Baby squids braised in dark soya sauce – this is a Teochew dish that I learnt to cook from my mum when I was young; it’s also what she learnt to cook from my grandmother when she was young.
Actually, I used baby squids here for no particular reason; it’s simply for the fun of it, though I got to realise later on that cleaning them out wasn’t fun at all. In any case, I’m sure this dish would taste just as good, if not better, with any other medium-sized or large squids and calamari which are sold more commonly in the local supermarkets.
Ingredients:
- Baby squid: 20 (about 350g)
- Dark soy sauce: 2 tbsp
- Fish sauce: 1 tbsp
- Sesame oil: 1 tbsp
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- White onion: 1, sliced
- Water: 3/4 cup
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- White pepper: to taste
- Parsley: 1 stalk, chopped finely
Method:
- Clean out the squids by removing their heads, skins, beaks, quills, ink sacs and other inner matters. Refer to the video from the Sydney Fish Market for a clear guidance to cleaning squids.
- Mix squid with dark soy sauce, fish sauce and sesame oil. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hr.
- Heat oil in saucepan. Fry onion till fragrant.
- Add squid, water and sugar. Braise on low heat for 30 min till sauce has thickened.
- Add pepper to taste.
- Serve hot with parsley and rice.
Tricks:
- If you are using the larger squids for this dish, simply slice them up into rings before cooking.
- Leave the squids to marinate overnight for a better tasting dish.
Serving:
1 – 2 persons as side dish
You make me wanna go back home !
You must mean Indonesia? 🙂