Everyone likes a baked good, but you know what makes a baked treat even better? –when it’s savory! These Nori Scones with Scallion-Shrimp butter are the perfect savory-sweet that will have you doing a little happy dance at brunch.
If there’s any rule you should keep in mind when cooking, it’s that a little bit of salt can be the difference between good and great food. This goes for sweet treats especially. Whenever I bake, I always find myself adding salt to round out the sweetness. The juxtaposition of tastes sends the flavor of your food over its initial threshold. Simply put, making tasty food is all about balance!
To add another layer of nuance, let’s start this recipe off by making a complimentary component to add to our Nori Scones. It’s time for Scallion-Shrimp Butter!
Call me silly, but I always keep the leftover shells of raw shrimp in my freezer. They are an extremely underrated ingredient, and I hate to see food go to waste. Before making this butter, my shrimp shell backstock with reaching max capacity. I almost didn’t know what to do with them! But you know what they say, “If there’s a krill, there’s a way." So here we are!
Aside from slathering this scallion-shrimp infused complex butter onto your new favorite baked good (the Nori Scone), this butter would be incredible with pasta. So don’t be overwhelmed if you have extra tasty butter lying around. I’m sure you’ll find a great use for it in other applications.
This recipe is about learning how to elevate your food by understanding the utility of its ingredients. Let me explain. In this recipe, shrimp shells were toasted before infusion because more flavor comes out from the shells when cooked. Additionally, when infusing the butter, I only used the white bottoms of the scallion. This is for two reasons.
First off, the bottom of the scallion is significantly sharper in flavor than the top. The tops of the scallions will go into the scone dough to balance the delicate nori flavor. The scallion bottoms pair well with the bold flavor of the shrimp. Breaking the scallion up this way helps us maintain the harmony of these flavors.
Secondly, scallion bottoms tend to have more structure than their tops. When the bottoms rather than the tops, we can assume that the scallions won’t completely disintegrate in the molten butter. Staying whole helps significantly during the straining process. Use the slice bottoms and save the tops because we'll need them later.
Infuse the melted butter for at least 10 minutes on low to encapsulate all the flavor from your ingredients. Skim out the shrimp shells, scallion bottoms, and reduced milk solids from your butter before cooling down. It’ll help your spread stay nice and smooth.
For this portion of the recipe, keep your butter as cold as possible. It’s easier (and less messy) to slice thin sheets of cold butter versus warm butter. Here, I used the Forge to Table Bench Knife to cut even thin sheets of butter. Thin slivers will help make the Nori Scones rich in flavor and allow it to puff up. While mixing together the dry ingredients, pop the butter in the freezer. Nobody wants a hard and bland scone, so make sure the butter is ice cold!
In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Here’s where things get fun, rip the nori sheets into as tiny pieces as possible and whisk them into your dry ingredients. There is no rhyme or reason to this process, just make sure they’re small. The variation in size will attribute to a good flavor contrast in your finished scone.
Remember those green scallion tops from earlier? Great! Slice them thinly on a bias and add them to the bowl as well. Their grassy and delicate flavor will compliment the seaweed flavor of the nori nicely.
Once your dry ingredients are all mixed, add in the frozen butter. Using two forks, press the butter into the flour mixture, breaking up the slabs. This is called “cutting in your fat”. By cutting the butter into the dry mixture, you’re creating little pockets of butter that will be sewn throughout the dough. As pictured in the image on the right, you should see pea-sized clumps of butter appearing.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream and egg. Pour this liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until a shaggy dough forms. This process may be messy, but bear with me the dough will make a ball. If the dough is super sticky, then add a little flour to firm it up. The little pea-sized morsels of butter mixed in will soak into the starches of the dough while baking and release steam. It’s the recipe for a fluffy, buttery scone!
When the dough is homogeneous, shape it into a 6x6-inch square. Using a Forge to Table Bench Knife, cut the dough into 9 equal portions. Arrange the scones on a lined sheet and brush with the remaining heavy cream. The cream will act as a glue for your garnish.
I garnished these Nori Scones with Seto-Fumi Furikake which is a Japanese rice seasoning made up of seaweed bits, bonito flakes, sesame seeds, and egg bits. It’s what makes these scones an absolute umami bomb. You can garnish however you’d like, but I sprinkled the furikake across diagonally.
After garnishing the Nori Scones, pop them in the fridge to chill out for at least 15 minutes. Baking a cold dough will help the scones keep their shape and puff upwards rather than to the side. While the scones chill, preheat your oven to 400F. If you’re storing your Scallion-Shrimp butter cold, this would be a good time to take it out to soften.
Once the scones are chilled and the oven in preheated, pop the sheet pan in the oven for around 20 minutes. Cool slightly on a wired rack, but served warm. I used the Forge to Table Paring knife to slice open my buttery Nori Scone. Steam will plume out of the middle, but that’s what we want! Smear on a healthy layer of Scallion-Shrimp butter and top with katsuobushi (dired bonito flakes).
As the steam rises out from the Nori Scone, the katsuobushi flakes should curl and dance. You are what you eat, so take a bite of that scone and do a little happy dance to celebrate! You’ve just made the tastiest scone!
Nori Scones with Shrimp Butter
These buttery scones are the perfect sweet-savory treat to elevate your brunch rotation. Smear on some shrimp and scallion-infused butter, sprinkle with furikake and bonito flakes, and do a little happy dance because this flavor can’t be beaten!
Recipe and Photography by Asia Vo (@southeats.asia)
Prep Time: 1 hour
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Scallion-Shrimp Butter
20 grams shrimp shells
3 scallions, white bottoms only
4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick)
Salt, to season
Nori Scone
4 ounces unsalted butter (1 stick), frozen
250 grams all-purpose flour
40 grams granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2-½ teaspoon baking powder
3 sheet nori, finely chopped
3 scallions, green tops only, sliced on a bias
½ cup heavy cream, plus extra to top
1 each egg
Furikake seasoning, to garnish
Dried bonito flakes/katsuobushi, to garnish
Directions:
SCALLION-SHRIMP BUTTER. Toast your shrimp shells on medium-high heat until they are vibrantly red and aromatic. Slice the white scallion bottoms, saving the tops for later. Add scallion bottoms and butter to the toasting shells. Allow butter to melt, then season with a pinch of salt.
INFUSE BUTTER. Allow ingredients to infuse in the butter for 10 minutes on low heat. Once time is up, use a skimmer to remove and discard milk solids, shrimp shells, and scallion bottoms. Set butter in the fridge to cool.
MIXING DRY. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking power, finely chopped nori sheets, and sliced scallions until thoroughly incorporated.
SHAVE BUTTER. Use a Forge To Table Bench Knife to shave frozen butter into thin slices. Add to the dry mix and using your hands or a pastry blender, break butter into pea sized pieces.
MAKE DOUGH. In a separate bowl, whisk together heavy cream and egg. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add a little flour to firm it up. Place on a clean surface dusted with flour, and shape the dough into a even 6 x 6-inch square.
PORTION SCONES. Use a Forge To Table Bench Knife to portion the dough into 9 even squares. Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream and sprinkle on furikake to garnish. Place on a plate and allow to firm up in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to baking.
PREHEAT. Preheat your oven to 400F degrees while the dough chills.
BAKE. Arrange your scones 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly on a wired rack before consuming.
ENJOY. Slice open your nori scone with a paring knife, smear on scallion-shrimp butter, and sprinkle with katsuobushi/bonito flakes as it steams. Watch the bonito flakes dance before enjoying your delicious scone!
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