How to make this classic Singaporean “Zi Char” dish, Salted Egg Yolk Calamari. Crispy fried squid rings or sotong tossed in creamy salted egg yolk sauce.
Hello! Seeing as how we haven’t been able to travel for a while because of COVID-19 and such, I’m doing a new series on food. Yes, I am that basic b*itch that got way into cooking during quarantine. At least I’m not baking? *side eye* Kidding, I don’t bake because I cannot follow exact measurements. Issues and such. Follow along my journey on the YouTube page: Nomadette Eats.
In the first of this series, I’m making Salted Egg Yolk Calamari. Some time back, Singaporeans went nuts for all things salted egg yolk. We’ve always loved salted egg yolks, but then it become a trend and we took to the trend hard and fast. We were dousing anything and everything in salted egg yolks and stuffing it into our mouths. Salted Egg Yolk potato chips became the number 1 souvenir that tourists would lug back to their home countries.
Which is why I thought the first of this series should rightfully be Salted Egg Yolk Calamari, a classic OG dish. Crispy, deep fried calamari squid rings tossed in a deliciously creamy, spicy and buttery salted egg yolk sauce. This is one of my favourite dishes of all time.
It’s all about the salted egg yolk sauce which is ridiculously easy to make. Not a squid fan? Toss this over fried chicken, fried prawns – anything fried basically. You can also toss the sauce through pasta.
Ingredients:
Fried Calamari:
– 250g squid (about 3 small squids)
– seasoned with 1 tsp of salt and pepper
– 1 egg
– 4 tbsps corn flour
– Extra corn flour as frying coat
Salted Egg Yolk Sauce:
– 4 Salted Duck Egg Yolks: Steamed and mashed. The lazy way is to microwave it on high for 1 minute, but the yolks explode and it’s just messy and not pretty.
– 2 tbsps Butter
– 3 stalks of Curry Leaves
– 2 cloves chopped Carlic
– 2 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilis or Cili Padi (exclude for a non-spicy version)
– 1/2 cup of Evaporated Milk (heavy cream or regular milk will work too)
– 1 tsp Sugar
Directions:
- Steam the salted egg yolks for 5 minutes and mash the cooked yolks.
- Slice up squids, and season with salt and pepper. Add in one regular egg and corn flour. Mix through to create battered squid.
- Coat the battered squid with additional corn flour, and deep fry the squid till cooked.
- In a separate pan, melt butter with some oil on low heat.
- Once butter melts, add in chopped garlic, Thai Bird’s Eye Chillis or Cili Padi, and curry leaves.
- Once fragrant, add in the mashed salted egg yolks. Stir that in until foamy. You can continue to break egg yolks with the spatula.
- Add in half a cup of evaporated milk. Stir in till incorporated.
- Add in sugar to taste.
- Turn off heat, toss in deep fried calamari. Done.
Salted Egg Yolk Calamari
2
servings10
minutes20
minutesIngredients
- Fried Calamari
250g squid (about 3 small squids)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 egg
4 tbsps Corn Flour
Extra Corn Flour as frying coat
- Salted Egg Yolk Sauce
4 Salted Duck Egg Yolks: Steamed and mashed
2 tbsps Butter
3 stalks of Curry Leaves
2 cloves chopped Garlic
2 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilis or Cili Padi (exclude for a non-spicy version)
1/2 cup of Evaporated Milk (heavy cream or regular milk will work too)
1 tsp Sugar
Directions
- Steam the salted egg yolks for 5 minutes and mash the cooked yolks.
- Slice up squids, and season with salt and pepper. Add in one regular egg and corn flour. Mix through to create battered squid.
- Coat the battered squid with additional corn flour, and deep fry the squid till cooked.
- In a separate pan, melt butter with some oil on low heat.
- Once butter melts, add in chopped garlic, Thai Bird’s Eye Chillis or Cili Padi, and curry leaves.
- Once fragrant, add in the mashed salted egg yolks. Stir that in until foamy. You can continue to break egg yolks with the spatula.
- Add in half a cup of evaporated milk. Stir in till incorporated.
- Add in sugar to taste.
- Turn off heat, toss in deep fried calamari. Done.
Did you make this recipe?
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