Smoky Wok

The weather has been very unforgiving lately - the sweltering heat in Malaysia right now is almost unbearable.  I have succumbed and I have been feeling under the weather since the past few days but I digress.  Today's feature is an exceedingly simple stir-fry seafood dish and the seafood of choice today is squid.  This dish is made easier by the use of one of my favourite sauces from Yuen Chun, their Thai stir-fry sauce which really makes life that much easier.  This is a tangy and spicy sauce that goes well with most seafood and can also be used creatively as a base for pizza or even a Thai style 'bolognese'. 



As with most stir-fries, I advocate the use of a Chinese steel wok for that increasingly recognised 'wok hei' or wok breath which totally adds another dimension to an otherwise simple dish.  All you need is some garlic, lemongrass and some bird's eye chili peppers (and well, of course the squid) and you're good to go!  A perfect dish that goes so well with hot steamed rice and which can be whipped up on lazy weeknights.



This post is a part of my Yuen Chun Recipes, an ongoing project on this blog.

Serving suggestion:  with hot steamed rice

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

3 medium sized squid, cleaned, skinned and sliced into rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk lemongrass, white part smashed
3-4 bird's eye chili peppers, sliced
2-3 tablespoons Yuen Chun Thai stir-fry sauce (if this is not available where you are, you can try using some sweet Thai chili sauce)
1 teaspoon light soy sauce or to taste




Method:

Firstly, bring a pot of water to the boil.  Add the squid and blanch quickly for about 10 seconds.  Remove from water.  Discard water.  This step serves to remove most of the 'fishiness' from the squid and is optional.

Heat up your wok until almost smoking.  Add about 3 tablespoons oil.  Swirl to coat.  Turn heat to low.  Add garlic, lemongrass and chili peppers.  Stir-fry until fragrant.

Add squid.  Turn heat to high.  Add in sauce.  Stir-fry quickly.  Add soy sauce to taste.  Do a taste test and add more soy or Thai sauce if necessary.  Stir-fry again quickly to toss everything well together.  Dish out and serve immediately.