Pickled Chili Sugar Snap Pea Scallops (風味糟辣椒蜜豆帶子, Fung1 Mei6 Zou1 Laat6 Ziu1 Mat6 Dau6 Daai3 Zi2)

Scallops were on sale at my local market, so I decided to make a dish using pickled chilies. Pickled chilies are available bottled at your local Asian market. The picked chilies are broken into pieces, as opposed to being whole, so all you have to do is add them to the sauce mixture. Since the scallops were on the large size, I decided to use Shiitake mushrooms that were roughly the same size. The mushrooms were also the high quality mushrooms purchased at my local Asian herb and dried goods store, so they’re meatier than the mushrooms found at Asian markets.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Scallops (帶子, daai3 zi2)
1 lb.	500 g.	Sugar snap peas (蜜豆, mat6 dau6)
12	12	Whole dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
8 oz.	227 g.	One package fried tofu (油炸豆腐, jau4 zaa3 dau6 fu6)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces on the diagonal
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Laoganma brand Pickled Chili (風味糟辣椒, fung1 mei6 zou1 laat6 ziu1) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions

Laoganma Brand Pickled Chili
(風味糟辣椒, fung1 mei6 zou1 laat6 ziu1)

1. If using frozen scallops, thaw in a covered container overnight in the refrigerator. Take the scallops out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
2. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, and remove the stems. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).
3. Open the fried tofu package and discard any liquid.
4. Wash and remove the string from the sugar snap peas by grasping each sugar snap pea in one hand and pulling the tip the length

   

   Lee Kum Kee Brand Premium
   Oyster Flavored Sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4)

   of the sugar snap pea with the other.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces on the diagonal.
7. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Laoganma brand Pickled Chili or equivalent, Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the scallops to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and quickly stir fry the scallops. The scallops should look undercooked. You may have to cook the scallops in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the scallops to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the scallops.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the fried tofu. Stir fry the fried tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the scallops.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the sugar snap peas. Stir fry to brown the sugar snap peas. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture to the wok, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the scallops back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
5. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve with steamed rice.