Bean

Dale Talde's Top Chef Grilled Scallops with XO-Pineapple Fried Rice

by:
July 22, 2014
4.4
8 Ratings
Dale Talde's Top Chef Grilled Scallops with XO-Pineapple Fried Rice
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Dale Talde, a competitor on both Top Chef Season 4 and Top Chef All-Stars, is an authority on Southeast Asian cuisine. His mother, a Filipino immigrant, ignited his passion for cooking, which he brings with him to his restaurants, Talde, Pork Slope, and Thistle Hill Tavern -- all located in Brooklyn.

This dish appeared during a Quickfire challenge in Episode 8 of the 4th season. Padma asks the chefs to create a polished entrée in only fifteen minutes using rice -- and this is what Dale came up with. (According to him, he had the advantage of being familiar with cooking high-speed, high-heat Asian food.) He was right: In the episode, Art Smith chooses Talde’s dish as one of his favorites. The crunchy long beans perfectly complement the fluffy texture that the eggs give the rice; it’s a complete, balanced dish, and one you should be making at home. —Top Chef

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3 teaspoons peanut oil, separated
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 3 tablespoons scallion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon XO sauce, such as Lee Kum Kee brand
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon chili oil, separated
  • 12 scallops, trimmed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, separated
  • 10 long beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
  1. Heat 1 teaspoon of the peanut oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring, until firm. Remove the eggs from the pan and set aside.
  2. Add another 1 teaspoon peanut oil to the pan. Add the pineapple, onion, scallion, garlic, and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat and heat the rice, 2 to 4 minutes.
  3. Season the soy sauce, XO sauce, fish sauce, and 1 teaspoon chili oil, then add the eggs to the rice.
  4. Season the scallops with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.
  5. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon peanut oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the long beans with 1/4 cup of water, then cover them to steam. Cook until crisp-tender. Season with sweet soy sauce and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
  6. Heat a medium sauté pan or grill over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon chili oil, then the scallops, and cook them to medium, turning once, about 2 minutes.
  7. To assemble, pile the rice on a large plate. Top with the long beans, then the scallops. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Tags:

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • FrugalCat
    FrugalCat
  • Danielle
    Danielle
  • Laura Mills Ramsey
    Laura Mills Ramsey
  • Pkkell
    Pkkell

Popular on Food52

7 Reviews

FrugalCat
FrugalCat January 20, 2024
I didn't have long beans, so I used green beans. Came out great.
 
Doylehr
Doylehr April 7, 2023
I wanted less pineapple and cut smaller and more eggs. I ran out of chili oil and subsituted mustard oil so I probably missed out on a bit of spice I would have liked. I also thought I would be grilling the scallops (like on an outdoor grill) so was suprised it was just on a grill pan. Over a flame might have been fun.
 
NXL
NXL January 25, 2020
This recipe is fantastic, although I'm not sure how Dale got all the chopping done in 15 minutes . 😉 It was a good hour for me, start to finish. The chili oil gave just enough heat. Cooking the scallops one minute per side was perfect.
 
Danielle
Danielle November 19, 2016
This turned out to be SO delicious!

I had one major issue: my local Asian market was all out of XO sauce. I did what I could and subbed 2 tsps of a dried chili, shrimp, and shallot paste, and squeezed in a bit of anchovy paste for additional fishiness. Definitely not the same thing, but the final product tasted great. I also cheated and used canned pineapple chunks in juice. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly (adjusting the soy sauce to suit my personal saltmonger tastebuds), and was very pleased.

I would recommend splurging on scallops– it's worth it! Will definitely make again.
 
Laura M.
Laura M. July 30, 2014
This sounds wonderful & good dish for me to eat ss a diabetic! Of couse no disrespect to the Chef, I will have to change up just a bit for personal taste preferences - I don't do scallops or fish & I don't do cilantro!!
 
Faren
Faren July 30, 2014
He means to keep the tablespoon and the teaspoon of chili oil separate because you will use them at different points in the recipe.
 
Pkkell
Pkkell July 30, 2014
Oils "separated" how?