This is amazingly light and fragrant, the ginger adds a hint of Thai flavouring, but it's also great comfort food, quite a substantial main meal if you do it for two. You can also do a starter version with a scallop, a dot of fennel and a little ginger veloute served with a few leaves. To show it off at its best it's worth investing in some chef's stainless steel bottomless towers . We have four, 6cm high and 7cm in diameter, that are perfect for this recipe

8 utterly fresh unsoaked scallops, halved lengthways

450ml Veloute

2 tbsps fish stock or Vegetable Nage or Stock

Half a thumb sized chunk of ginger, finely grated

1 large bulb fennel, sliced

1 large shallot, sliced

3 tbsps olive oil

1 tbsp white wine

40ml double cream

the juice of less than half a lemon

2 medium sized new potatoes, scrubbed, not peeled

4 small heads pak choi, halved

Ginger sauce:-

• Prepare the Veloute.

• Add ginger to it, and allow to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain and return the ginger veloute to a saucepan and set aside

Fennel puree:-

• Heat 3 tbspns of oil in a frying pan, add the fennel and shallots. Turn the heat down and sweat gently for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and don’t allow them to colour

• When softened, stir in wine and cook uncovered over a medium heat until the wine has evaporated

• Stir in fish stock or Nage and boil until it’s reduced by about half, and looks syrupy. Stir in the cream and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes

• Liquidize the fennel until smooth

• Return the fennel to the pan, season to taste and add lemon juice and salt. Set aside

• Boil your potato and steam your pak choi. Drain very well; it's worth dabbing them dry with paper kitchen towels. Crush the potatoes so they’re broken up quite a bit, but not mashed

Bringing it all together:-

• Gently reheat the ginger veloute

• Put a steel tower on each serving plate, and place some potato in each, till they’re about one third filled. Coil two half heads of pak choi into each tower, tamp down carefully. Spoon a dessertspoon of fennel puree into each

• In a frying pan, heat the remaining oil until almost smoking, and add the scallops in a clockwise direction, cooking each for 90 seconds on each side. Once cooked, take them out in the same order they went in, and place 4 half scallops into each tower. Twist off the towers, swirl the plate with the warmed ginger veloute and serve