Steamed Scallops with Minced Garlic and Pickled Chili

Place a cloth on the cutting board to prevent slipping, use a table knife to insert from the flat side of the 3 scallops, gently scrape out the whole scallop meat while keeping the skirt, remove dark organs and intestines, wash, and lightly cut the scallop adductor muscle in the middle into butterfly shapes without cutting through.

Cut off the stems of 3 pickled chilis, use a pointed knife with rolling cutting method to cut out the attached core, pull it out entirely, use a small spoon to scrape out and discard excess seeds inside, and finally chop the pickled chilis on the cutting board.

Heat 1 cup of oil, add half of the 1 cup minced garlic into a frying pan to semi-fry and deep-fry. Keep high heat throughout, oil level should just cover the garlic surface, stir constantly until moisture reduces and garlic starts to change color, then add chopped pickled chili and continue stir-frying on high heat until 70-80% golden brown, then quickly pour out.

Pour the fried hot minced garlic with oil into the remaining 0.5 cup of raw garlic, mix well while still warm so the raw garlic is slightly cooked, then add 0.25 tsp salt and 0.75 tsp sugar to season, where sugar is about 3 times the amount of salt, stir well until color looks great.

Take 1 cup of soaked vermicelli, mix with a little golden-silver garlic to absorb flavor. Place 3 scallop shells on a plate, put vermicelli at the bottom of the shells, put into steamer and steam for 1 minute to preheat the vermicelli for easier heat control later.

Place the scallop skirt at the bottom of the vermicelli, use the scallop meat to press down on the skirt to prevent overcooking and toughening, arrange the scallop meat to cover the skirt, spread a generous amount of golden-silver garlic on each scallop, and put into the steamer to steam for 4 minutes.

After removing from the steamer, sprinkle 1 tbsp of chopped scallions on each steamed scallop, and drizzle with 1.5 tbsp of steamed fish soy sauce to serve.