Year Of The Rabbit Reunion Dinner 1/22/2023 Sunday
This year 1/20/2023 was lunar year end 12/29 reunion dinner, I Chef Kar prepared two kinds of new year celebration gourmets to share with friends and colleagues：
1. Candy Abalone 2. Braised Sea Cucumber with Caramel Scallion
▲ 1. Candy Abalone
▲ 1. Candy Abalone
Candy Abalone symbolizes " full house of gold and silver" and "wealth flow in". The shape of abalone looks like ingot. Lettuce in Chinese language sounds like "make money" (sheng cai). Hair moss (Nostoc) sounds like "make a fortune"(fa cai). Fish maw symbolizes "lovers stuck together as by glue and joined at the hip".
Method:
First, remove the flesh of abalone from the shell; cut off the intestine and small piece of gristle at the head end; trim off the frill and lip. Sprinkle some salt on the meat and brush the surface of the meat with tooth brush. Rinse with cold water.
I invented a new method of braising fresh abalone: Pour the secret abalone sauce below into a stainless steel container. Put the cleaned abalone in the sauce. Place the container over a steaming pot. Cover the steaming pot with lid. Use extremely low fire to braise for 4 to 5 days. Be patient.
Place fish maw into a bowl with cold water to soak for 1 day. Put hair moss and Shiitake mushroom into a bowl of cold water to soak for half a day. Use the abalone sauce to braise the well soaked fish maw and Shiitake in low fire until soft and tender. Finally, add hair moss to braise for 5 minutes. Plate all the cooked ingredients together and ready to enjoy.
Ingredients: frozen fresh abalone, dried fish maw, hair moss (Nostoc) , Shiitake mushroom, lettuce leaves
Secret abalone sauce: chicken soup base, ginger, onion, garlic, light soya sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine (Hua Diao), rock sugar, salt
▲ 2. Braised Sea Cucumber with Caramel Scallion <Shandong cuisine>
Sea Cucumber is listed as one of the 8 pillars of "Manchu Han imperial feast" . Since sea cucumber in Cantonese sounds like "happiness"(hoi sum), it becomes a very joyous ingredient of reunion dinner, symbolizes "lucky and happy". Due to "Reunion with one heart", traditional families use "one big cucumber" to express this important heart (sum)！
Braised Sea Cucumber with Caramel Scallion is a famous specialty of Jiadong Peninsular of Shandong province including Yantai and Qingdao, representing Shangdong cuisine. This dish originated from Fushan District, Yantai. Sea cucumber and scallion are the two main ingredients. Sea cucumber is fresh, soft , smooth and fragrant. Scallion is fragrant, and no juice left after eating. It is one of the ancient and modern 8 treasures. full of nutrition, nourishing lung and kidney.
Cucumber contains Fucoidan which can lower blood lipids, inhibit blood coagulation.
For high blood, Hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, hepatitis patient and seniors , consuming cucumber for long term can have good effect to relieve symptoms and cure.
On September 10, 2018, braised Sea Cucumber was announced by "Chinese cuisine" as one of the 10 famous classic Shandong dishes .
Ingredient: soaked cucumber 1000gCondiment: salt 2g, scallion 105g, green garlic 15g, corn starch 10g, minced ginger 5g, chicken soup 700g, ginger juice 27.5g, spring onion oil 50g, sugar 27.5, vegetable oil 150g, soya sauce 12.5g, Shaoxing wine (Hua Diao) 15g.
Garnish：Shanghai cabbage, carrot
Method:1. Wash cucumber with cold water; place it in a pot with cold water, boil with high fire; take it out after about 5 minutes, drain the water; boil it with chicken soup until soft, drain the soup. Cut scallion into 5 centimeters parts(100g) and ends (5g).Cut green garlic into 3.3 centimeter parts.2. Place a wok over high fire, pour vegetable oil; when hot , drop in scallion parts, fry until golden colour, remove the wok from the fire, put the scallion on a bowl, add 100g chicken soup, 5g Shaoxing wine, 2.5 g ginger juice, 2.5g soya sauce and 2.5g sugar, place the bowl in a steam pot for 1 to 2 minutes, take it out and drain out the juice, put the scallion part aside.3. Pour vegetable oil , fried scallion parts, sea cucumber, salt, chicken soup, sugar, Shaoxing wine, soya sauce, Caramel in a wok under fire until boiling, turn down the fire to low, braise the ingredients for 2 to 3 minutes, turn the fire to high, add corn starch thickening, turn medium fire to get thick, pour in scallion oil, plate all ingredients and garnish with boiled Shanghai cabbage and carrot.
Soaking dried sea cucumber method:1. Put dried sea cucumber in cold pure water in a container. Water should cover the whole sea cucumber (ice cubes can be added for better result). Place it in the cooling compartment of a fridge. Change water every 12 hours. Soaking for 2 to 3 days until sea cucumber becomes soft and not hard inside.
2. Cut open across the abdomen; cut off mouth; remove internal organs (viscera). According to your need, cut sea cucumber vertically into 3 to 4 portions.
3. Put sea cucumber in a pot without oil. Fill it up with pure water. Turn on high fire to bring a boil; lower heat to low to braise 30-50 minutes until sea cucumber becomes soft.4. Turn off fire, let sea cucumber in the pot braise for 3 to 4 hours. Wait till sea cucumber naturally cools down.
5. Put sea cucumber in a container and fill with pure water again. Place it in the cooling compartment in the fridge, continue to soak for 3 days. Change fresh water every 12 hours. When it is done, it is ready to eat. If it cannot be consumed all at once, the remains can be kept in the fridge.
Remarks:
. Pure water should be used for braising dried sea cucumber. Change water every 12 hours. Water temperature is 0-5℃. If water is too high, sea cucumber may shred its skin and be spoiled. Vitamins may be lost. If serious, it can be melted.
. Choose high quality Naturally Sun Dried Wild Caught Sea Cucumber(淡乾海參)。After good quality sea cucumber is processed, the cell walls are still intact. Vitamins will not be lost. It cannot be broken or damaged when cooked. After soaking, it becomes very elastic and chewy.
Next：《2022 Christmas Turkey Dinner》
Publisher： Chef Kar Delight
2. Cut open across the abdomen; cut off mouth; remove internal organs (viscera). According to your need, cut sea cucumber vertically into 3 to 4 portions.
3. Put sea cucumber in a pot without oil. Fill it up with pure water. Turn on high fire to bring a boil; lower heat to low to braise 30-50 minutes until sea cucumber becomes soft.
5. Put sea cucumber in a container and fill with pure water again. Place it in the cooling compartment in the fridge, continue to soak for 3 days. Change fresh water every 12 hours. When it is done, it is ready to eat. If it cannot be consumed all at once, the remains can be kept in the fridge.
Remarks:
. Pure water should be used for braising dried sea cucumber. Change water every 12 hours. Water temperature is 0-5℃. If water is too high, sea cucumber may shred its skin and be spoiled. Vitamins may be lost. If serious, it can be melted.
. Choose high quality Naturally Sun Dried Wild Caught Sea Cucumber(淡乾海參)。After good quality sea cucumber is processed, the cell walls are still intact. Vitamins will not be lost. It cannot be broken or damaged when cooked. After soaking, it becomes very elastic and chewy.
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