#ewew cooks Fried Turnip with Shredded Dried Cuttlefish

One of my favourite vegetable dish is Fried Turnip with Shredded Dried Cuttlefish...and it's one dish I've seen repeatedly every year at our Chinese New Year reunion dinner table in Ipoh.

A popular Nyonya dish and more commonly known as "jiu hu char", the turnip (aka sengkuang/jiacama/yam bean) is fried with shredded carrot, shiitake mushrooms and dried cuttlefish.

It's not a dish I cook often at home as it involves a lot of cutting work...manually.....to fine threads.  But I have to say that the end result more than makes up for all the hard work! ;)

For this dish, you need just 4 ingredients - turnip, carrot, dried shiitake mushrooms and dried cuttlefish (roughly one medium turnip, 1/2 a carrot, 4 - 5 shiitake mushrooms and a handful of dried cuttlefish).  Again, the quantity of ingredients in relation to one another is not critical, so it can be more or less.  Nowadays, you can buy dried cuttlefish that has already been shredded into fine shreds (so one less thing to shred).  Thinly slice your turnip and carrot and cut them into long, fine strips.  You can (of course) enlist the help of a slicer, shredder or grater to assist you but (don't ask me why) it seems to taste better when shredded the traditional way by hand.  I've eaten those where the turnip is grated and the mixture (being more mushy in texture) didn't taste as good! >.<

Fry the strands of dried cuttlefish in some oil.  Once they turn into a nice golden brown colour, dish up and set aside.

Leave the remaining oil in your pan and throw in the shredded carrot.  Fry for a minute or two until the carrots are slightly softened.  [#Tip: I know some will add strips of finely cut pork belly or minced pork into the mix (like the version cooked in Ipoh for Chinese New Year) but I prefer to omit it in mine as I find the porky flavour (that has seeped into the turnip) changes the taste profile of the dish.]

Add the shiitake mushrooms and some chopped garlic.  I'm using some pre-fried garlic that I have already prepared earlier but you can use fresh garlic, no problem.

The shredded turnip goes in next.  I'd suggest that you use a wide bottom pan so that the vegetables can be spread out in one layer to ensure they get to soften evenly.

Stir-fry for a while before adding the fried cuttlefish (but leave some for garnishing).  Season with salt...and I like to add a dollop of oyster sauce to give the dish a bit of colour.

Simmer on medium-low heat until the turnip is soft (keep adding water bit by bit when you see the liquid drying up).  As to how long you want to simmer depends entirely on how soft you want your turnip to be. Taste, taste, taste until you're satisfied with the seasoning and texture of your turnip.  You can cook it for anything between 10 - 20 minutes.

I cooked mine for 20 minutes coz I like them really soft.  And there you have it....my Fried Turnip with Shredded Dried Cuttlefish is ready!

Plate up and sprinkle the remaining fried cuttlefish on top :)

It can be eaten wrapped in fresh lettuce leaves (like how my husband's family would eat it during Chinese New Year or how it's served at some Nyonya restaurants).  It goes extremely well with rice too.  It's one of those dishes where the flavour gets better overnight or after multiple reheating.  That's why it's a popular dish to cook for Chinese New Year.

The dried cuttlefish is the single most important ingredient if you want to make a killer jiu hu char.....it gives it that salty, fragrant aroma and taste.  The other key factor is how well or how fine you can julienne the turnip...hehe! :P

This is a dish (I feel) you can replicate at home to a high degree of success! ;)  It also doubles up as a good base for a fried popiah filling (just make sure to fry the filling until dry or, alternatively, drain away the liquid).  You may want to add some fried taufu bits, omelette strips and taugeh (beansprouts) to take the popiah filling up a notch.