Stir-fried Squid with Wood Ear and Loofah

Name: Stir-fried Squid with Wood Ear and Loofah
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 200 g Fresh squid (net weight, scored with a crosshatch on the inside and cut diagonally into 5 cm long, 3 cm wide triangles); 300 g Loofah (net weight, cut into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide rectangles or olive shapes); 50 g Wood ear mushroom (rehydrated, cut into rectangles); 25 g Onion (cut into rectangles); 1 g Minced garlic; 3 g Ginger slices; 3 g Carrot flower garnish; to taste Fine salt; to taste Shaoxing wine; to taste Stock for thickening (for sauce slurry); to taste Wet cornstarch (for sauce slurry); to taste Sesame oil (for sauce slurry); to taste White pepper (for sauce slurry); to taste Peanut oil (for oil-blanching); 5 g Marinade - ginger slices; 5 g Marinade - scallion strips; 2 g Marinade - fine salt; 5 g Marinade - ginger wine

A Cantonese stir-fry made using the pulled-oil (la-yau) technique, combining crisp fresh squid, sweet loofah, and refreshing cloud ear fungus, finished with a rich, fragrant wok-hei aroma.

40 min

Easy

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Stir-fried Squid with Wood Ear and Loofah

Ingredients

Fresh squid (net weight, scored with a crosshatch on the inside and cut diagonally into 5 cm long, 3 cm wide triangles) 200 g

Loofah (net weight, cut into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide rectangles or olive shapes) 300 g

Wood ear mushroom (rehydrated, cut into rectangles) 50 g

Onion (cut into rectangles) 25 g

Minced garlic 1 g

Ginger slices 3 g

Carrot flower garnish 3 g

Fine salt to taste

Shaoxing wine to taste

Stock for thickening (for sauce slurry) to taste

Wet cornstarch (for sauce slurry) to taste

Sesame oil (for sauce slurry) to taste

White pepper (for sauce slurry) to taste

Peanut oil (for oil-blanching) to taste

Marinade - ginger slices 5 g

Marinade - scallion strips 5 g

Marinade - fine salt 2 g

Marinade - ginger wine 5 g

Instructions

Ingredient prep and marinating

Cut the loofah open, slice off the soft pith with a knife, and cut it into 4 cm long, 2 cm wide rectangles or olive shapes. Cut the wood ear and onion into rectangular pieces. Use straight and diagonal knife cuts to score a crosshatch pattern on the inside of the fresh squid, then cut it diagonally into 5 cm long, 3 cm wide triangles. Wash all the ingredients. Combine the marinade (5 g ginger slices, 5 g scallion strips, 2 g fine salt, 5 g ginger wine) with the squid and mix well. Marinate for about 20 minutes.

Blanch-fry the vegetables

Heat the wok with a little oil, add stock or water and fine salt, then add the loofah and wood ear. Stir-fry until just cooked through, then remove and set aside.

Mix the sauce slurry

In a small bowl, combine the stock for thickening, wet cornstarch, sesame oil, and white pepper to make a smooth slurry.

Oil-blanch the squid

Heat the wok, add boiling water, and blanch the squid briefly until it curls and sets. Remove and rinse in clean water. Reheat the wok with oil, add peanut oil and bring to about 50% hot, lower in the squid to oil-blanch, then lift out through a strainer to drain off excess oil.

Combine the ingredients

Immediately add the minced garlic, ginger slices, carrot flower garnish, onion pieces, wood ear, loofah, and blanched squid to the wok. Splash in the Shaoxing wine and stir-fry briefly until everything is fragrant.