A bowl of tangled squid is as beautiful as a five-colored flower with red-brown squid, golden eggs, crispy green kohlrabi, red-orange carrots, and fragrant white pork sausage. This is a typical dish in the afternoon feast of the 30th Tet in the past of Hanoians.
Ingredient
- 1 large dried squid (100 gr)
- 150 grams of pork sausage
- 2 chicken eggs
- 1 kohlrabi tuber
- 1 small carrot
- Chicken broth, chicken fat, dried onions
- Spices: Fish sauce, salt, sugar, pepper
Making
- Select and soak squid: Choose delicious dried squid with signs such as a light layer of white powder on the outside, natural pink back of the squid, thick and straight body, body and head sticking together and fragrant with the natural scent of new sunlight. Soak the squid in water mixed with a little white wine and crushed ginger to soften and deodorize. Then take the squid out, drain or dry. The squid head and antennae are added to the chicken broth to create a sweet taste. If you want something sweeter, increase the squid whiskers.
- Thai squid: This is the most difficult step, requiring meticulousness and skill. The experience of many old Hanoi housewives is to use a blunt cutting board, use your hands, a very sharp knife, a very sharp eye, then thinly slice and slice the squid along the length of the squid so it doesn’t get tough.
- Prepare other ingredients: Peel kohlrabi and carrots, cut into thin slices, then cut into even pieces and set aside.
- Coat the eggs and chop them: Beat eggs with a little seasoning and white wine for aroma, add a little clean water to make them softer. Heat a flat-based pan slowly, smooth or lightly brush with a little cooking oil. Scoop a small ladle of eggs and pour them in very thinly, pour out the remaining eggs. Leave on low heat until the eggs are smooth, do not use high heat as this will cause the eggs to blister and dry out. When the eggs are cooked, take them out, roll them up and cut them into small, silk-like pieces. The meticulousness shows the sophistication and sophistication of ancient Hanoi cuisine.
- Broth: Boil the squid head and antennae with chicken bone broth over low heat, open the lid, and skim off the foam until the water is clear. Season to taste.
- Stir-fry squid, blanch vegetables: Saute dried onions with a little chicken fat until fragrant, pour in the julienned squid and stir-fry over low heat. Season with a little fish sauce and a little sugar to soften the taste and make it soft and sweet. Scoop out and set aside. The sliced kohlrabi and carrots are blanched in the broth for a sweet taste, then taken out and set aside. The pork sausage is also cut into small pieces and kept separately.
- Present and enjoy : Use a bowl to pick out the flared mouth and small lower body, then take turns picking up squid, kohlrabi, carrots, eggs, and pork sausage, arranging them alternately so that the colors are harmonious and balanced like five flower petals. colorful, dotted with a few coriander branches in the middle to add an eye-catching look. This dish is also called ”Five-colored squid” for that reason. When placing food on the tray to worship Mr. Cong and Mr. Tao on December 23 or the afternoon of Tet 30, do not pour water yet. When guests eat, add hot broth, sprinkle with some northern pepper, then use clean chopsticks to stir up the squid, mix well with the other ingredients and enjoy. The name ”Puppet-cooked squid” also comes from here.
- Finished product requirements: A bowl of puppet-cooked squid brings together all the colors, aromas and flavors like a beautiful painting with amber ink, golden eggs, crispy green kohlrabi, orange-red carrots, and fragrant white pork sausage. The broth is naturally sweet and smells of squid.
Attention:
- In the traditional meal of Hanoi people, there are always 4 bowls. Some people believe that the four pillars represent the 4 seasons of the year, the 4 directions of heaven and earth. For upper-class families, there are bowls of fins, bowls of balls, bowls of long tu, and bowls of bird’s nest. As for middle-class families, they choose 4 bowls of dishes such as pork belly soup, bird stewed with lotus seed nuggets, tangy squid, bamboo shoot soup, lotus seed mushroom…
- Squid cooked in tangle is different from squid bamboo shoot soup, squid stir-fried with kohlrabi of Bat Trang pottery village. Squid cooked with puppets often appears in Hanoi people’s offerings on the 30th day of Tet.
- You need to choose a delicious type of squid, fragrant with the scent of new sunlight, soak it in ginger wine and then chop it into small pieces. The other ingredients are blanched in a pot of broth to keep the sweet yet delicate taste – a characteristic of Hanoi cuisine.