Spanish · Galicia · appetizer

Vieiras á Santiaguesa

Name: Vieiras á Santiaguesa
Prep time: 51 min
Total time: 52 min
Cuisine: Spanish · Galicia
Ingredients: medium scallops — 800 g; onions — 300 g; extra virgin olive oil — 74 g; dry white wine — 100 g; bread crumbs — 60 g; jamón — 100 g; spanish smoked paprika — 3 g; orujo — 40 g; flat-leaf parsley — 8 g; salt — 6 g

Vieiras á Santiaguesa reads umami 4.6, richness 3.8 and salinity 3.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Galicia appetizer, about 52 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.6 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 3.8 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 3.7 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.0 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 3.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 4.6 · Richness 3.8 · Salinity 3.6 · Marine & Briny 3.6 · Allium 3.4 · Smoke 3.2 · Fruity 2.9 · Sourness 2.9 · Citrus 2.8 · Funk & Ferment 2.4 · Sweetness 2.3 · Herbaceous 2.2 · Floral 1.8 · Earthy 1.8 · Warm Spice 1.6 · Bitterness 1.5 · Nutty 0.7

What's in it (10)

medium scallops — 800 g
onions — 300 g
extra virgin olive oil — 74 g
dry white wine — 100 g
bread crumbs — 60 g
jamón — 100 g
spanish smoked paprika — 3 g
orujo — 40 g
flat-leaf parsley — 8 g
salt — 6 g

Time & effort: about 52 min (51 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 62.1 kcal, 7.1 g protein, 0.4 g fat, 5.9 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

The scallop shell is the badge of the pilgrimage to Santiago, and this is the dish that goes with it — scallops baked back in their own curved shells under a lid of onion and crumbs. Buy them live in the shell if you possibly can. Roe on: the orange coral is half the flavour and Galicians would not dream of removing it.
Open the scallops with a stiff knife along the flat shell, cut the muscle free, and pull away the frill and the dark gut, keeping the white muscle and the coral. Scrub the eight deep shells and dry them; those are the dishes. Allow 15 minutes for this.
Warm the oil in a pan and sweat the onion over low heat for 20 minutes until completely soft and just barely coloured. Add the diced ham and cook 5 minutes more, until its fat has run into the onion.
Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the pimentón — off the heat, always, or it scorches. Return to a medium-high heat, add the Albariño and the orujo and cook 3 minutes until most of the liquid has gone and the mixture is a thick, soft, savoury paste. Season with the salt.
Heat the oven to 220C (430F). Put a spoonful of the onion mixture into each shell, lay a scallop and its coral on top, and cover with the rest of the onion. Scatter the breadcrumbs over.
Bake for 8 minutes only. The crumbs should be gold and the scallop still faintly translucent at its centre — a scallop cooked through is rubber. Scatter the parsley and serve straight from the shells.
Substitutions: lacón can stand in for the jamón; brandy can stand in for the orujo.

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Curanto en Olla (Pulmay) — Chilean
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Sheet-Pan Tandoori Salmon and Vegetables — Indian
Deviled Portuguese Grilled Lobsters — Portuguese

Keep reading: what umami, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.