My boyfriend made this for me last summer and I couldn’t believe how delicious these flavors worked together! If you aren’t a fan of raw scallops, feel free to substitute poached shrimp with lime juice and olive oil, or just have the marinated watermelon on its own.
What You’ll Need:
1 baby watermelon, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1 pound large sea scallops, thinly sliced into rounds
1 mini seedless cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
1 Serrano pepper, thinly sliced into rounds (optional)
Marinade:
2 ounces ginger cleaned and roughly chopped (does not need to be peeled)
1 Serrano pepper, roughly chopped
1 ounce Thai basil leaves and stems, roughly chopped
1/2 ounce mint, leaves & stems, roughly chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed, outer layers removed, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
5 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
More:
1 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Fleur de sel (optional)
Small Thai basil leaves for garnish
1 lime, cut into 6 wedges
What to Do:
Combine all of the marinade ingredients and add watermelon. Be gentle as the watermelon can be delicate and you want it to keep its shape. Marinate for 2-6 hours. If all the watermelon isn’t covered, then flip watermelon so it marinates evenly.
Boil 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon water, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt quickly and then pour over sliced Serrano pepper if you are using. Let sit until you are ready to use.
Put sliced cucumber in a small bowl and cover with remainder of rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon Kosher salt. Stir together and let sit until you are ready to use.
For pretty plating, put sliced cucumber on a plate in a circle just larger than the watermelon rounds. Put the watermelon round on top with the cucumbers slightly sticking out (looks like a green doily for the watermelon!). Then, place the scallop rounds on top of watermelon to just cover.
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top. Garnish with Serrano peppers, small Thai basil leaves, and a light sprinkle of fleur de sel (or Kosher salt). Garnish with lime.
Recipe developed and shot by Christine Yi. Follow Christine on Instagram (cy_eats) and visit her blog.