Braised Sea Cucumber

The Chinese name for sea cucumber - hai shen - translates roughly into "sea ginseng." It's unclear whether this is in recognition of the sea cucumber's reputation as an aphrodisiac, or because it is considered to be quite healthful. It may also have something to do with its slippery feel, as the texture of food weights more heavily in Chinese cooking than other cuisines. In any event, the Chinese have been harvesting sea cucumbers for centuries.
In Chinese medicine, sea cucumber has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat everything from high blood pressure in humans to joint pain in pot-bellied pigs!

Sea cucumber is flavorless, but has the ability to soak up the flavors of foods and seasonings it is cooked with, like this braise recipe which has very flavorful ingredients. These pre-conditioned sea cucumber can be found in the freeze of most asian store here and after this recipe, would not buy them again as they were so soft and disintergrated as soon as it got heated up. I would buy the dried ones and will pre-condition/rehydrate them myself.

Ingredients:

(A)

1/2 tbsp. rice wine
2 stalks green onions
4 slices ginger

2 cups water

1 piece dried squid

1 lb pre-conditioned sea cucumbers - cut into 2 - 2 1/2 inch pieces

1 lb belly pork - cut into bite-size pieces

6 large Chinese black mushrooms - soaked woth warm water and discard stems

1/2 cup of chopped onion

6 slices ginger,

oil

1 tsp. Shaoxing hua tiau rice wine
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Seasonings:

1 tbsp ground mein se/tau cheong

3 tbsps. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup stock

(B)

1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water

Method:

Heat wok or pan and add 1 tbsp. oil. Add mixture (A) and stir-fry until fragrant.
Add 2 cups water and heat to boil. Add prepared sea cucumbers, cook for 3 minutes, then remove from heat and drain. Set mixture aside.

Heat pan and add 3 tbsps oil until very hot. Add chopped onion, ginger, mein see/tau cheong and stir-fry until fragrant.

Add in belly pork, squid, black mushrooms, stock and the rest of the seasonings. Add water enough to cover the pork and bring to a boil and then simmer covered until pork is tender and until the liquid is almost half of original amount.

Add the sea cucumber and bring back to a boil.

Add mixture (B) to thicken and lastly the wine. Adjust taste with salt and sugar.

Sprinkle with sesame oil before serving.

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Serves