Watch The Cook and the Chef online: Episode 38 Seaweed & Scallops

What is it about Tasmania that makes its seafood so great? Is it the clarity of the water that surrounds the island state, its coldness, or the ingenuity of the locals? Simon visited recently to find out and met a couple of young scallop fishermen and some unusual seaweed divers. The East Coast of Tasmania has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline anywhere in the world, but when Simon visits he’s not just interested in the dazzling scenery; he’s also come to find out what makes Tasmanian seafood so great. Simon heads out with a couple of divers who are searching for a rare culinary ingredient: wakame. Wakame is a type of edible seaweed from Japan which has probably found its way to Tasmanian waters in the ballast tanks of visiting ships. A creative Tasmanian nutraceutical company is harvesting the seaweed to extract fucoidans, a component of seaweed which many people believe is beneficial to human health. Simon is slightly dazzled by the science of it all but is thrilled to hear that they are also preparing to market the leaf of the plant for culinary purposes. Back in the kitchen Simon is doing another one of his famous mini-series, and he uses the wakame leaf in part one. It goes into the pot along with some shitake mushrooms and another type of seaweed, kombu, as he prepares a Japanese-style dashi broth. Maggie has never cooked wakame before but is keen to give it a try, so she gets Simon’s advice on how best to fry it to provide a crispy garnish for her kingfish escabeche. As always she has a Maggie-style trick up her sleeve, though, and she marinates it in verjuice before it hits the pan! For part two of his mini-series Simon needs some beautiful scallops, and there are none better than those found off Tasmania’s East Coast. Scallop fishermen Sam and Conrad take Simon out on their boat as they dredge the sandy beds off Maria Island in search of a fresh haul. In the kitchen they form the core of some truly tasty dumplings which Simon adds to his broth. Maggie is impressed by the sweetness of the scallops but for her dish of scallop crudo she uses some larger frozen ones which are easy to slice thin. Adding belly bacon and broad beans to her dish, it’s another Maggie original. Recipes: - Mushroom & Kombu Dashi Soup - Scallop and tofu dumplings for soup - Kingfish Escabeche - Scallop Crudo

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