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SCALLOPS

The Other,
Other White Meat

Is there anything more of a treat than popping a sweet white morsel of seafood heaven into your mouth? The scallop is King Neptune's jewel, harvested primarily from Canada to Virginia. At Dave's we prefer to buy our scallops from the cold waters of the North Atlantic around George's Bank.

Learn More About Scallops

Raw scallops in the seafood case at Dave's Fresh Marketplace

Shopping for Fresh Scallops

Sea scallops can be up to 2 inches in diameter, while bay scallops are smaller. What should you look for when shopping scallops? An ivory or creamy color is better than stark white, which could indicate the scallop's been overly bleached with phosphates.

Scallops are priced according to a numeric size, such as 10-20, 20-30 or 30-40. The number range tells you how many scallops it takes to make a pound, so the smaller the number, the bigger the scallop.

Cooked scallops over a bed of spanish style rice

Did You Know?

Most scallop fishing grounds are far offshore, and it's possible for boats to be "out" for days. Scallops can't survive long out of water, so they're usually shucked right on the boat and kept chilled. Boats that fish closer to land can make same-day deliveries, and those catches are called "day boat" scallops.

Be glad you live on the East Coast, where most scallops come from! West Coast fishermen sometimes use phosphates, which means scallops are soaked in water and can be up to 25% "heavier" by weight. The USDA has strict phosphate guidelines in place, but thankfully, this is not an issue with processors on the East Coast because we're so close to "the source."

Alaskan scallops can be fresh if you're dining in Anchorage, but of course, if they're making the journey east, they must be frozen! The good news is, they're frozen right at sea and are "chemical free" with no phosphates used in processing them. The Alaskan Weathervane scallop is particularly large!

Learn more about the
seafood available at Dave's