Recipe by Christo from ChezWhat – again.

I’ve got the button – Szechuan buttons that is!  The toothache flower.  Nature’s pop rocks.  When I heard about these bad boys I knew I had to have some, and while I would trade a button or two for some fresh wasabi and a truffle, I am way more than psyched to try these out.  Sechuan seems to be spelled all kinds of ways so I am going to alternate any ol’ time I want but that’s a digression – those that know (and that’s a club I would love to be in, the “those that know” club) have used these buttons in sorbets and cocktails but not me – I tasted one and sure enough it set my mouth a fizzin’ and all I could think of was seafood.

Scallop and shrimp “carpaccio” with radish and mandarin orange on a little bed of mixed greens is the perfect setting for these Szechuan buttons to work their magic.  This dish balanced so perfectly on the pinnacle of flavor, the zenith, the apogee of taste bud orbit – it was out of this world.

Carpaccio of Scallop and Shrimp with Sechuan Buttons

Perparation

Thinly sliced:
radish
shrimp – lightly steamed
scallops – raw
szechuan buttons (really small pieces of a button to a button and a half per serving)

For the salad:
mandarin orange
fennel fronds
mesclun
lime
salt/pepper
olive oil

Assemble supremes of mandarin, fennel fronds, mixed greens with the thinly sliced items on a plate and drizzle with olive oil and a small squeeze of lime and salt and pepper.

Enjoy!  This dish is all in the forethought since there isn’t much in putting it together and the keen thing is that when you finish your plate the buttons continue to do their magic for a good several minutes later.

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Browse More:
Szechuan Button Recipes
Scallop Recipes
Shrimp & Prawn Recipes
Citrus Fruit Recipes