These are so easy they're hardly a recipe. Which makes them extra awesome. I got the idea here: A Food Centric Life. I think I got a roasted tomato recipe from this site, too, so you foodies might want to browse a bit.
Step 1: Get some nice scallops and let them sit on your counter until they're room temperature. I live in the mountains, so I thawed some ridiculously expensive frozen scallops and they worked fine. I'm hoping you folks near the coasts can do better than that, though.
Step 2: Pour some hoisin sauce into a bowl. If hoisin by itself is too sweet for you, add a little soy sauce. We used Kikkoman hoisin* with a little Kikkoman soy sauce thrown in. Heat a large saucepan on medium heat and add some vegetable oil.
Step 3: Pat your scallops dry with a paper towel (it helps them brown) and put them in the pan. Cook them a couple minutes, until you can see them browning up on the edges.
Step 4: Turn the scallops over and brush/pour some hoisin on top of them. Cook them another minute or two until they look done. (They should be kind of but not super firm when you poke them with a spatula.)
Pow! Done! Great with stir-fried veggies and rice. You're welcome.
The first time I did scallops for the kids, I just cooked them in butter, and everyone thought they were too sweet. This time, the sweet scallops and salty sauce balanced pretty well and everyone was into the scallops.
*This isn't our favorite hoisin--I can't remember the name of our favorite but I know it when I see it. Kikkoman is easy to find here, though, and not crazy sweet. Kikkoman soy sauce is our favorite, though.
