This creamy Irish scallop bisque is packed with luxurious and decadent flavors. Curl up with a warm bowl of this scallop bisque and some cheesy garlic bread for the ultimate seafood comfort food!
Honestly, I’ve never made scallop bisque before this. Last July when we visited Anchorage, we made a small trip to Alyeska Resort. And amongst things to do there, Seven Glaciers Restaurant, a mountain-top luxury, fine dining restaurant had some rave reviews. So we decided to visit the place. The restaurant is set in a gorgeous location overlooking the glaciers. It is a nice little romantic spot. It is anything but romantic when you are with kids..haha 😀
This scallop bisque is what my DH ordered as an appetizer. I obviously had to taste it, and it was love at the first slurp!!! That creamy, buttery, rich mouthfeel of that scallop bisque is what I remember till date! It is one of the best bisques I’ve ever had and I knew I was going to try making it when I returned home.
So today’s post is all about this delicious scallop bisque.
Table of Contents
WHAT IS A BISQUE ANYWAY?
Bisque pronounced as ‘bisk’ is a thick, creamy French soup made with strained shellfish broth. It may be lobster, langoustine, crab, shrimp, or crawfish.
It is thought the name is derived from Biscay, as in Bay of Biscay, but the crustaceans are certainly bis cuites “twice cooked” (by analogy to a biscuit) for they are first sautéed lightly in their shells, then simmered in wine and aromatic ingredients, before being strained, followed by the addition of cream. {Wiki}
Bisque is mainly used to refer to soups made with seafood broth. It is sometimes added to other cream based soups like tomato bisque.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BISQUE AND A SOUP?
While all bisques are basically soups, not all soups are bisques.
Bisques tend to have more cream than any cream-based soup. The bisque gets its thickness and creamy texture from the early addition of cream to the recipe. A roux or rice is added sometimes to thicken the bisque. The cream is always added towards the end in soups. The soup is simmered for a few minutes or else the heat can cause the cream to split.
HOW TO MAKE SCALLOP BISQUE?
I found a great recipe to make this bisque from Saveur. The recipe calls for bones and trimmings from a non-oily fish like flounder, red snapper and making a seafood stock with carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, wine, lemongrass, and salt to taste. Cook the stock for 40 minutes.
Strain the stock, add the cream and simmered for another 15 minutes.
The scallops are added into the bisque.
I couldn’t find any fish bones or trimming in any of the stores. So, a seafood stock was a good substitute as per another recipe’s recommendation that I came across and which I’ve adapted.
I also did add tomato paste because the scallop bisque that I had at that restaurant had a light orangish hue. I also added some lemongrass paste, since I had a bottle of the paste that I picked up from World Market sitting in my pantry. It added such a bright flavor to the scallop bisque, kind of cuts down the richness from the cream. Potato is not a conventional ingredient in bisque, but I think it adds a wonderfully thick and creamy texture.
This scallop bisque is absolutely delicious and tastes really heavenly when topped with those beautifully seared scallops. The sweet taste of the sea scallops and the creaminess of the bisque makes this Irish scallop bisque out of this world!
If you love seafood, you ought to try this beautiful dish. If you can make your own seafood stock, that would really take this bisque up a notch higher, as the flavors of stock cook with the reduced cream are something that you will really remember for a long time! I still do from that first slurp!
I think this scallop bisque would be a wonderful starter or light main course for a cozy date night. Valentine’s day is not far off, so bookmark this recipe and give it a go 🙂
LOOKING FOR MORE COZY SOUP RECIPES, THEN YOU MAY ENJOY THESE
- Instant Pot Carrot Ginger Soup
- Pumpkin Soup From Scratch
- Hot & Sour Vegetable Soup
- Sweet Corn Veggie Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SCALLOP BISQUE
1.Melt butter in a large dutch pot or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat, add carrots, onions, potatoes, and celery and sauté over medium heat until the veggies are slightly tender, about 6-8 minutes. Season the veggies with some salt.
2.Add the minced garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3.Add tomato paste, lemongrass paste, sugar and cook for another 2 minutes.
4.Add the dry white wine, mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5.Add the seafood stock, along with bay leaves, and thyme, mix well, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
6.Turn off the heat. Discard the celery, bay leaves, and thyme stalks.
7.Blend the contents in the dutch pot with an immersion blender or wait for it to cool, transfer into a blender and blend the bisque in batches until you have a smooth pureé.
8.Return the bisque to low heat and add the heavy cream, stirring. Adjust salt and pepper. Simmer the bisque for another two minutes.
