How to Make Simple, Delicious, and Crunchy Stir-Fried Bigfin Reef Squid with Bottle Gourd

Stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash is a rustic yet attractive dish due to the harmonious combination of crispy and sweet bigfin reef squid and soft, refreshing, juicy calabash. The dish does not require too many seasonings, only proper ingredient preparation and temperature control during stir-frying are enough to retain the full fresh flavor. In the article below, Ola Squid will guide you on how to make stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash simply, richly flavored, and easy to do at home, don’t miss it!

Ingredients for stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash

To keep the stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash dish naturally sweet and crispy, you should prepare fresh ingredients along with just enough seasonings. For a serving of about 3 – 4 people, we need: 

How to choose fresh and delicious bigfin reef squid and calabash

To ensure the stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash dish retains the crispness and sweetness of the squid and the soft, refreshing taste of the calabash, you should prioritize fresh, firm ingredients with no signs of damage. Specifically: 

Fresh bigfin reef squid: You should choose squid with a thick body, natural translucent white or ivory-white color, shiny surface, and skin that adheres tightly to the body. When pressed gently, the squid meat should have good elasticity, quickly returning to its original shape and not being soft or mushy. Fresh squid usually has a characteristic pleasant seafood aroma, without any unusual ammonia, sour, or foul smells.

See now: Experience in choosing fresh and delicious squid from gourmets

Fresh calabash: Prioritize gourds with bright green skin, a firm surface, and not many bruises or dark spots. The gourd should feel heavy for its size, have a fresh stem, and have whitish-green, low-fiber inner flesh, which will yield a soft, sweet, and non-mushy stir-fry. Avoid choosing too mature calabash because the core will have many seeds, tough flesh, and easily ruin the dish’s deliciousness.

How to make crispy and delicious stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash

To keep the bigfin reef squid crispy and sweet while the calabash is just cooked through, you should stir-fry each ingredient separately and then combine them in the final step. This method helps control the cooking time, prevents the squid from becoming rubbery, and keeps the calabash from getting mushy.

Step 1 – Preparing the bigfin reef squid

Clean the bigfin reef squid by gently pulling the head away from the body, removing the ink sac, internal organs, eyes, teeth, and the hard cartilage. Rinse the squid with clean water, use a little salt to gently rub and remove the fishy odor, then rinse again and let it drain completely. The squid body can be lightly scored with a crosshatch pattern or cut into bite-sized pieces so that the seasonings can easily penetrate and the dish looks more appealing.

Peel the calabash, wash it, then cut it in half, remove the mature core if there are many seeds, and slice it into bite-sized thin pieces. Peel and mince the shallots and garlic; wash and cut the green onions into segments; slice the chili. Keep the prepared squid and calabash separate for convenience in the next stir-frying steps.

Reference: How to clean squid quickly and easily for delicious, standard-flavored dishes

Step 2 – Stir-frying the squid first

Heat the pan over high heat, add about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and sauté a portion of minced shallots and garlic until fragrant. Add the bigfin reef squid and stir-fry quickly for about 2-3 minutes until the squid body turns opaque white, firms up, and is just cooked through. Season with 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of seasoning powder, and a little ground black pepper, toss well, and turn off the heat.

Transfer the squid to a separate plate, keeping any released juices to use when stir-frying the calabash. You should not stir-fry the squid for too long in this step because the squid will be heated further when combined with the calabash.

Step 3 – Stir-frying the calabash separately

Add the remaining cooking oil to the pan, sauté the remaining shallots and garlic until fragrant, then add the calabash to stir-fry over medium-high to high heat. Toss well for about 2-3 minutes so the calabash starts to look translucent and soft but still retains a slight crispiness. Add 1/2 tablespoon of fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and the remaining seasoning powder, and toss quickly so the seasonings coat evenly.

You should not cover the pan or add too much water because calabash naturally contains a lot of water. If stir-fried for too long, the calabash can easily become mushy, release too much water, and cause the dish to lose its natural sweet and refreshing flavor.

Step 4 – Stir-frying squid and calabash together

When the calabash is just cooked through, return the pre-fried squid to the pan. Turn up to high heat, quickly toss the squid and calabash for about 1 minute so that both ingredients blend with the seasonings in the pan. Adjust the seasoning to taste, then add the green onions and sliced chili, and turn off the heat.

This step needs to be done quickly to avoid overcooking the squid, while helping the calabash retain its soft-crispy texture and beautiful color. Do not stir continuously and too vigorously because the soft calabash might get crushed.

Step 5 – Final product and enjoyment

The finished stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash has harmonious colors, firm and crispy ivory-white squid, and soft, juicy calabash that still retains a slight crunch. The natural sweetness of the squid combines with the refreshing taste of the calabash, enhanced by a touch of aromatic spiciness from the shallots, garlic, and chili, creating a lightly flavored yet very appetizing dish.

The dish is best enjoyed hot with white rice. You can sprinkle a little ground black pepper and green onions before serving to enhance the aroma, and eat it immediately after stir-frying to clearly feel the crispiness and sweetness of the squid.

Tips to keep squid crispy and not rubbery

To ensure the stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash dish turns out perfectly delicious, you should pay attention to:

• Stir-fry squid over high heat: The pan must be hot enough before adding the squid to quickly sear its surface and minimize water release.
• Do not stir-fry the squid for too long: Just stir-frying for about 2-3 minutes the first time, then combining with the calabash for another minute, is enough to cook the squid through.
• Stir-fry squid and calabash separately: Squid and calabash have different cooking times, so they should be stir-fried separately before combining to easily control the doneness.
• Let the squid drain completely: If the squid still has too much water when added to the pan, it can easily drop the temperature quickly, causing the squid to release water and lose its crispiness.
• Do not cover the pan when stir-frying: Calabash contains a lot of water; covering the pan can cause steam to accumulate and make the dish mushy quickly.
• Add the squid at the end: Only return the squid to the pan when the calabash is almost cooked to shorten the reheating time, helping the squid meat maintain its firm and crispy texture.

See more delicious and easy-to-make stir-fried squid dishes at home:

• What is delicious to stir-fry with squid? Summary of the most rice-consuming stir-fried squid dishes
• Recipe for making stir-fried squid with green beans, crispy, sweet, and aromatic
• How to make stir-fried squid with garlic, crispy, sweet, no water release, and no fishy odor
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• How to make crispy and delicious sweet and sour stir-fried squid, eat once and get addicted
• How to make crispy green stir-fried squid with water spinach, extremely delicious to eat

Above is how to make stir-fried bigfin reef squid with calabash which is crispy, sweet, and refreshing with simple steps, easy to perform at home. If you want to change your palate with dishes made from dried squid, you can refer to dried squid from Ola Squid with many different options, suitable for enjoying directly or processing into many delicious dishes. Contact Ola Squid right away to get advice on products suitable for your needs!