A quick squid Hakka noodle recipe & a mention in the Bombay Times

I love cooking with squids.

I think squids are fascinating to experiment with in the kitchen. The trick to cooking squids is to ensure that they are not overcooked and that the surrounding spices don’t overpower their delicate tastes. Which is why squids in powerful South Indian curries don’t work for me.

Some of my squid favs from my kitchen are the Mahesh inspired squids butter pepper garlic, squids aglio olio pasta, La Boquieria inspired grilled chiperone and squids in Goan port & Dutch goat cheese.

The other day I had got some fresh squids from Poonam at the Khar station market. I wanted to do something different with them this time. Which is when I remembered a seafood Hokkien Mee that I had at a Hawker Centre during my first trip to Singapore. Inspired by the memories I decided to do a squid hakka noodles. Here’s how I went about it.

Recipe for Squids Hakka Noodles (for 2)

Ingredients:

250 g noodles, 500 g squids cleaned, peeled cut into rings, 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon each of ginger and garlic paste, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of black bean sauce (you could use a Chinese chilli sauce instead to make it spicy), a bowl of finely chopped greens ( I used spring onions and cabbage)

• Boil 250 g of noodles as per pack instructions, drain water and set aside. Make sure the noodles don’t go soggy
• Break an egg in a pan of hot oil and scramble it and take it aside
• Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a wok. The Chinese use sesame oil. I used olive oil
• Add 1 teaspoon each of ginger and garlic paste, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of black bean sauce (you could use a Chinese chilli sauce instead to make it spicy)
• Once the sauces and the oil blends add 500 g of squids chopped into rings
• Keep stirring till the squids cook. You will know as the translucent colour changes to an opaque white. This will take about 2 minutes
• Add in the noodles, add 1 teaspoon salt and a tablespoon of vinegar and stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Keep pushing the squids up through through the noodles ensuring they don’t overcook
• Add a bowl of finely chopped greens ( I used spring onions and cabbage) and toss for a couple of minutes more
• Add the eggs, switch off the flame, photograph and eat

Talking of food photos I was quite happy to see myself featured in Ismat’s article in the Bombay Times on Food Selfies’ Here’s the link to the article