Techniques: How to clean scallops

Ching: Do you know how to do this? To clean a scallop?

Stuart: I've seen it, but I've never done it.

Ching: You haven't done it? OK, this is what you do, just a really quick tip. That's the flat bit, just lay that on there, then get a tea towel and just hold it down. And then if you can get a little space, just get your knife in there, slide your knife right the way through to the end, and then it opens up, yeah?

That's it, because you cut right through. And then you reveal all this. That's the piece of meat that we want. That bit there, that's the coral, the roe, and that's delicious as well, some people love to eat that too. I'm going to take it all out now.

As a precaution, even though these are diver-caught scallops and therefore both ecologically sound and relatively clean, I rinse them in cold water to remove any possible grit or dirt. So, you just dry it like that, just to remove any moisture.