沙茶鱿鱼羹面线 Sha-cha cuttlefish Noodles


Hey friends!

Sorry, I have been utterly rubbish at keeping to my blogging schedule lately due to busking 😓 I tend to take quite a lot of time preparing songs. In view of that, I think I'll have to abandon my regular schedule for now! Really sorry about that.

Here's my latest cooking adventure though! 

When I'm in Taiwan, one of my favourite food to eat is 鱿鱼羹面线 (Cuttlefish noodles). It usually comes with a mix of cuttlefish slices and also cuttlefish sticks or balls. The soup is of a thicker, starchy consistency with a 沙茶 (sha cha) base. Have you tried sha cha before? It's a very popular sauce in Taiwan. It's commonly served and available, just like how we have chilli padi and sauce in Singapore. People also term it as 'satay sauce' and it's one of the common dipping sauces used when eating hotpot.  It's made from soybean oil, shallots, dried shrimp, garlic and more.  

So anyway, I was really craving this dish and decided to recreate it!


First, you need some mian xian, or thin noodles. You can also use mee sua or whatever noodle you like, really. I like my noodles thin when there's a thick, starchy soup, because it kinds of soaks it up.At the back,  you can see the 沙茶 sauce in a can! I think we got ours from Sheng Siong?

My mum pre-sliced some fresh cuttlefish for me and left them in convenient bags for me in the freezer so I can use them as needed. 

Since I have no cuttlefish sticks, I use these cuttlefish balls instead. They're not bad! I like tighter, chewy ones - some of these cuttlefish balls or hotpot staples tend to be rather large but have no chewy texture. These cuttlefish balls tend to be on the smaller side though. 


Now, the soup base! You'll need 沙茶, bonito flakes (got ours from Donki) and also some basil! For a better, richer taste, you should also use chicken broth and saute minced garlic before adding the above. I forgot to do so 😂, and used minimal water for more flavour.


Taiwanese dishes also tend to use a lot of basil. Not the commonly used Western Sweet Basil, but probably Thai or Taiwanese basil. It's called 九層塔! You can find this in dishes like 三杯鸡 (3 Cup Chicken). It really elevates and completes the dish in my opinion! But like any edible herb, things can be very divisive - so skip the basil if you hate it! 

Here's my completed dish! Verdict: The soup can definitely be richer and starchier, but for quick fix this was fine! 


For best results, check out this video by a Taiwanese chef! 



Love,
Skye

2 Comments

  1. hey!! don’t feel bad about it, everyone has limited time and energy ◡̈ so we’ll check back whenever! I’ve never tried sha cha before even though i’ve been to taiwan a few times o.O
    thanks for the recipe! on a side note, this taiwanese chef on YouTube has great succinct recipes for authentic taiwanese dishes! you can try it out next time: 莊師傅的廚房

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    1. Hello :) Thank you! Ah thank you, I recently found that I quite like cooking so this channel will be great! (I had the chance to use a dishwasher - wow, it is life changing indeed and makes cooking so much more fun XD)

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