Description
An ultimately simple dish from Taiwanese port towns (like Keelung) where fresh small squid (Xiaojuan) are briefly boiled in water. Eaten with ginger soy sauce to enhance sweetness.
Restaurants serving Blanched Small Squid
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We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Small squid(Whole)
- Shredded ginger
- Thick soy sauce
- Salt
- Wine
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- [Ingredient Choice is 100%] Prepare fresh 'Xiaojuan' (small squid like baby spear/flying squid, ~10cm) sold in Taiwanese markets/ports. Basically used whole without removing organs or ink sacs (to taste the fresh organ umami together).
- Boil massive water with a little salt, wine, and sliced ginger for deodorizing.
- Toss the small squid into the vigorously boiling water.
- [Biggest Point] Overcooking turns it to rubber, so the moment the color changes from white to purplish-red and the body plumps up round, quickly scoop out into a sieve 'within dozens of seconds to
- min'.
- Remove residual heat (or shock briefly in ice water) and plate whole.
- Serve with a small dish of Jiangyou Gao (thick soy sauce), massive shredded ginger, and a little wasabi (Jie Mo).
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Refreshing ginger heat
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Japanese firefly squid or small squid (fresh for raw consumption)
Pairing
Ice-cold Taiwan Beer or White Wine
Trivia
[For Adults] 'Tang' means to briefly boil. Relying not on seasonings but purely on squid freshness and boiling time is the 'peak of subtractive cooking'. A connoisseur's dish adults order first as a beer snack at Taiwanese seafood taverns.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Dip a whole one lightly in shredded ginger and Jiangyou Gao, bite boldly from the head, and blend the bitter viscera and sweet meat in your mouth!
Allergen
Squid, Soy, Wheat (from soy sauce)