9.To sear the scallops: Remove the small side muscle from the scallops. Rinse with water and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Heat oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking. Season the scallops with salt and pepper, place the scallops on the heated skillet, sear on one side for 1.5 to 2 minutes. Season the other side with salt and pepper, flip and cook the other side for another 1 & 1/2 minute.
10.To serve scallop bisque: Ladle the bisque in a shallow bowl, place 1-2 scallops in the center. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil or heavy cream if desired.
NOTES
- You may omit the celery if you want to skip an additional step of fishing out the celery from the stock. Pureeing the celery ruins the texture, even if you strain the puree, you can still feel the fibers.
- You may substitute seafood stock for chicken stock, though the seafood flavor will not be as prominent.
- You may drizzle some hot sauce if you like a spicy bisque.
- This recipe makes approx 4.5 cups of bisque, which is perfect for 4 people if serving as an appetizer or good for 2 people if serving as a light main course along with some salad.
HOW TO MAKE IRISH SCALLOP BISQUE?
Scallop Bisque Recipe | Irish Scallop Bisque
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml
- 1/2 lb large sea scallops, about 8
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 medium white/yellow onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, diced into 2 inches,
- 1 Russet potato, diced into 1 inch cubes
- 2 carrots, diced into coins
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 to 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp lemongrass paste, optional
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 cups seafood stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 fresh thyme sprigs, or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Salt, to taste
- 1/4 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large dutch pot or heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat, add carrots, onions, potatoes, and celery and sauté over medium heat until the veggies are slightly tender, about 6-8 minutes. Season the veggies with some salt.
- Add the minced garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add tomato paste, lemongrass paste, sugar and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the dry white wine, mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the seafood stock, along with bay leaves, and thyme, mix well, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Discard the celery, bay leaves, and thyme stalks.
- Blend the contents in the dutch pot with an immersion blender or wait for it to cool, transfer into a blender and blend the bisque in batches until you have a smooth pureé.
- Return the bisque to low heat and add the heavy cream, stirring. Adjust salt and pepper. Simmer the bisque for another two minutes.
- To sear the scallops: Remove the small side muscle from the scallops. Rinse with water and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Heat oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking. Season the scallops with salt and pepper, place the scallops on the heated skillet, sear on one side for 1 & 1/2 to 2 minutes. Season the other side with salt and pepper, flip and cook the other side for another 1 & 1/2 minutes.
- To serve scallop bisque: Ladle the bisque in a shallow bowl, place 1-2 scallops in the center. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil or heavy cream if desired.
Notes
- You may omit the celery if you want to skip an additional step of fishing out the celery from the stock. Pureeing the celery ruins the texture, even if you strain the puree, you can still feel the fibers.
- You may substitute seafood stock for chicken stock, though the seafood flavor will not be as prominent.
- You may drizzle some hot sauce if you like a spicy bisque.
- This recipe makes approx 4.5 cups of bisque, which is perfect for 4 people if serving as an appetizer or good for 2 people if serving as a light main course along with some salad.
- Recipe adapted from here
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Regards,
Freda
Your recipe calls for sugar to be added with the tomato paste and lemongrass in the instructions but I see no mention of it in the list of ingredients
Hi Pat! Sorry about that, I missed mentioning it in the ingredient list. Thanks for pointing it out. I’ll fix it. You can add about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, just to balance the flavors. Taste and adjust as needed.
I am so eager to try your recipe! I am from Alaska so I know EXACTLY how delicious the Alyeska scallop bisque is. It is one of my favorite dishes! The velvety goodness that lingers on your lips after each warm slurp is heaven! Thanks for sharing and I will let you know how this turns out!
Please do share how it turns out, Trisha! I’d love to know 😊
Simply love the colour of the bisque. Being a vegetarian I may not prepare the scallop one but definitely gives me an idea to make a veggie version of this creamy soup. The cheesy garlic bread is just toooo tempting.
A veg version would be tasty too! Thanks so much 🙂
I have fallen in love with the colour of this bisque. A hearty and delicious treat for any seafood lover.
Thanks, Jagruti 🙂
This is ideal for the winter season that is set now. Loved those pictures..awesome
Thanks, Jayashree 🙂
Wow, look at the gorgeous colour of the bisque. It looks so tempting. Lovely share.
Thanks, Pavani 🙂
I love a warm bowl of tomato bisq on a cold winter night. This one with scallop seems like a treat for seafood lovers.
It surely is! Thanks, Sapna 🙂