Shandong Cuisine · FFET10090
Scallion-Braised Sea Cucumber
Guanghe Ju's scallion-braised sea cucumber featured at Beijing banquets in 1889 and 1890 (Qingbai Leichao).
A round white porcelain plate holds a few lettuce leaves under several glossy dark brown sea cucumbers and thick sections of scallion white, all coated in a thick brown sauce, with wooden chopsticks beside it.
Represented by the cooking of Jinan and the Jiaodong coast, strong in quick-fire and braising methods, with stock-making as its hallmark.
Scallion-braised sea cucumber is a Shandong dish braised with fried scallion and scallion oil. Guanghe Ju's version appears in Beijing banquet records for the Guangxu jichou and gengyin years, 1889–1890 (Qingbai Leichao, compiled by Xu Ke, finished in 1916, year 5 of the Republic); only the dish name is recorded, without a method or origin. Fushan chefs Wang Shizhen and Wang Yijun improved the method, which braises soaked sea cucumber until thick and flavorful.
What
Scallion-braised sea cucumber is soaked sea cucumber braised with fried scallion, scallion oil and sugar color, then glazed with starch into a thick sauce. It belongs to Shandong cuisine and is also listed under Liaoning cuisine.1,4,5
When
Guanghe Ju's scallion-braised sea cucumber appears in a record of the Guangxu jichou and gengyin years (1889–1890): the Beijing banquet dishes passage in Qingbai Leichao, compiled by Xu Ke and finished in 1916, year 5 of the Republic. The Fushan school was prominent from the Ming to the late Qing, and Shandong cuisine spread after Yantai opened as a port in 1861 (background in a December 2023 article). The record gives only the dish name, without a method or origin; the later background concerns Shandong cuisine, not this dish.2,6
Where
Shandong, in the tradition of the Fushan and Yantai area. The specific place and cook behind its origin remain undocumented in the listed sources. Fushan-born chefs Wang Shizhen and Wang Yijun improved the method. Fushan is one of the roots of Shandong cuisine, and scallion-braised sea cucumber was among the representative dishes of Beijing's big Shandong restaurants in that era.1,2
How
Dried sea cucumber must be soaked and boiled through before cooking; soaking times in the 2 recipes range from about 0.5 day to more than 3 days. Scallion whites are fried in oil to make scallion oil. The sea cucumber is braised with sugar color, stock, cooking wine and a little dark soy sauce, glazed with starch, and finished with scallion oil.4,5
Why
Sea cucumber is mild in taste, so scallion and stock supply the flavor. The available material gives no other reason for why the dish took shape in Shandong.5
Impact and influence
The Fengze Garden restaurant was founded in 1930 and is one of Beijing's old Eight Great Restaurants. Its signature dishes include scallion-braised large black sea cucumber. The China Cuisine Association named Fushan China's Hometown of Shandong Cuisine in October 2001.2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home: I buy sea cucumbers that are already soaked, which skips the days of soaking, and only cook them through and braise them. The scallion whites are fried into scallion oil, the sugar color is cooked to light amber, the sea cucumbers are braised in it, and the sauce is glazed with starch and finished with scallion oil. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home, informed by two published recipes.
Ingredients
- Soaked sea cucumber 4 (about 250 g)
- Ginger, for cooking the sea cucumber 3 slices
- Scallion, for cooking the sea cucumber 1, cut into sections
- Cooking wine, for cooking the sea cucumber 15 ml
- Scallion whites 100 g, cut into pieces about 4 cm long
- Cooking oil 60 ml (4 tablespoons)
- Sugar 5 g (about 1 teaspoon)
- Water 200 ml
- Cooking wine, for braising 15 ml
- Light soy sauce 10 ml
- Dark soy sauce 5 ml
- Starch slurry 2 teaspoons cornstarch (about 6 g) stirred into 1 tablespoon water
- Salt a small pinch, to taste
Steps
- I buy sea cucumbers that are already soaked. If you start from dried ones, soak them as the pack says before cooking; the two recipes listed give soaking times from about half a day to more than three days.
- Boil a pot of water with the ginger, scallion sections and 15 ml wine, cook the sea cucumbers for 3 minutes, then lift them out and drain.
- Put the 60 ml oil and the scallion whites in a wok, starting from cold oil, and fry them slowly over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until golden and fragrant. Lift out the scallion pieces and pour the oil into a bowl.
- Return 30 ml of the scallion oil to the wok, add the sugar, and cook over low heat until light amber. Pour in 200 ml water, 15 ml wine, the light and dark soy sauces, add the sea cucumbers and half of the fried scallion pieces, cover, and braise on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat to high and pour in the starch slurry in two or three additions, swirling the wok, until the sauce thickens and coats the sea cucumbers. Turn off the heat, taste, and add salt if you like. Plate it, spoon over about 15 ml of hot scallion oil, and lay the remaining scallion pieces on top.
Tips
- I only buy sea cucumbers that are already soaked and cook them the day I bring them home; this is my own way.
- If anyone at the table has a seafood allergy, I do not cook this dish; that is my own choice.
Allergens: shellfish, soy, wheat