The Sea Scallop Tale
This species supports the largest scallop fishery in the world. Sea scallops are dredged year-round from Labrador to New Jersey. Since sea scallops die out of water, they are always shucked at sea and kept on ice. The meat counts range from 20 to 40 per pound. At Lenny & Joe's we usually prefer to buy the medium 30 counts.
New Bedford, Massachusetts, is the largest sea scallop port, and the auction there usually sets the price.
Only the adductor muscle, which allows scallops to "swim" by clicking their shells together, is eaten. This mobility helps them escape pollutants that immobile bivalves like mussels, clams and oysters can't avoid.
At Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale, we avoid "wet" scallops that have soaked too long in chemical additives designed to maintain texture and taste. The scallops that are soaked are flabby and opaque and will shed water and weight rapidly. We pay more at Lenny & Joe's to buy the "dry", untreated sea scallops. You'll Taste the Difference!
These Sea scallops have a sweet, rich taste. Raw, the drum-shaped meat is a shiny, creamy white, sometimes with pinkish or brown spots. Our top-quality scallops have an ivory translucence and elastic springiness that allows them to keep their shape. After the scallop is cooked, the meat is opaque white with a firm, lean texture.
At both Lenny & Joe's Fish Tales the scallops are fried in our unique light and tasty batter. As with all of our fried seafood, the scallops are battered and fried to order. We serve the fried sea scallops as a regular size fried dinner, or as a super dinner. We have different sizes of fried scallop orders, and also feature the scallops on a seafood roll!
At our Westbrook Family Restaurant we also serve Fresh Sea Scallops as a Broiled Casserole.. We broil the scallops with Clarified Butter, and top them with very light, seasoned breadcrumbs.. Upon request, it can also be cooked with lemon juice, or with it's own juice. The Broiled Scallop Casserole is featured under our Baked/Broiled Selections. It is served with your choice of either our Best Western Crinkle Cut Steak Fries or our Famous Salt Potatoes (fresh Red B Potatoes cooked in our Salted Broth). It also includes are own Coleslaw, shredded daily and topped with our Own Dressing, or a Garden Salad.