Fishbox Guide | How to Shuck a Scallop
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 : 4:06 PM
So you've caught some hand-dived scallops in your Fishbox this week!
These scallops were hand dived by Andy and Andy (the two Andy’s!) off the Isle of Raasay on the West Coast of Scotland.
Before you can dig in you'll need to shuck these tasty treats.
Here is our guide to Shucking Scallops!
Watch our video of scallop diver Andy shucking a scallops.
“Shucking” – shucking is the name of the skill used to take the scallop meat out of the shell. They are a lot easier than oysters to open, but still don’t use your best kitchen knife! Best to use a short vegetable knife.
1. Insert your knife into the hinge of the shell and twist to pop open.
2. Run your knife along the inside of the shell to separate it from the meat.
3. Once you have the shell completely open, run your knife around the white scallop meat and roe, removing the skirt. Bin all excess material so you are left with white juicy meat and roe.
4. Give a quick clean under cold water. Your scallops are ready to cook and enjoy!
STORAGE:
Store in your fridge with a temperature between 32-40 degrees F (0 to 5 degrees C).
Keep the scallops covered with a damp cloth to increase shelf-life.
If properly cared for scallops can live out of the water in their shell for around 3 days.
If not consumed within the 3 days, please shuck them as soon as possible to store the scallop meat for another 5 days in the fridge in a container or wrapped in cling film.
Therefore – please shuck your scallops on the day, or the day after you receive your Fishbox.
*Because the scallop shells hold seawater in their shell, sometimes they can smell quite strong. Please just shuck the scallop and give the meat a gentle rinse with cold water. The scallop meat shouldn’t smell once it has been cleaned.*
FREEZING:
If you would like to freeze them – you must shuck them and trim them first and put in a normal freezer bag. You can freeze them up to 5 days after receiving them.
EXTRA INFO:
Scallops are not like mussels, they can still be eaten once they are not alive in the shell and will stay fresh for around 5 days from out of water.
Scallops are commonly sold as scallop meat (i.e. not in the shell), so they are perfectly fine to eat once they are dead/out of the shell.
GAPING:
Scallops will naturally open and close when out of water if they are still alive.
