Sausage stuffed squid.

I ate many delicious things in Vietnam. Banana flower salads; crispy shrimp pancakes; caramelised fish; and of course, endless bowls of steaming pho. But in a very competitive field, my favourite dish just might have been one eaten under florescent strip lighting at formica tables in a cafe in Hoi An: stuffed squid.

I asked the owner how it was made and she rattled off a list of ingredients: writing it down later I remembered pork, mushroom, chilli, lemongrass; glass noodles. She also said something about it being steamed. Okay. I figured I could retro-engineer something.

About a week after I arrived home I decided to have a go. With a little research into other recipes I put together a list of ingredients: squid (obviously); pork mince; mushrooms; spring onions; shallots; garlic; lemongrass; red chilli; glass noodles; and nam pla (fish sauce).

I bought baby squids from the fishmonger. As they also had packets of fresh squid ink, I thought, "why not?" and bought two. I decided to use oyster mushrooms: to be honest I think this was mostly due to the seafood association of the name. I couldn't find proper glass noodles anywhere except online for extortionate prices, so I substituted rice vermicelli.

The squids had already had their membranes and entrails removed, so I simply checked each mantle for stray quills; separated the arms and tentacles; and snipped off the fins. I diced the arms, tentacles and fins to combine with the stuffing.

For the rest of the stuffing, I rehydrated the rice noodles in salted water and chopped them into small pieces. I diced the mushrooms and shallots; crushed the garlic; and finely sliced the spring onions, lemongrass and chilli. I added this to the diced squid and salted pork mince; and sprinkled the mixture with a good glug of nam pla and the squid ink. I mixed it all together with my fingers, and wondered if the squid ink had been a good idea.

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The various recipes talked airily of using a spoon to stuff the squids. Nothing so easy. I tried various shapes and sizes; but the mixture stuck to everything and also to my fingers. After pondering for a while I realised a piping bag could work. I filled a bag and used the largest round nozzle to squeeze the mixture through into the squid tubes.

It was very effective.

Following a tip from a website, I used cocktail sticks to close the tubes. The woman in the cafe had mentioned steaming; but several of the recipes called for the squids to be fried, or steamed and fried. I decided to steam first; then think about frying them. I steamed the squids for about five minutes, turning them over half way through. They swelled and turned opaque in the heat; and I realised I may have overstuffed them as the sausage mixture protruded through the openings.

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The meat was cooked, but I felt they were lacking colour, so I fried them quickly in a small amount of neutral oil until they turned golden.

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I sliced each tube into approximately quarter-inch thick rounds. They needed a little extra salt (I always find seasoning meat rather tricky as one can only taste at the end) so I sprinkled them with nam pla.

I scattered the squid rounds over a bed of iceburg lettuce, fried shallots; spring onions, chilli, mint and lime.

As a concept, I was very pleased with how these turned out. The piping bag worked brilliantly. Compared with the stuffed squid I ate in Hoi An, I think the mixture needed to be smoother, perhaps more like a pate. Next time I will use a food processor to get everything really fine. It should also have been more mushroomy: either the oyster mushrooms were not strong enough or I needed more of them. The squid ink gave the mixture are rather grey appearance. Fine, but possibly not desirable. I think next time I will skip the ink and add more nam pla for extra fishy flavour and salt. I liked the colour imparted by frying, but I think the squid itself was verging on overcooked having been steamed first. Next time I might try just frying them.