Broccoli and carrot with fresh scallops

I love broccoli and I think it must have rubbed off on Alicia coz she loves broccoli too. In fact, she has been taking broccoli almost every day and sometimes even for both meals in a day! But she only loves broccoli cooked in the stock I make for her. So far we've tried giving her broccoli that's been cooked by others (i.e. outside food or food cooked by my mum or mil) but she just won't eat it. Anyway, yesterday we didn't leave any of our broccoli dish for her since she has her own share.

The fresh scallops were bought by my mil. She's always fond of buying some during the Chinese New Year festive season so we'll get one lot from her. Yummy they were! But too bad we only get to eat it during this period of time! It's just too expensive to eat it too often...


Broccoli and carrot with fresh scallops

Ingredients:

• 1 broccoli (I used only the florets)
• 1 carrot (skinned and sliced)
• 14 pieces of fresh scallops
• oyster sauce (to taste)
• abalone sauce (to taste)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
• cornflour
• water
• a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Prepare the two vegetables accordingly.
2. Soak the fresh scallops in salt water for awhile to remove the 'smell'.
3. In a small saucepan, boil some water and place scallops in when the water's boiling. Cook for a couple of minutes or till the scallops are cooked (but not overcooked - this is quite crucial! I hate to eat overcooked scallops). Remove and set aside.
4. Parboil the broccoli florets and carrot. Dish out the vegetables when they are cooked through and arrange them nicely on a plate. Pour the water that was used to parboil the veggies in a bowl.
5. Place the scallops in the centre of the plate - well, they do deserve to be the centre of attraction, don't they? :) (See picture below)

6. Saute the garlic in the wok.

7. Add in the oyster sauce and abalone sauce together with some of the water that was used to parboil the veggies.

8. Once it boils, stir in the cornflour mixture to thicken the gravy and pour the gravy over the veggies. Done!

For toddler's consumption:

• Cut broccoli into small florets and carrot into smaller pieces before serving.