With their natural sweetness, rich savory umami flavor, plus a wonderful plump texture, scallops can be enjoyed raw, sautéed, boiled, and much more!
Let's explore the power of scallops as a health-booster.
Amongst the ample amino acids contained in scallops, glycine stands out. Glycine is known to facilitate better, deeper, and more comfortable sleep. According to rankings of food high in glycine, scallops come in fourth for their meat (adductor muscle), and ninth for the whole of their parts including the mantle. Scallops are considered an excellent source of glycine which not only makes them sweet and tasty—it might even help you sleep!
Top nine foods with the highest glycine content per 100g, and glycine amounts in major kinds of shellfish. Compared raw.
Data: Calculated from the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan 2020, Eighth revision
(Amino Acid Constituent Chart)
Scallops are also high in taurine, which is the main ingredient in nutrition drinks. A substance similar to amino acids, taurine works to relieve fatigue and improve liver function, and also to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Though the amount varies by factors such as production location and season, scallops found in the Sea of Okhotsk generally contain 900 mg-1100mg of taurine per 100 g.* These levels are on par with that of nutrition drinks.
* Scientific reports of Hokkaido Fisheries Experimental Station, 2003; No. 65: pp.1-47.
Dried scallops, which are literally packed with the nutrition of the meat of the scallop, are made up of roughly 60% protein. Their white surface is the crystallization of glycine and taurine. Approximately 210 mg/g of the crystallized substances is glycine, and 250mg/g is taurine. The two substances together comprise about 95% of the amino acids present.
(Int J Food Sci Thecnol.2016;51:2064-2070.)
Alcoholic beverages and scallops together create something spectacular, more so than either of them alone. Research has shown that some kinds of alcohol taste even better when combined with the savory umami flavor of amino acids contained in scallops. Specific results reveal that scallops most effectively drew out the flavor of Japanese sake, somewhat aged white wine, and champagne. Enjoy these great pairings.
(Food Chem. 2021 Oct 30;360:128971.)