Dry Scallops

Where is a good source in Chicagoland for dry-packed/diver/etc scallops? It seems that no matter where I pick up scallops (ok, I've mostly just tried chain stores, Whole Foods, Treasure Island and Trader Joes) they leak out an oozy white substance as they cook and I can't sear them, no matter now much I try to dry them before hand.

I'm thinking that the Fox and Obel might be able to help me, but does anyone have any solid leads?

Thanks!

Have you tried Dirk's?

Dirk's Fish
2070 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-404-3475

bjackson wrote:... Whole Foods...they leak out an oozy white substance as they cook and I can't sear them, no matter now much I try to dry them before hand.

Very occasionally Whole Foods sells wet packed scallops, and you can always tell because the price is about half the norm. But the vast majority of time, the scallops at Whole Foods are gorgeous, dry packed specimens that yield a beautiful sear.

The dry pack scallops at Dirk's are beautiful too, but insanely expensive even by WF standards.

I've been very happy with the (dry) scallops from Costco. You do have to get the pan really hot to get a sear. You'll still get some small amount of white ooze, seepage - even from dry scallops.

The simple truth is there is no source in Chicago. All I have tried over decades whether labeled dry or wet pack or not labeled at all cannot compete with Diver or Day Boat scallops. I have a good source in Milwaukee but that won't help you, if desperate Browne Trading but expensive.-Dick

Would you be willing to reveal your source in Milwaukee?

Grasch's in Brookfield http://www.graschfoods.com/ .
Call ahead and ask to speak with Cap'n John in Seafood and only John. He will tell you what type of scallops he has, where sourced from and when they came in. The 'Sea of Cortez' are huge when available. Nantucket Bay scallops are superb but over $30/#. The regular 'Dry Pack' are very good and sometimes on sale. He has even has had scallops last year in the shell at $13 a pop!.-Dick

I ended up buying scallops from Whole Foods. I'm cooking them for dinner tomorrow night, but I took one out to try out tonight.

I just got my new All-Clad fry pan in today, so I put a little bit of vegetable oil in it and cranked up the heat on my stove, and the scallop seared perfectly. I was very happy with the result.

Thank you all for your suggestions! It looks like I must have just accidentally got wet packed scallops last time I ran in whole foods, unfortunatly.

Google Thomas Keller's recipe for scallops. He brines them for 10 min. Best carmelized scallops recipe.

For those of you who have a Restaurant Depot membership, the Goose Island store often carries U10 dry pack scallops for an excellent price (~$13-14/lb). They carry the wet pack more often, which is also a good deal at ~$6-7/lb, but as previously noted not so good for searing.

Isaacson and Stein always has U10 wet pack available for ~$10/lb.

I've been checking bags of frozen scallops at markets, and see that the ingredients lists either just say Scallops or they also list water and a chemical. Can I trust that the ones that just say "Scallops" are the dry scallops?

imsscott wrote: Can I trust that the ones that just say "Scallops" are the dry scallops?

No!-Dick

As an update:
In my quest to lower my scallop costs, I spied some nice looking scallops at Fresh Farms recently.
Now they were not listed as 'dry pack'or 'wet pack' but they looked very very nice. took home two containers.
Today we thawed them, they browned very nicely in salt free butter but had absolutely no taste!
One bite, into the trash!
Browne Trading 'Day Boat' scallops are now thawing and dinner is a little bit delayed but I again learned a lesson. Do not purchase scallops in this area unless dry pack labeled from either Browne Trading or Grash's in Milwaukee.
I gave up a number of years ago searching for other sources and made a mistake this time!-Dick
BTW usually Fresh Farms filleted fish is of very good quality but not the whole fish.
Standards may be changing because some sashimi grade tuna i purchased at the same time from Fresh Farms was mushy and consigned to poached tuna usage.

budrichard - have you tried the scallops from Burhops, The Fish Guy, or Dirk's (or called to find out their province)? I've been quite happy with their scallops. Whole Foods too, for that matter. Some of the weekly emails from the The Fish Guy specifically reference dry packed scallops.

It appears that the scallops at recent LTH favorite Boston Fish Market in Des Plaines are dry packed. IIRC, pricing is around $16.99 a pound. haven't tried them yet, but hoping to soon.

Buddy

I saw those when I was at Boston Fish Market yesterday and, though I detest scallops, these looked so gorgeous I almost bought some...

Scallops from most purveyors are purchased from distributers which can source them from anywhere they are currently available from, so any purveyor may or may not have good dry pack at any given time. It has proven to be a 'crapshoot' over the decades with the odds of good 'dry pack' appearing to be the same as winning at 'craps'. I am extremely reluctant to try and retry sources mentioned which I have used at one time or another except for Boston Fish Market which is on my short list the next time I go to Mitsuwa.
$16.99/# for dry pack is very low and makes me pause but the next time I'm in the area will ask for the province.
Maine scallop season starts December 1 and we are almost out of the 'Day boat' scallops but the ones we had late last night were exquisite.-Dick

I have taken home the scallops from Boston Fish Market the last two weekends, and they have been fantastic off the grill. Great flavor and they seared up very nicely.

We received a shipment of 'Day Boat' scallops from a new vendor.
They were fished last Monday 12/28 and arrived 12/30, yesterday.
Apparently Browne Trading won't take phone orders, citing 'security, so after 30 of dealing with Browne it's on to other suppliers!
Togue Brawn, owner of Maine Dayboat Scallops, takes orders, purchases from Dayboat fisherman and then ships the next day, FedEx overnight. http://www.mainedayboatscallops.com
Ordered two 5# bags, froze in small ziplock freezer bags for future use. This has worked quite well for us in the past and use in about 9 months or so.
Quality is as good as any Dayboat or Diver scallop I have had.
We ate both sashimi style with a little lemon and sautéed rare last night. I prefer Yuzu zest but I can only get fresh Yuzu sporadically at Mitsuwa.
It's a toss up as to whether Maine Lobster or these scallops are my favorite food. Certainly live Maine or Canadian lobster is easier to procure. Lobster tonight though.
Pics are of a partial 5# pack we are keeping for Sunday dinner and the brochure from Maine Dayboat Scallops.
-Richard
BTW, there is a little variation in size, so I kept some of the bigger ones for Sashimi.
They are not the U10 size I used to get many years ago.