Rating 4.5 (· 97 h 15 min) Have you ever tried to rehydrate a dried sea cucumber? It's not an easy task, but it can be done. To do so, submerge the sea cucumber in clean water and make sure to change the water every day. You can also use a small knife to gently scrape the sea cucumber with cold running water from the tap. Maybe it's because my grandmother makes it (whose kitchen I'll love for the rest of my life), or because a pot of braised sea cucumber with mushrooms means spending time with family around the table, but I'm sure you'll understand why I'm so passionate about this ingredient.
To prepare it, increase the heat to high and add the shiitake mushrooms, clean hydrated fish maw, sea cucumbers and the remaining mushroom water to the pot. The first time my husband brought home a dried sea cucumber 6 years ago, they were a little different from the one shown here in the photos. Farmed sea cucumbers or those caught in Central and North America, the Middle East, Australia and the South Pacific can be found at low prices. At first, sea cucumbers may have a slight smell of the sea, but they will eventually take on the flavor of the sauces in which they are cooked.
If you want to eat sea cucumbers, sorry, there are no shortcuts, you just have to rehydrate them yourself. Those are all the internal parts of sea cucumbers and if you cook them together with the sea cucumber, they will become chewy. You just have to plan in advance when you are going to prepare a dish with sea cucumbers, as it takes some time to prepare them and make the hard rock sea cucumber soften and become thicker. Change the soaking water frequently if you are buying the dry versions and scrape the impurities off the surface as much as you can. A Qing book that analyzes the medicinal qualities of herbs and other food ingredients goes one step further and proclaims the ability of sea cucumbers to improve men's urological abilities.
Sea cucumbers are found on the seabed all over the world, or are called trenches (I learned that from my children's bedside book about cats). They are usually sold in a dry, pre-soaked form in certain Asian supermarkets that sell gourmet ingredients. On the other hand, thorny sea cucumbers, sought after since ancient times, are increasingly expensive. Rehydrating dried sea cucumbers is not an easy task but it is worth it! The process requires patience and dedication but it will be worth it when you get to enjoy this delicious ingredient in your dishes. So don't be afraid to give it a try!.
