Monday, 1 December 2008

RECIPE: SQUID IN TAMARIND SOUP (SINGGANG SOTONG)


I got the inspiration for this recipe from SIS UMMI’s blog. It’s easy to cook, delicious and nutritious as you are not using any coconut milk or oil when you make the dish. Normally, the ground ingredients are boiled with the water but I like to fry the ground stuff before adding the water. You may omit the frying stage if you like. This is how I made SINGGANG SOTONG.


Ingredients

1 kg small/medium sized squid – cleaned and cut into rings
2 sticks lemon grass – bruised and cut into a few pieces short pieces
5 dried tamarind pieces
1 tsp Maggi™ belachan powder
½ tsp sugar
Salt to taste
½ litre water
1 bunch Vietnamese mint – leave some aside for garnishing
1 tbsp veg oil
Grind finely the following ingredients:
5 large red chillies (deseeded) and 5 birds’ eye chillies
4 to 5 shallots
1 inch fresh turmeric or 1 tsp turmeric powder
1 inch galangal/lengkuas


Method

Heat oil in a pot and fry the ground ingredients until aromatic.

Add in the water, lemon grass, galangal, tamarind pieces and belachan powder. Simmer for 5 mins. Top with extra water if required.

Add in the squid, mint, sugar and salt. Cook for 3 mins or until the squid is done. Don’t over cook as the squid will become tough. Lift, garnish with the Vietnamese mint and serve hot with boiled rice.

11 comments:

Salt N Turmeric said...

Sedapnya Vin. Lama tak makan sampai dah lupa masak singgang I ni. Thanks for sharing Vin. ;)

Teresa Cordero Cordell said...

VG, a recipe for the adventurous. Sounds fascinating! I miss your quotes.

Family First said...

I wonder if I had too much squid during my pregnancy .. now my lil one's hands & legs cannot stop!

PureGlutton said...

Mmmm...can almost smell the fragrance from here :-) Looking at all the fresh ingredients, this must be totally sedap! i love vietnamese mint leaves!

VG said...

Farina - I pun lupa masak singgang. Nasib baik I singgah umah Kak Ummi; she gave me the inspiration.

Hi Teresa
Yes, adventurous if haven't grown up sampling this kind of cuisine. It's actually a sour soup that is eaten with rice. You can always tone down the chillies and substitute the squid with fish or prawns. Miss my quotes? I would have to oblige then, wouldn't I? 'Giggle'

Aya, old wives tale lah Joanna. Or is it???

VG said...

Yes Chris, very fragrant. The more mint the better and the sourness gives you one kind of 'kick' when eating. Yummy if accompanied with fried or stuffed BBQ fish (ikan sumbat bakar).

Anonymous said...

Viiinnn..., coming, coming!! Wah akhirnya, sudap siap singgang eh..wanna eat now!! Sedap makan dgn nasi panas2 nih! Thanx for trying dear.. ;)

Unknown said...

Sounds delicious & perfect...

VG said...

Kak Ummieeee...ya memang sedap dengan nasi panas dan ikan goreng. Thank you again for the recipe.

Thanks Priya. And easy to cook too!

daphne said...

wow...I bet that smells awesome! Soups r always popular with me!! and I do like tamarind! Nice combi with squid.

Thanks for hopping over to my blog =)

VG said...

Hi Daphne

Thanks for returning the visit and your nice comments. Hope to see you back here as I will to yours.