Sea cucumbers disregarding their different sizes and colours, possess the same nutrients. They contain loads of protein and are low in fats and cholesterol. This is a much sought after dried seafood delicacy. In Cantonese, it is known as Hoi Sum. It represents with a symbolic rhyme of Happy hearts. This is reasonable enough why sea cucumbers make good gift packs during Chinese New Year.
There are 2 types sold, in dry form & wet form.
The dried ones, you can purchase from chinese medicine hall and need days of soaking which involves more tedious work & time consuming as you need to prepare days in advance before you planning to cook the dish.
The soaked ones or fresh ones, require less work & time saving. Normally sold in the wet market and partially cleaned.
I bought some at the wet market and here's showing how I cleaned and process them before ready to cook. Bought this lots for RM50, got 36pcs.. Which I consider very cheap. Nearing CNY will be getting more pricey.
They already split open the stomach but not thoroughly cleaned. You can see some entrails / intestines & dirt inside like sand or coral bits (sea cucumber eat corals)
Remove all entrails by pulling it out gently, scrub it inside out & spread it open while you wash it under running tap water to wash out sands/coral bits trapped inside.
All cleaned now.
Boil a pot of water. Add few slices of ginger into the pot to remove the fishy odour. Boil it for 10 minutes. Strained & rinse with tap water to clean for a final round.
After this process, it should be ready for cooking. You can cook it immediately or pack it nicely & freeze it for future use. To use the frozen ones, you just need to defrost it and it will be ready to cook.
Few recipes I had cooked before using Sea Cucumber.
Pig Maw Chinese Cabbage with Sea Cucumber Soup
Braised Sea Cucumber with Radish & Chinese Mushroom
Happy Cooking..