Scallops – Why Use an Acid When Cooking Scallops?

I've had this issue with crappy supermarket scallops before. Alton Brown covered this. From http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season9/scallops/scallop_trans.htm (section 5):

dry scallops are usually ivory, or slightly pink, or even orange in color, not white. Of course, they don't actually look dry. The term refers to the fact that these lovely lozenges have not been soaked in any kind of chemical, say, sodium tripolyphosphate. This solution is used to help scallops retain moisture when frozen. Now there's nothing wrong with that per se, unless the scallop in question is not going to be frozen. You see, treating fresh scallops with S.T.P. causes them to gain moisture, making them heavier, which could be a good thing for a retailer, but it's never good for a cook. Because once this stuff is inside the scallop, they become very difficult to cook properly, and they are impossible to sear properly.

Diver scallops are probably good. Look for a bit of color when buying. The good news is that you probably aren't doing anything wrong, the scallops just aren't going to sear.

When you buy for searing, get scallops that haven't been treated with chemicals. Diver scallops are almost always untreated. Look for a bit of color, which is usually a sign of quality. Don't buy them if they are in a pool of milky liquid (as they usually are in the fish section of the supermarket). Buying diver scallops is also much more sustainable and eco-friendly, since large ships that freeze their stock at sea dredge the floor to get scallops. Divers are much more selective and do negligible damage to the ocean floor.

This doesn't particularly answer the question, but the use of roe seems to fade in and out of fashion every so often. I remember 10 years ago (and back in the UK) scallops were always served with the roe, and cooked with them. Now it I haven't seen a roe anywhere near the scallops. Certainly, the more sea-food and authentic the restaurant, the more likely you are to find the roe still attached, in my experience.

Personally, I would just leave them together, and cook them still attached. The flavour is a nice contrast to the white, and it can pretty up the plate.

Doesn't directly answer your question though, I'm afraid.