Stuffed Squid with Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce

Name: Stuffed Squid with Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 12 young squid, about 1 1/2 pounds total; 1/2 pound ground pork; 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted (page 332), stemmed, and finely chopped; 1 bundle (1.3 ounces) cellophane noodles, soaked in hot water until pliable, drained, and cut into 1/4-inch lengths; 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped; 1/2 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger; 2 teaspoons fish sauce; 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon sugar; 1/4 cup canola or other neutral oil; 2/3 cup Ginger-Lime Dipping Sauce (page 309)

December 14, 2011

As you fry these stuffed squid, the fragrant aromas that rise from the pan will have you dreaming of enjoying them along with a cold beer. Many Vietnamese cooks add minced garlic to the stuffing, but our family prefers ginger, a nod to ginger-centric northern Vietnam. The tart, spicy, salty dipping sauce heightens the flavors in the stuffing. Select young, fresh squid with bodies about five inches long, not including the tentacles. For the best flavor, clean the squid yourself, rather than buying them already cleaned. Because both squid sizes and a cook’s stuffing technique can vary, this recipe makes more stuffing than you will need. If only a little is left over, discard it. If there is a fair amount, mix in an egg or two and fry up into an omelet (see Pork and Mushroom Omelet, page 97, for cooking instructions).

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