Jiew Hu Char
An Authentic Nyonya dish, Jiew Hu Char is stir-fried salad which contains both chicken and cuttlefish. If you’re not a huge fan of cuttlefish, simply leave them out and just use chicken.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves of Garlic
- 30g Shallots (about 3-4)
- 3 Dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked
- 30g Shredded cuttlefish
- 600g Cooked Sum Chan (Bacon)
- 5 Tbsp Cooking oil
- 900g Bangkang (Jicama)
- 1 large Carrot ( 2-3 large carrots in North America)
- 300g Cabbage (about 1/4 of a cabbage head)
- 3 lrg Red Onions
- 12 tsp Salt (you can cut this down if this is too much)
- 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp Tau Cheong Bean paste (optional)
Soak garlic, shallots, jicama, carrot, cabbage and onions. Smash the cloves of garlic with the back of a knife, skin and slice finely, then chop. Set garlic aside, then peel and thinly slice shallots. Shallots should be sliced using the round end so you have small rings of onion. Set aside. Using the edge of the cabbage, slice thinly and set aside. Then peel and slice carrot (s). Slice diagonally, then into think strips (think julian style). Do the same for the Jicama. Slice large onions and set aside.
Set everything aside, take your mushrooms out of the water and slice them thinly. Take the bacon and slice thinly as well. Take the cuttle fish and place in fresh water. Soak and squeeze the cuttlefish in the water. This will clean them and should be done at least twice.
Heat 1 Tbsp of cooking oil in your wok or large frying pan. Add garlic and dry until golden brown. Remove garlic with most of the oil and place in a small dish. Fry shallots and stir so they break into individual rings. When they are golden, remove them and place in a separate small bowl.
Heat 4 Tbsp of cooking oil and place cuttlefish into the pan. Saute for a few minutes, then add mushroom and bacon. Add soy sauce and fry until tender. Then remove and place in a bowl. Heat another 2-3 Tbsp of cooking oil in the wok and add jicama, carrot and cabbage. Stir, then add red onion. Once vegetables are tender, add cuttlefish mixture. Stir fry for a few minutes, then add water from mushrooms, bean paste, soy sauce and salt to taste. Stir fry unti everything the liquid has been absorbed.
Plate the Jiew Hu Char, and top with the garlic (with oil) and fried shallots. Serve with fresh lettuce leaf and sambal belechan. To eat Jiew Hu Char, place a portion inside a lettuce leaf, roll and eat.
*This recipe was give to me by Pearly Kee and published with her permission.
