Well after my long blogging hiatus I am back. Has it really been 12 days since I last posted a recipe? As much as I would like to give you a great reason for why it’s been so long, I’ve got nothing. Time has just been slipping away from me and my time management skills have completely let me down. On top of all this I’m becoming increasing more neurotic with a never ending to do list constantly running through my mind and only getting longer and longer. Enough of my ranting though, on to the recipe.
When you’re feeling short on time this is the perfect recipe, as long as you’re willing to venture into the world of cooking squid. I was feeling adventurous and finally felt ready to cook with squid for the first time. It’s actually nowhere near as intimidating as I thought it would be. Thanks to the folks at Whole Foods you don’t even need to clean it yourself – all you need to do is slice it into rings – that’s easy enough. Not interested in making the standard breaded and fried calamari, I browsed the internet, looking for a recipe with some Asian flair. I came across this recipe on the Rasa Malaysia blog and with a few substitutions I was able to tweak the recipe to match the ingredients I had on hand. The original recipe calls for sweet dark soy sauce which I substituted with oyster sauce, red chili which I substituted with a jalepeno, and thai basil for which I used just regular basil. The squid cooked surprisingly fast so be careful not to overdo it – it literally needs a 20 second blanching and then a few tosses in the wok to be fully cooked.
This dish is best served and eaten immediately as the squid can get rubbery when reheating. Overall a flavorful simple dish that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.
- 12 ounces cleaned squid, cut into pieces
- 1 inch piece ginger, cut into matchsticks
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce (or 1½ tablespoons sweet dark soy sauce)
- hanful thai basil, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon water
- 1 red chili, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Bring pot of hot water to a boil. Blanch squid for 20 seconds, drain and put aside.
- Heat a wok over high heat and when hot but not smoking add sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1-2 minutes.
- Add squid and quickly stir it around a few times. Add soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sweet soy sauce to the wok. Toss to make sure squid is fully coated. Add chili pepper and cornstarch mix and toss until combined. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with thai basil.
Welcome to Avocado Pesto! Long time foodie and travel enthusiast, I started this blog to share my curious culinary efforts and kitchen endeavors. Here you'll find a smorgasbord of ethnic cuisines and hopefully a few humorous tales too.
Julia Child’s Brandade á la Soissonaise (White Bean Dip) for #Sunday Supper #cookforjulia 
Vegan Zucchini Saute and My First Blog Giveaway! 
Raw Green Vegan Collard Wraps 
Blueberry Banana Smoothie for Secret Recipe Club 
Reeses Peanut Butter Cheesecake and my Travel Plans Revealed 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Gorgeous dish! I have not heard of Shaoxing wine before… Would Mirin be a good substitute? Thanks you!
Shaoxing wine is a traditional Chinese wine, fermented from rice. It is dark (almost black) in color and you can purchase it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/SHAOHSING-RICE-COOKING-WINE-2x750ML/dp/B006QYNLKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339607866&sr=8-1&keywords=Shaoxing+wine
I was able to find some at a large Asian supermarket but I have never seen it sold in regular stores the way I’ve seen Mirin, I have read that dry sherry can be used as a substitute. I don’t think mirin would work as well because it is sweeter and has a different taste. Let me know if you end up trying the dish with dry sherry.
Hope that helps!
Beautiful! I like your plate also
Thanks! It’s the perfect plate for stir fry dishes!
I am a huge fan of three cup everything. It’s amazing how easy this recipe can be adapted to just about every kind of protein. Great take on this classic Taiwanese dish!
Thanks! I was incredibly surprised how easy it was to prepare the squid and will be making it a lot more often from now on!