Awakening of Insects · Lunch · Blood Stasis
Stir-fried squid with flowering chives on rice
A 20-minute home lunch: tender squid, fragrant flowering chives and sweet red pepper, wok-tossed over hot rice.
- 23 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
WarmingMoves blood & qiWarms & wakes appetite
Why it suits you: Blood Stasis brings cold hands and feet and a dull complexion. Warm, pungent flowering chives move qi and blood, with blood-nourishing squid and red pepper — a fragrant lunch that keeps things flowing as spring energy rises at Awakening of Insects.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 8 min- 1Clean the squid, removing the insides and membrane, score it in a criss-cross pattern and cut into pieces. Blanch for 20 seconds and drain.
- 2Heat the wok with oil, fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then stir-fry the red pepper and chives on high for 1 minute.
- 3Add the squid, Shaoxing wine and oyster sauce and toss for 1 minute; as soon as the squid curls, turn off the heat and spoon over the hot rice.
Cautions
- Avoid if you are allergic to seafood; with high cholesterol, keep squid to moderate portions.
Chef's tips
- Overcooked squid turns rubbery — take it off the heat as soon as it curls.
The TCM view
Flowering chives are pungent and warm, warming yang and dispersing stasis; squid is sweet, salty and neutral and nourishes blood and yin; red pepper is sweet and warm and wakes the appetite. Ginger and garlic help move blood — warming and freeing without being heating.
