China · Shandong
Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions
A Shandong classic in which rehydrated sea cucumber is braised in a glossy, savoury sauce built on slowly fried scallion white.
The scallion, not the sauce, is the point of this dish: the white part is fried slowly for several minutes until it is soft and sweet, lifted out, and returned at the end, which is a technique inherited from the imperial kitchens of the north. Sea cucumber has almost no flavour of its own, which is why it is cooked with oyster sauce and long enough to take on something. The ingredient that is hard about it is the rehydrating, which must be started days ahead.
Ingredients
- rehydrated sea cucumber4 pieces
- scallion whites1 pieces
- cooking oil5 ml
- oyster sauce20 g
- light soy sauce5 g
- sugar2 g
- cornstarch2 g
Directions
- 1
Cut the scallion whites into 1 cm lengths and set aside.
- 2
Cut the sea cucumber into 1 cm lengths and set aside.
- 3
Take an empty bowl and pour in 20 g of oyster sauce, 10 g of light soy sauce and 2 g of sugar, and mix until even.
- 4
In another empty bowl combine the cornstarch with water to make a slurry for thickening.
- 5
Heat the wok and add 20 to 25 ml of cooking oil. Wait ten seconds for the oil to come up to temperature.
- 6
Add the scallion whites and turn the heat *low*, taking care not to let them scorch. About three to five minutes is enough.
- 7
Lift out the scallion whites with chopsticks and put them on a plate.
- 8
Pour in the sauce you mixed, fry it until fragrant, and **wait one to two minutes**.
- 9
Add the cut sea cucumber and stir-fry for one minute.
- 10
Add 100 ml of water, turn to medium-low and **wait five minutes**.
- 11
When the liquid in the wok is nearly dry, add the cornstarch slurry and return the scallion whites.
- 12
Once the sauce looks *thick and glossy*, turn off the heat and turn out onto a plate 
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.