Name: Chengwei Sweet and Sour Octopus
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 3
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 500g Hairtail; 8g pepper; 5g star anise; 25g Sugar; 30ml White vinegar; 2 tablets Bay leaf; 4 slices ginger; 3 cloves garlic; 15ml Soy sauce; 10ml Cooking Wine

Chengwei Sweet and Sour Octopus

by The taste of woody

4.8 (1)

Favorite

Difficulty

Easy

Time

Serving

The Songhua River stretches through Harbin, dividing the city into two areas, south of the Yangtze River and north of the Yangtze River. It is supported by mountains, mountains and rivers. When I was young, there were still a lot of river fish, but if you eat sea fish, especially fresh sea fish, there are some, but the price will not be the same. The fish is so weak.

Twenty years ago, when I wanted to eat a crab during the Spring Festival, I had to go to the Daoli Vegetable Market the day before New Year’s Eve to buy it. The price of a crab was 120 yuan. (In those days, a person’s monthly income was only over fifty)

Therefore, my father’s unit would distribute frozen hairtails years ago. This kind of deep-sea fish was already hung up when it was picked up. Every time my mother asked me how to make octopus, I would jump up and shout, I want to eat sweet and sour octopus.

Since I was young, I have been particularly fond of the "sour" taste, hot and sour, sweet and sour, and sour and fragrant. I like most sour dishes. I even prepare a few small jars and make my own sour radishes. , Capers.

Today, I will take my childhood memories and make a mother's taste, sweet and sour octopus.

Chengwei Sweet and Sour Octopus

1. The hairtail bought at the vegetable farm is processed by the store and cut into 10cm pieces. Prepare pepper, star anise, bay leaves, ginger, garlic, white vinegar, light soy sauce, cooking wine, rock sugar, etc.

2. Stir-fry the pepper, star anise, bay leaves, ginger, and garlic in oil to get the flavor. Put the octopus directly on the fire. In my practice, the octopus is not marinated or coated with starch. It's a personal habit. The hairtail itself is not thick, easy to be cooked and not fishy, so I don’t think there is any need to do other treatments to make it taste delicious.

3. Then add more rice vinegar and rock sugar.

4. Add cooking wine. Rice vinegar itself has the effect of removing fishy and softening meat quality, but the wine can actually be added without it.
Turn to low heat, let the vinegar and sugar taste slowly penetrate into the meat, then add light soy sauce. Cover the lid and simmer over low heat.

5. At the same time, prepare a broad bean rice and eat it with sweet and sour octopus.

6. Simmer for about 10 minutes (the octopus itself is not thick and easy to taste), add a small amount of lime juice before serving, so that the sweet and sour taste becomes layered, not just the sour taste of vinegar.