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Three Cup Squid: San Bei Xiao Juan
4-6
servings
Main
Course
Print Recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Ingredients
¼ c
sesame oil
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1
(1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
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4
garlic cloves, finely chopped
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2 sm
red chiles, finely chopped
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1 lb
cleaned squid, sliced into rings and tentacles kept intact
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½ c
rice wine
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¼ c
light soy sauce
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2 tsp
sugar
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1 c
packed fresh Thai basil leaves
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The beloved flavor profile of Three Cup Chicken is borrowed here to make a tasty squid dish. However, this dish is much quicker to cook than the braised pieces of bone-in chicken. Be sure to have all your ingredients prepped and ready to toss into the pan nearby, as squid only takes a few moments to cook through, and if cooked too long, it will become tough and chewy.

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, and chiles. Cook, stirring, until the oil is very hot and the herbs are very fragrant and sizzling, about 10 seconds. Add the squid and cook, stirring briskly, for about 30 seconds. Pour in the rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar, and stir until bubbling and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Serve immediately.

Excerpted from THE FOOD OF TAIWAN: Recipes from the Beautiful Island © 2015 by Cathy Erway. Photography © 2015 by Pete Lee. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Cathy Erway

Cathy Erway is the author of the cookbooks The Food of Taiwan and Sheet Pan Chicken, and the memoir The Art of Eating In. She co-wrote Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook. She hosts the podcast Self Evident, exploring Asian American stories. She has won a James Beard Award and IACP award for her writing at TASTE.