Robin Miller, 2007
*Updated below*
8 ounces cellophane noodles
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1½ pounds large sea scallops, about 12
Ground black pepper
¼ cup scallions, chopped
Soak cellophane noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, until tender. Strain and set aside.
While the noodles are soaking, in a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops and season the tops with black pepper. Cook 2 minutes, until golden brown. Flip with spatula and cook 2 more minutes, until second side is golden brown. Add soy sauce mixture to pan and bring to a simmer, for 2 minutes, until sauce thickens and scallops are cooked through and have an opaque color.
Serve the scallops over all of the cellophane noodles and top with scallions.
*Update: Made this May 2, 2008: Seriously, whoa ... awesome. Probably the only change I would make is to use another pasta (linguini, most likely) as the cellophane noodles, while good, were hard for Emi to deal with. It was a pricey meal ($22 for 12) but had we gone out for this meal we would have more than doubled that so for a once-in-awhile splurge, well worth it.*
