This spicy squid stir fry, which is called literally in Chinese “fierce squid stir fry”, is one of my favorite ways to enjoy squid. The squid tubes are scored to create grooves, which grab onto the sauce better. It is briefly marinated with Shaoxing wine to eliminate any fishy taste. Then it’s stir fried with plenty of aromatics and crispy vegetables until tender, then finished up with a spicy savory sauce. The sauce is made with doubanjiang (fermented spicy bean paste), oyster sauce, and cumin powder. It’s a popular flavor combination for Shao Kao, or Chinese BBQ. Because it creates this super rich taste that has a lot of depth, fermented umami, and just a touch of sweetness.
How to score squid tubes
In China, this dish is always cooked with whole squid. Unfortunately, where I live now, whole squid is very hard to come by. That’s why I opted to use squid tubes, which are already cleaned and ready to use. Scoring the squid creates a wow factor for the appearance of the dish. Plus, the squid will have more surface area so it will grab onto the sauce better. If you’re using whole squid, check out this video to see how to clean it. And of course, you can always use squid rings for this recipe if you want to skip the scoring altogether.
Mise en place
When you’re done prepping, your table should have: the marinated squid, mixed sauce, ginger and garlic in a bowl, and chopped pepper and onions on a plate. By grouping ingredients together like this, you will have a clear workflow and use fewer dishes.
How to cook spicy squid stir fry
That’s it!
How to cook squid properly
To yield a tender texture, you should use a hot pan, very high heat, and cook the squid just enough so it curls up. The longer it stays in the pan, the tougher it gets. That’s why I take it out as soon as it’s cooked, and add it back at the very end of the stir fry. I used thawed frozen squid in my recipe and it created a LOT of excess liquid, which was a little annoying. This is usually less of an issue if you use fresh squid that wasn’t frozen previously. I do want to mention that, in Chinese cooking, the squid is usually blanched and drained before any stir frying. Doing this helps get rid of any excess water when using frozen squid. However, I do think it’s a bit redundant to use another pot for blanching, so I used the same pan to stir fry the squid instead. If you do not mind the trouble, try blanching the squid very briefly, skipping the stir fry (step 4), then removing the squid from the pot. Drain it well and pat it dry. It works slightly better than the stir frying method. If you do use the stir fry method, make sure to drain the squid very well once you cook it, before adding it back to the pan with the vegetables.
How to serve spicy squid stir fry
You can serve spicy squid stir fry as a stand alone main dish, but my favorite way is to serve it with steamed rice. The sauce is quite rich and spicy, which pairs super well with the rice.
Replace squid with other ingredients
Spicy squid is an easy stir fry that’s quite simple to put together, excluding the scoring part!. I genuinely think you should use squid rings instead, if the scoring part looks like too much trouble. And another note, if squid is not your jam, you can use this sauce to cook other proteins or vegetables because it’s so good. Try replacing the squid with sliced chicken (breast or thigh), adding 1 teaspoon cornstarch to the marinade. Or use king oyster mushrooms to replace the squid (skip the marinating) and use vegetarian oyster sauce if you want to make a vegetarian dish. I hope you enjoy this one and happy cooking!
Other delicious stir fries for dinner
Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce (鱼香肉丝, Yu Xiang Rou Si)Sweet and Sour Tofu (糖醋豆腐)Chao He Cai (Beijing-Style Vegetarian Moo Shu, 炒合菜)15-Minute Pork Fried RiceChicken Liver with Onion and Pepper (爆炒鸡肝)
