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Monday, June 20, 2005

Ju Her Eng Chye(Cuttlefish Salad)

This salad has only two main ingredients, the cuttlefish which is 'ju her' in hokkien, 'yau yee' in cantonese and the vegetable is water convolvulus which is 'eng chye' in hokkien, 'oong choy' in cantonese and 'kangkong' in malay. This vegetable has many names in different parts of the world, for example it can be called 'morning glory' or 'swamp cabbage' in Australia. There are two species that i am familiar with, one grows on soil and another in water. Before it is hybrid, the water kind is only available and because it was grown in water, the chinese no preference for this vegetable as it does not do good for people who suffer from rheumatism and your knees will buckle from weakness. Whatever it is, it makes the best salad and this dish is one of the most expensive one in the hawker's centre.

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Ingredients:

1 processed cuttlefish(to process a dried one refer notes below)
300 gm of young water convolvulus
2 tbsps of fragrant oil(sook yau)
1tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsps of toasted sesame seeds.

Sauce ingredients:
(Mix together)
2 tbsps Hoi sin sauce
1 tbsp hae ko(black prawn paste)
2 tsps chilly sauce
1 tsp belacan powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lime juice

Method:


  1. Cut the lower end of the washed water convolvulus and tie the vegetable into a bunch.
  2. Heat a pot of water and when water comes to a boil, blanch the cuttlefish for a short while as if overcooked cuttlefish will be rubbery. Remove cuttlefish and soak in iced water.
  3. Blanch the water convolvulus and remove the whole bunch on to a cutting board.
  4. Cut the water convolvulus into 2 ins length and place onto serving plate. Drizzle with the 2 tbsp of oil and 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
  5. Cut the cuttlefish into 2 lengthwise. Slice slantwise to width of 2 ins and cut tentacles into 2 ins length too. Place on top of the water convolvulus.
  6. Pour the mixed sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

NOTES

To process dried cuttlefish:

Soak cuttlefish with cold water preferably overnight until it has been reconstituted. Change the water(this water can be used as soup stock) and soak the cuttlefish with cold water which has 1 tbsp of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution(kan sui) added. The cuttlefish is ready when it is soft and double it's original size. At this stage the cuttlefish has to be soaked in plain cold water and change the water every 3 hours.

Serves

25 comments:

  1. Lily

    How many times do you have to change the water after the Lye Water has been discarded?

    Love the dish. It;s the Penang boy in me.

    Regards

    Yat Ng

    ReplyDelete
  2. yat ng

    change water every 3 hrs, 2 - 3 times more should be enough to rid of the lye.

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  3. Hi Lily,

    Is there a substitute for hae ko? I can find Indonesian shrimp paste in a bottle where I live - is this a close approximation?

    ReplyDelete
  4. anonymous

    i have not used indonesian shrimp paste before but when it says shrimp paste in most packaging, it is belacan.

    this sauce cannot do without hae koe

    ReplyDelete
  5. what is potassium bicarbonate? is it 1 tbsp of potassium bicarbonate and 1 tbsp of kan sui (alkaline) water?

    ReplyDelete
  6. anonymous

    potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate is kan sui in cantonese.

    use just 1 tbsp.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Lily,
    Whts the proportion of cold water to 1 Tbs of kan Sui?

    Thks,
    Susanna

    ReplyDelete
  8. susanna

    i will use the rectangle pyrex dish which is long enough for the squid and will fill up with water until it covers the squid, then add the kan sui.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Lily,

    Thks for the valuable tip! I soaked some dried cuttlefish last nite n so delighted this morning - they look n the texture ...just like the processed ones sold back home. Thks lots!!

    Susanna :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. May I know where to buy (potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution) Kansui ? does it have other name, buy from baking supplies shop?

    ReplyDelete
  11. anonymous

    i am sure you can get it in your supermarkets or baking supplies shop, if you are in asia cos here in denver, it is available only in the asian stores

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lily

    Can i just only sodium bi-carbonate solution (without potassium carbonate?
    And also, how long do i have to soak the cuttlefish in the kan sui solution?
    Many thanks for this. I have always wondered how to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. minnieme

    yes, just use baking soda but the stronger the solution, the faster the cuttlefish will be reconstituted. You will have to eyeball and see how large you want them and once you are satisfied, change to clean plain water and keep on changing the water.

    ReplyDelete
  14. hi, just wondering, what is the fragrant oil needed in the recipe?

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  15. anonymous

    when there is vegetables, oil will be needed to make them taste better

    ReplyDelete
  16. hey, was just wondering. do you know how to make the sotong kembang for this dish. as in turning the squid into the brown look it has. i heard it needs some processing and soaking in some vinegar or some sort.

    thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  17. anonymous

    the way to process dried sotong is at the bottom of page

    ReplyDelete
  18. what kind of dried cuttlefish?

    the problem is, i live in Australia and can't seem to find the brown processed sotong. all we have here is the white coloured squid/calamari.

    so i was thinking whether there is a way to turn that into the brown sotong kembang we get in malaysia?

    hope you understand what i mean.

    would you know how to do it?

    thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  19. anonymous

    which part of australia are you residing? I am sure you can get dried cuttlefish from the vietnamese stores in the big cities.

    Guess the fresh calamari has to be split open and sun-dried until it is really dried - i think it is not the effort.

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  20. Hi, can all dried cuttlefish be reconstitute? Where can i buy it? im in singapore by the way...
    Emily

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  21. emily

    yes, most dried cuttlefish can be reconstituted. The bigger and thicker ones are more suitable for this dish

    ReplyDelete
  22. Soak cuttlefish or dried cuttlefish with cold water (add kan sui??) overnight?

    ReplyDelete
  23. anonymous

    yes, soak in cold or hot water, then keep this water, all the sweetness is there. Then add new water and kan sui, soak until the size you like. drain away water and add new cold water to rid alkalii present.

    ReplyDelete
  24. hi do you have a tips on make a snack with cuttlefish. the snack don't have a cuttle fish shape but it looks like a sliced ham. the cuttlefish has reconstitute in liquid form first. the it reconstitute in the form we want. hpe you want to teach me the tips.

    ReplyDelete
  25. harga alam mobil

    i am sorry i can't help you cos i have no idea how this cuttlefish snack looks like

    ReplyDelete