Squid and Green Pepper Stir-Fry

Remove the innards, ink sac, clear quill, eyes, beak and purple mantle skin. Rinse, drain and weigh out 350 g cleaned raw squid. Open the mantles flat, inside facing up. Crosshatch at about 3 mm intervals, cutting halfway to two-thirds through without severing the flesh. Cut into about 4 × 5 cm pieces and the tentacles into 4–5 cm lengths.

Trim and deseed the green and red bell peppers, and peel the red onion. Weigh 150 g green pepper, 60 g red pepper and 80 g onion, then cut into about 3 cm pieces. Finely julienne 8 g ginger and thinly slice 12 g garlic. Wash the knife, board and hands after handling raw squid and before preparing vegetables.

Stir together 10 ml light soy sauce, 10 g oyster sauce, 2 g granulated sugar, 2 g cornstarch and 20 ml water until no dry starch remains. Keep beside the stove. Reserve the remaining 1500 ml water for blanching.

Bring 1500 ml water to a rolling boil. Add all the squid and gently separate the pieces. Lift out as soon as they curl and turn opaque white, about 20–30 seconds. Drain thoroughly in a strainer, then gently pat away surface water with kitchen paper. Discard the blanching water; do not add it to the sauce.

Empty and dry the wok, then reheat and add all 15 ml oil. Reduce to medium heat, add all the ginger and garlic, and fry for about 10–15 seconds until fragrant but not browned.

Add all the green pepper, red pepper and onion. Stir-fry over high heat for about 60–90 seconds, until the peppers are bright and just tender and the onion edges turn slightly translucent, with some crunch remaining. Then proceed to the next step.

Stir the sauce from Step 3 again and add it with all the drained squid. Toss over high heat for about 20–30 seconds, until the sauce bubbles and lightly coats the ingredients and the squid is opaque throughout and cooked through. Turn off the heat and plate immediately. If liquid pools, lift out the food, reduce the sauce separately, then briefly fold it back in to avoid prolonged cooking.