Braised Sea Cucumber with Oysters and Scallops

Another Chinese New Year dish post (okay, I think this will be the last CNY dish post for 2012) and this time it is about sea cucumber, mushroom, oysters, scallops and spareribs "in abundance". May an abundance of good things follow you throughout the year. :)

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight here.

Ingredients:

• 8 dried oysters, soaked for 1 hour
• 10g dried scallops, soaked for 40-45 minutes
• 400g spareribs, chopped into 4cm lengths
• 150-200g sea cucumber
• 5 slices ginger
• 4 cloves garlic
• 250ml fresh chicken stock (If you are boiling or steaming chicken, keep their stock and use it here. It will really enhance the taste of this dish.) 

Marinade (A):

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• Dash of pepper (add up to 1/4 tsp if you like pepper)
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Seasoning (B):

• 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp thick soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Thickening

• 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 1 tbsp water

Garnishing

• Some baby bok choy

Method:

1. Season spareribs with marinade (A) for at least 10-15 minutes.
2. While waiting for the spareribs, blanch sea cucumber in boiling water with a slice of ginger and a clove of garlic for 6-8 minutes. Remove sea cucumber to a plate and drain well.
3. Fry sea cucumber in a hot wok and sprinkle in 1 teaspoon Shao Xing wine and 2 slices ginger. Dish out and put aside.
4. Cook dried oysters with 300ml water and 1 teaspoon Shao Xing wine with a clove of garlic and a slice of ginger for about 10 minutes. Remove oysters and keep the oyster stock aside for use later.
5. Deep-fry the spareribs in hot oil until lightly golden. Dish out and drain from oil. (Do not fry the spareribs for too long as the meat will be hardened, fry to the point when it's just cooked.)
6. Heat sesame oil in a wok and sauté remaining garlic and ginger until fragrant.
7. Add prefried spareribs, shiitake mushrooms, dried scallops and seasoning ingredients.
8. Pour in chicken and oyster stock and bring to the boil. Add sea cucumber and oysters. (The chicken stock should just be enough to cover all the ingredients, and the stock should be replenished little by little (as it evaporates) during cooking, to ensure the sauce will not be too diluted.) 
9. Transfer to a claypot (if you have one), otherwise just skip this step.
10. Cover the wok, reduce the heat and simmer until the meat and sea cucumbers are tender. Add thickening to the gravy.
11. Blanch the baby bok choy in a pot of chicken stock or water if you have no more chicken stock. Remove and garnish with the main dish.