Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallion

Ingredients

• 4 pieces prepared sea cucumber
• 1 piece scallion white
• 20-25 ml cooking oil
• 20 g oyster sauce
• 5 g soy sauce
• 2 g white sugar
• 2 g cornstarch
• 100 ml water

Method

Sea cucumber demands gentle heat — this is a braising dish that relies on slow absorption rather than aggressive cooking. The vegetable's gelatinous texture collapses under high temperature, so your control is tighter than a typical wok braise. Start by cutting the prepared sea cucumber into 1 cm segments; prepared specimens (already rehydrated and cleaned) will have lost their raw brittleness but still carry a slippery, almost rubber-like resistance that you'll feel with the knife. Slice the scallion white the same way — uniform size ensures even cooking across both components.

Build your sauce before heat touches the wok. Whisk 20 g oyster sauce, 5 g soy sauce, and 2 g white sugar in a bowl until the sugar dissolves — these fermented-condiments release umami in liquid form, and the sugar rounds the salt rather than sweetening it. Separately, slake 2 g cornstarch in 100 ml cold water; starch granules won't hydrate evenly if you add them dry to hot liquid, so this slurry prevents lumps and ensures clean thickening via thickening. Set both aside.

Heat your wok over a high flame. Add 20–25 ml cooking oil and wait until the surface shimmers and hazily ripples — about 10 seconds over strong heat. Add the scallion white segments immediately and drop the heat to low. The slow infusion extracts the allium's sweetness without caramelising it or releasing bitter sulphur compounds. After 3–5 minutes the segments will soften and turn translucent at the edges; they should bend without resistance. Remove them to a plate. Return heat to medium, add the sauce mixture, and stir constantly for 1–2 minutes until fragrant — the oyster sauce's proteins bloom and darken slightly, deepening the flavour.

Add the sea cucumber pieces and stir gently for 1 minute to coat them evenly, then pour in the reserved 100 ml water. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes uncovered. The liquid will reduce by half as the sea cucumber absorbs the braising liquid's umami. When the wok shows mostly sauce clinging to the walls rather than pooling, add your cornstarch slurry in a thin stream whilst stirring — the sauce will thicken almost immediately into a glossy, light coat. Return the scallion white segments, fold through twice, and plate whilst the sauce still moves freely.