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Giantcucumber1

What is one foot long, four inches in diameter and edible? The answer is a gargantuan sea cucumber if your mind did veer off to an unspeakable corner. Die Seegurke is a Chinese delicacy with that may improved bone and joints, according to my grandmother. I wonder if such claim came about because of the close similarity between the cucumber’s gelatinous texture with tendons and ligaments in our bodies. Another claimed benefit, as told by a dear gastronomic friend while eating some of these during our annual Chinese New Year dinner, is that it makes you (boys, he meant) strong in the bedroom. He warned, “Don’t try to eat this together with escargots! The result may be too powerful to handle.” You go figure.

I am no where skilled enough to handle such a long and thick delicacy. My mother, who also makes excellent birds’ nest and sharks’ fin soups, single-handedly created this dish – Stuffed sea cucumber with ginger scallop sauce.

How did she make this? I remembered days of soaking the dried cucumber, then she made the stuffing which had water chestnuts, carrots, coriander, roughly minced chicken and Japanese dried shiitake mushrooms. The stuffed cucumber was steamed for about thirty minutes. The stock produced from steaming is then combined with ginger juice and chopped dried scallop to make the sauce. Sea cucumbers are not quite up there in the list of my favourite food, but this one tasted fantastic! The slightly crunchy yet slimy texture paired well with the chunky bites of the stuffing.

Did I also mention that she has the ability to single out each and every ingredient used in a dish when we eat out? Only at the Chinese restaurants. When it comes to western food, I still rule!