I make every effort not to venture out to the West Bank. It’s nothing personal; I just really hate crossing bridges (so if I’m crossing the Mississippi River bridge, stress can peak), I hate the interstate (so the constant, frazzling lane-changing from merging to exiting hassles me), and there’s not much I could find there that I couldn’t find elsewhere.
Except Vietnamese food.
I woke up at 9:30 one morning and needed these salt-baked scallops. I waited until dinnertime, when it would be more socially acceptable to eat something the likes of this, and then I proceeded to devour every last morsel. The onions are far from the garnish that they might be on a sandwich, nowhere near the afterthought they can be in some less evolved entrées; rather, they’re coated in the same salt-and-peppery blend that blesses the scallops. As for the scallops themselves, I don’t really know how salt-baking works, but the end product is a flaky, hot (and, obviously, salty) outer layer that resembles tempura; however, the scallops themselves don’t feel fatty or greasy or drenched in the same way some fried things do.
This really awkward picture is not a good testament to what you taste. I figure the taste is so heavenly that all the beauty gets concentrated there, leaving little room for photogenic presentation. Never mind that.
just fyi i’ve been craving these ever since we got them. WANT