A new and delicious way to serve scallops.

Scallops are lovely things to eat: creamy, savory, and rich. But there is a sameness to many of the recipes that have been promulgated using them and they become boring. When that happens, I turn to a short list of cooks who are reliably inspired either through fresh invention or as curators of the best work to be found.

Near the top of that list is Amanda Hesser, whose extraordinary reworking of the New York Times collection of recipes is endlessly useful. I was mildly dubious about her recipe for Oolong-Crusted Scallops but always willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. And again, she proved to be on the mark.

Ingredients

• Juice of ½ orange
• Juice of ½ lime
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• Salt and pepper 4 teaspoons Oolong tea leaves
• 12 sea scallops, with the external muscle removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

• Combine the citrus juice in a small saucepan to almost a simmer.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Whisk in the butter a few pieces at a time. Keep heating the mix until all the butter has been mixed in. Then, turn off the heat but keep the sauce warm.
• Grind the tea leaves in a spice grinder and place them on a small plate.
• Season the scallops with salt and pepper and press each side onto the ground tea leaves.
• Heat the oil in a cast iron pan and sear the scallops on both sides.
• Place four scallops on each of the four plates and pour the citrus butter sauce around them.

The flavor is unusual and delicious. This makes a great appetizer – or you may increase the number per serving, and make dinner for two.