Sambal Sotong (Spicy Squid) with Celery 叁巴苏东炒西芹

Due to my prior commitments, I had less than 30 minutes to cook dinner tonight.  I was in distress initially. Having dug into my refrigerator, I found my quick solution. My box of sambal paste seemed to be waving at me in the fridge....I hesitated no more. 

Due to time constraint, I could only whip up another single pot dish to go with steamed rice - Sambal Sotong (Spicy Squid) with Celery 叁巴苏东炒西芹.

Ingredients (enough for 4 pax) :

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• 2 large sotong/squid (cleaned and cut to rings)
• 400 gm celery (deveined and cut to bite sizes)
• 3 tbsp sambal paste (see "Sambal Paste" below for instructions)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)    

Sambal Paste (if you do not intend to blend the various spices yourself)

Buy fresh pre-made sambal mix from traditional spice stalls in wet market. These stalls sell pre-made spices mix for various cooking methods (e.g. curry chicken, seafood, vegetables etc). Just tell the stall owner what you intend to cook and they would recommend you the appropriate stuffs. I bought a packet for sambal seafood. It cost me a dollar.

Heat cooking oil in skillet/wok, add lemon grass and stir fry the sambal mix thoroughly on the same day you make the purchase. Afterwhich,  you may store the fried sambal paste in a container. Chill (not freeze) in the refrigerator for future use. This sambal paste would come handy for cooking spicy dishes. If you do not intend to fry the paste on the same day, store the fresh spice mix in a freezer.

Method :

Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in skillet/wok.

Add 3 tbsp sambal paste and give it a quick stir fry.

Toss in sotong/squid rings and stir lightly till 80% cooked.

Add celery and 2 tsp sugar. Toss all ingredients till fully cooked and evenly coated with sambal sauce. Transfer to serving plate/bowl when ready. If you prefer your sambal sotong/squid to be a drier version, do not stir fry together with any vegetables (like celery). Stir fry vegetables separately.

One of my favourite quick and easy dishes...tangy, spicy and tasty.