Sotong sumbat with percik sauce is a Malay dish from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
It is traditionally grilled over a charcoal flame, where the squid is basted constantly with a sweet and spicy coconut sauce while being cooked.
The filling is usually an egg-based batter which can be poured into the squid tubes raw or precooked before being stuffed in with other ingredients.
I find the scrambled egg method easier to handle but you’ll have to make sure not to overcook the eggs or you won’t get the smooth texture in the filling.
The hallmark of a properly cooked stuffed squid is the lusciously soft filling surrounded by a juicy ring of squid with a piquant burst of sauce.
To fill the squid tubes, add a tablespoon at a time, squeezing the filling into any gaps or air pockets trapped in the filling.
Then reattach the tentacle to the open end with toothpicks to seal in the filling.
And because all the filling is already cooked, the squid only needs to be roasted briefly and that is important because squid gets leathery when overcooked.
The first roasting of 10 minutes will seal in the juices, while the second roasting of another 10 minutes creates a crust with the percik sauce.
Then allow it to rest for five minutes so that the juices get a chance to redistribute themselves before slicing and enjoying with steamed rice and additional percik sauce on the side.
Sotong sumbat
Ingredients
4 medium squid (500g)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
200g large prawns, shelled and diced
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
4 large eggs, beaten
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
1 bulb red onion, diced
1 stalk carrot, diced
1 sprig coriander, minced
2 tbsp cooking oil
Percik sauce
5 bulbs shallots
3 cloves garlic
5 red chillies, chopped
1 sprig coriander, minced
5 kaffir lime leaves, finely julienned
2 stalks lemongrass, finely sliced
1 tsp fish sauce
4 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt to taste
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
juice from 1 lime
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp turmeric powder
Method
Clean squid by discarding the gut and spine. Discard the eyes and beak, keeping the tentacles intact. Season with salt and pepper for about 15 minutes.
Clean prawns by discarding the heads and entrails, then coarsely dice and season with salt and pepper for about 15 minutes.
Heat oil to lightly brown the diced onion and carrot. When wilted, toss in prawns and sauté until half-cooked.
Add coriander, then pour in beaten eggs seasoned with salt and pepper and cook into soft scrambled eggs, not runny but still jiggly. Set aside to cool completely for about 20 minutes.
Stuff the squid with scrambled egg mixture until bloated, making sure to knock out any air pockets inside the squid.
Reattach the tentacles to the squid body with toothpicks, to keep the stuffing inside.
Roast in the oven at 250°C for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, blend the percik sauce ingredients into a fine paste in an electric mill.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the sauce ingredients until fragrant.
Deglaze the pan with half a cup of coconut milk and continue sautéing until the oil splits. Add another half cup of coconut milk and the turmeric powder and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Remove the squid from the oven and brush them with percik sauce until thickly coated.
Roast in the oven at 250°C for another 10 minutes until cooked.
Do not overbake or the squid will get leathery. Allow to rest for about five minutes, then slice the squid into discs of about 1cm and serve immediately with percik sauce on the side.
