Douban Sea Cucumber
Tender sea cucumber in a rich red sauce with a hint of spice, braised with doubanjiang (broad bean paste).
Ingredients
Sea cucumber (after soaking and steaming, remove the membrane, slice obliquely, blanched)
750 g
Chicken broth
200 g
Celery heart (strings removed, washed, and diced)
30 g
Doubanjiang (stir-fried until red oil emerges)
30 g
Lard
60 g
Chicken fat
15 g
Soy sauce
15 g
Cooking wine
15 g
Wet cornstarch slurry
15 g
Sugar
2 g
MSG
3 g
White pepper
a pinch
Instructions
1
Prepare the Sea Cucumber
Rinse away the grit and impurities from the sea cucumber, first soak for 2 hours, then steam over a steamer for 2 hours, and rinse several times with clean water. Strain the original broth used to steam the sea cucumber to remove the grit, let it cool, and soak the sea cucumber in it. Meanwhile, slit open the sea cucumber, remove the guts and scrub the inner membrane clean, then cut diagonally into long slices (each sea cucumber sliced into 3–4 pieces) and blanch once in boiling water. Remove the strings from the celery heart, wash, and dice into celery florets.
2
Cook and Finish the Dish
Heat a wok, add the lard, and once hot, first stir-fry the doubanjiang. When the oil turns red, pour in the chicken broth and simmer briefly. Skim out the doubanjiang, then add the sea cucumber, soy sauce, white pepper, sugar, and cooking wine. Simmer over medium heat until the flavors are absorbed, then add MSG. Thicken with the wet cornstarch slurry, drizzle with chicken fat, scatter the celery florets on top, and serve.
