Glass Squid
A classic Sichuan soup dish. Squid is soaked in alkaline water until it turns translucent like glass, then simmered with choy sum for a clear, fresh, savory broth.
Ingredients
dried squid (remove head, tentacles, and membrane; slice into thin pieces; tenderize with baking soda)
1 (about 150 g)
spinach hearts (washed)
50 g
clear soup
509 g
ground white pepper
1 g
salt
2 g
MSG
0.5 g
cooking wine
10 g
baking soda (amount not specified)
to taste
Instructions
1
Preparing the squid
Soak the dried squid in warm water for 1 hour, then rinse well. Remove the head, tentacles, and membrane, and use a sharp knife to slice the body into thin, even, intact pieces about 9 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Place the slices in a bowl, rinse once with warm water, drain, then mix well with baking soda. Add boiling water to cover, cover tightly, and let stand until the water is no longer hot to the touch. Pour off the water, add fresh boiling water, and cover again. Repeat this process until the squid turns white, translucent, and soft. Finally, rinse in clean water and set aside.
2
Blanching and base
Wash the spinach hearts, blanch them in a pot of boiling water until just cooked (the original text reads "half-cooked"), then remove and place in a soup bowl as a bed.
3
Cooking the soup
Bring the clear soup to a boil in a pot, add the squid slices, blanch twice, then remove and arrange on top of the spinach hearts. In a separate pot, bring more clear soup to a boil, season with ground white pepper, salt, MSG, and cooking wine, then pour into the soup bowl. Serve immediately.
