Squid with Spicy, Sour & Sweet Sauce | So Easy & Refreshingly Delicious!

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When it comes to seafood, My Mum has this really high demand list that sometimes we find it really confusing. She only eats dry based seafood (it must be super crispy fried,  she likes the tail part of a fried fish). She hate wet (sauce) based seafood dishes. She does not like fish based processed food at all.

Here in Surabaya we have our very own fermented wet shrimp paste called Petis. We use it in our delicious signature local delicacies. Mostly we make sauce or paste out of it for salad dressing and others but sometimes we stir it in our soup based dishes. Mum loves rujak (veggie salad with shrimp paste & peanut dreaaing) so much but she dislike dip the gorengan (traditional fritters) in Petis Sauce like almost all Surabayans do. She doesn’t like the petis stirred in the Tahu Campur (veggie & beef soup with petis sauce), but she doesn’t mind mix the petis in Lontong Balap (bean sprout & tofu soup). Enough about the petis, the recipe i’m about to share is nothing related to that.

So, today i just learned something new about Mum. She requested this Cumi Asam Manis Pedas (Squid with Spicy, Sour & Sweet Sauce) for dinner. I am shocked. It is because she wanted something that she normaly did not eat (Spicy & Saucy Seafood). She only eats fried calamari. Not even once she ever touched my Squid with Black Squid Ink Sauce (i always make them half & half whenever i cook squid).

To fulfill that shocking demand, i gladly said yes to Mum’s special request. I just grab ingredients in the fridge that i think are suitable for that spicy, sour and sweet taste combination. So here is the recipe for today’s dinner menu:

SQUID WITH SPICY, SOUR & SWEET SAUCE

Ingredients:

Stir-fried:

• 500gr of Squid (peeled, cleaned, washed crisscrossed, sliced).
• 1 medium sized of Onion (sliced).
• 3 cloves of Garlic (crushed & chopped).
• 1 stalk of Lemongrass (crushed).
• 3 Lime Leaves (torn apart).
• Ginger (around the size of your thumb, crushed).
• 5 Green Pepper (sliced).
• 2 stalks of Scallions (sliced).
• 11 bird’s eye chillies.

Blended into sauce:

• 5 Cayenne Pepper.
• 3 Bird’s Eye Chilli.
• 2 Tomatoes.
• 150 ml of Water.

Seasonings:

• 2 tbsp of Sweet & Thick Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce.
• 1 tsp of Fish Sauce.
• 1 large Lemon (half for the sauce & half for squid marinade. Squeezed & Zested).
• A pinch of Salt (to taste).
• A pinch of Sugar (to taste).
• A pinch of White Pepper (to taste, freshly grated)

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Directions:

• Start with the squid. It takes up a lot of time and effort to prep. It somehow brings up my inner OCD side in me. LOL.

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• Wash the squids. Peel the outer slimy pinkish skin layer of the squid. Pull the tentacles and the pouch apart. Pull out the bone (the plastic like part) inside the pouch. Clean the slimy innards (eggs and ink pocket) inside the pouch. Cut the eye and another plastic like part inside its mouth. You will get this perfectly cleaned squid as you can see in the picture bellow.

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• Unfortunately your prep job is not done yet. Now you need to poke your knive into the pouch and cut it open wide. Crisscross the inside surfave and then slice it into your desired size. See the picture below for detailed graphic instruction (from top left, clockwise)

• Squeeze half of the lemon in the squid and leave it for at least 15 minutes.
• Now move on to the sauce. Don’t forget to wash all the ingredients! 🙂
• Chop all the cayenne pepper, chilli and tomatoes. Put the chopped ingredients into food processor. Pour a little bit of water, blend them all well.

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• While the sauce is blending, start chopping all of the stir-fry ingredients & heat 4 tablespoon of cooking oil in a skillet over a medium heat.

• Slice the onion, throw it in the hot skillet. Stir it until translucent.

• Crush & chop the garlics. Stir it in the skillet and keep stirring until they slightly caramelized.

• Crush the white part of the Lemongrass and tie it around the edges. Toss it in the skillet and give it another stir.

• Tear apart the lime leaves and put it in the skillet.

• Peel the ginger with your spoon and then crush it with the back of your knive. Throw it in the skillet and stir all the ingredients until that beautiful aroma comes out.

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• Pour in the sauce into the skillet. Do not waste the sauce, i know there must be some lumps stuck in the food processor. That’s why earlier i asked you to pour the water just a lil bit. Now pour the rest of the water into the blender and push the pulse few times. Now pour the liquid into the skillet.
• Add in the lemon zest into the sauce.

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• Let it simmer for a few minute. When the sauce starts to thicken, start to stir again. Keep stirrinh it all well until the sauce thickens more and the color getting darker.

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• When the sauce is ready, pour in the squids all together. Make sure that the squids spread evenly in the skillet and covered evenly in that beautiful sauce. It only need 6 minutes for the squid to be cooked properly (in my case, depends on how thick and big you cut the squid). Don’t overcook it unless you want that rubbery texture in the squid.

• Don’t forget to toss in the sliced green peppers, scallions and whole chilli peppers one minute before you turn off the stove. You need them to be still fresh when you eat it and plus it adds another texture in the dish.
• Pour in the juice from the half of the lemon into the sauce. Give it one more stir and then turn off the heat.

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Our “Squid with Spicy, Sour and Sweet Sauce” or here in Indonesia We call it “Cumi Asam Manis Pedas) is ready. Eat it with steaming hot white rice. I’m sure this dish is definitely a “Rice Stealer”. It will call for more rice. Just remember to watch your rice consumption (it has high glukose, especially when it is steaming hot).

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But whatever. It is YUMMM! Selamat Makan! 🙂