the ingredients other than the scallops and bring to a rolling boil.
Simmer for 5 minutes,cool and transfer to a bowl.
Add the two scallop to the marinade bowland marinate overnight.
Slice the scallops into two and assemble on the Blueberry & Pomegranate tea jelly, with baby basil leaves and pomegranate seeds.

Dilmah tea jelly
Bring the water to a boil in a pan andadd the tea leaves, cinnamon, basil, sugar, salt, lemon juice. Cover and steep for ten minutes.
Bloom gelatin leavesin iced water.
Strain the tea decoction and add the gelatin leaves draining any water.
Pour this mix over a cellophane-lined steel trayat 1 cm height and allow to set. Cut into rectangular strips. Arrange the sliced scallop escabeche on top .

Assembly of the plate
Place the tea jelly on the far end of the plate; neatly lay the sliced scallop escabeche over it.
In front of the jelly place the pan-fried scallops, quenelle the pea purée. Dress with a small bunch of soft herbs and aged balsamic.