Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions
It is a traditional famous dish from Jiaodong, Shandong Province. It was selected as one of the Top Ten Classic Dishes of Shandong in 2018 and is also known as one of the "Eight Treasures through the Ages".
Difficulty
Advanced
Prep Time
10min
Cook Time
10min
Advanced · Heritage Classics
Method
Preprocessing (Critical for Removing Fishy Odor)
- Rinse sea cucumbers clean. Cut open along the belly, keep the internal tendons intact. Cook whole or cut diagonally into sections.
- Bring water to a simmer in a pot, add ginger slices and 1 tbsp cooking wine. Put in sea cucumbers when water is gently boiling. Blanch for 2 minutes then take out and drain immediately. Do not overcook. Sea cucumbers will shrink and turn tough.
Make Scallion Oil (Core Aroma of the Dish)
- Pour ample peanut oil into a cold pot, add all white scallion stalks. Fry slowly over medium-low heat.
- Fry until stalks turn golden and tender with rich scallion aroma (do not burn or blacken).
- Scoop out golden scallion sections for later use; reserve the scallion oil in the pot.
Braise to Develop Flavor
- Heat the reserved scallion oil, sauté ginger slices until fragrant, add sea cucumbers and stir briefly.
- Drizzle in cooking wine to remove fishiness. Pour in stock / plain water, rock sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and a pinch of white pepper.
- Bring to a rolling boil over high heat, then turn to low heat. Simmer 3–4 minutes so sea cucumbers absorb the sauce fully.
- Add the pre-fried golden scallion sections and simmer for another 1 minute.
Thicken and Serve (Glossy Light Sauce)
- Turn to high heat to reduce liquid. Drizzle starch slurry along the edge of the pot and stir gently.
Aim for a light thin sauce. The sauce should lightly coat the sea cucumbers; avoid thick lumpy gravy.
- Turn off heat. Optionally drizzle another spoonful of scallion oil for extra shine and aroma, then plate straight away.
Chef's notebook
Chef's Tips
Precautions for Soaking Sea Cucumbers：
No oil in all containers throughout the process! Sea cucumbers tend to disintegrate when exposed to oil. Dried sea cucumbers must be rehydrated in purified ice water.
Use green Chinese onions：
Do not substitute green Chinese onion with scallions. Only the white stalks of green Chinese onions can produce rich, sweet-scented scallion oil.
absorb the flavor：
Sea cucumbers have little natural flavor. They gain taste from scallion aroma and braising sauce. Do not add spices such as Sichuan peppercorns or star anise, as they will overpower the delicate flavor.
Thicken in several batches：
Add starch slurry in small amounts in batches; better thin than thick. Authentic Braised Sea Cucumbers with Scallions feature a glossy light sauce that leaves no sticky residue on the palate.
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