The Recipe + Inspiration for Chef Andrew Reyes’ Award-Winning Dried Scallop Congee

Chef Andrew Reyes of Paradise Point Resort & Spa shares his inspiration behind the dish that made him the First Place Grand Prize and Seafood Category winner of the 2018 San Diego Bay Wine + Food Festival Chef of the Fest competition, Dried Scallop Congee + Palm Sugar Caramel Braised Duck.

My inspiration for the dish was a long but very proud process in its creation. At exactly one month before the Festival, I took one month off work because my wife and I just had our second baby boy. I remember clearly, it was two days after he was born and we were still at the hospital, my Food and Beverage Director informed me that I will need to come up with a dish for the Festival and have all required paper work turned in. As I sat in our recovery room while my wife rested and our new born laid sound asleep, I started to ponder on what he, and all babies in general, find comforting to them the most. With that said, I compared it to what I find comforting in the form of substance. A mother’s milk is the obvious answer for babies but I used that notion of what my mother and grandmother had fed me as a kid growing up on the island of Guam. It was not just any dish, but a dish that brought hugs to my soul called “Arroz Caldo.” It is a Filipino term but Chinese use the name “Congee” and Japanese use the term “Okayu.” At the end of the day it is simply a savory rice porridge. With the porridge as the foundation, I started to build flavors around it that would add textures and all elements of flavor from salty, sweet, acidic, bitter, and umami. Thus, the Dried Scallop Congee was born. If all components were to be eaten at once, my vision would be brought to life. The porridge being warm, simple, yet packed with umami. The sweet and mildly game of the duck. The toasted salty peanuts with subtle citrus notes. Its mildly spiced and acidic from the pickled green Thai chili’s. And finished off with pure decadence and all that is savory of a cured shaved egg yolk. The rest is history. I hope I provided you with a great and compelling story of the process of my menu development and where its true inspiration came from. It was all thanks to my son Sebastian Gael Reyes.

The Recipe:

Dried Scallop Congee

The Ingredients:

1C Short grain rice, polished 5Ea Dried scallops, (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes) ¼C Ginger, peeled and minced 1Ea Small onion, minced 5Ea Garlic cloves, minced 2Tbsp Fish sauce 6C Chicken stock ¼C Peanut oil Sea salt, as needed White pepper, as needed

The Recipe:

In a medium sized pre-heated pot, add peanut oil and sweat ginger, garlic, and onions. Do not brown. Add rice, chicken stock, and scallops. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately drop the temperature to a simmer. Stir constantly to congee does not scorch. Allow congee to cook for 1 ½ hours. Season with fish sauce, salt, and white pepper to taste.

Fried Pork Skin and Fermented Chili Peanuts

The Ingredients:

4oz Pork skin, (blanched in salted water for 30 minutes) 2Ea Thai chilis, minced 2Ea Garlic, minced 3oz Ginger, peeled and minced 3Ea kaffir lime leaves 3oz Coconut milk 5oz Peanuts, shelled 2oz Black vinegar 2 Sprigs cilantro blossoms, picked 2Ea Scallions, finely chopped ¼C Peanut oil

The Recipe:

In a blender add ingredients except for pork skin. Blend until smooth. Finely dice the blanched pork skin and set aside. In a medium sized pre-heated sauté pan, add peanut oil and fry the blended chili paste for 3 minutes. Add the pork skin and fry for another 3 minutes. Lastly, add the peanuts and allow to fry until all ingredients are fragrant. Allow mixture to cool and toss peanuts with cilantro flowers and sliced scallions.

Palm Sugar + Soy Braised Duck Leg

The Ingredients:

1Ea Duck leg 2Tbsp Chinese five spice 1Ea Palm sugar disc 1C Soy sauce 1C Chinese rice wine ½C Rice wine vinegar Water to submerge

Aromatics of: 1 orange (halved) 1 lemongrass, 1 shallot, 1 scallion, 3 garlic cloves, 1Tbsp peppercorn, 1Tbsp whole star anise (rough chop herbs)

The Recipe:

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees.

Cure duck leg in Chinese five spice for 8 hours. After the curing process, place duck leg in a dutch oven pot and submerge in braising liquid and aromatics. Braise in oven for 1-2 hours or until tender and duck meat is falling off the bone.

Pickled Green Chilis

The Ingredients:

5Ea Green Thai chilis, chopped ½C White distilled vinegar 2Tbsp Salt 2Tbsp Sugar 2Ea Bay leaves

The Recipe:

Place chopped green chilis in a mason jar. In small pot combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and bay leaves and allow to boil. As soon as the salt and sugar are dissolved, turn heat off. Pour hot pickling liquid over the green chilis and allow to chilis to cool at room temperature.

Togorashi Cured Egg Yolk

The Ingredients:

1tbsp Bonito flakes ¼C Salt ¼C Sugar 1Tbsp Togorashi 2 Egg yolks

The Recipe:

Blend spices in robo coupe until smooth. Make a nest for egg yolks in a small bowl. Place a thick layer of salt mixture then egg yolks. Add remaining salt mixture to completely submerge the yolks. Refrigerate for 1 week. After a week, wash yolks in cold water until all salt is off. Pat egg yolks dry. Place on a cooling rack and bake at 175 degrees for 1- 1 ½ hours. Allow to cool. Store properly.