Surf and Turf, Southern Taiwan Style

The day after the Dragon Boat Festival, we're off to Cijin Island, a tiny splotch of land just five minutes from the city proper. Kaohsiung-ites daytrip to Cijin to stroll the wood-plank walkway on its northwestern tip, climb a small hill up to its old lighthouse and Ching dynasty battery remnants, pay respects at its 300-year-old plus Mazu temple, and eat anything and everything seafood.

We're at the dock early, and a good thing too - this being a public holiday, the island's main street will be wall-to-wall daytrippers by noon. Arriving at 9am we find the thoroughfare quiet, the temple deserted but for a few praying islanders, seafood vendors only just filling their display cabinets with ice.

 

We're not ready for a full-on assault, but rumbling bellies demand a small. The scent of a grill and the sight of a weathered face, white cotton tank top, and hot pink plastic clogs beneath a sign reading '20-year-old old shop' draws us in.

You know a vendor sure of the superiority of his product when you bring out the camera: he pulls back his shoulders, lets his lips turn up at the sides just a little. His eyes meet yours for a second, then he returns his attention to the job at hand. This man is sure in the belief that he turns out the best grilled squid on Cijin Island. We believe him.

 

The cephalopod, big as a man's hand, is grilled both sides, slashed horizontally and then vertically - butterflied, essentially, and finished with a few flips to char both sides. As it chars he brushes its surface with thick soy sauce. After a query ('La jiao?' - 'Hot chili?') - he adds a sprinkle of dried chili flakes.

The man knows what he's doing. The squid - blackened in a few spots (not a negative, in our book), amazingly tender, smoky from the grill - is delicious, so precisely cooked that we order two more. On the side, a couple of juicy sweet-sour tomatoes accompanied by a bowl of soy sauce, grated ginger, and powdered sugar, for dipping.

 

Mix sugar, ginger, and soy, spear tomato - dip and eat. A bit odd at first, but I remember that my father - thanks to the influence of his southern American-born grandmother - has long eaten tomatoes with sugar. And it works beautifully. (This, by the way, is a combo we'll see elsewhere in southern Taiwan.)

Grilled squid and tomatoes, Cijian Island (Kaohsiung) main street, from 8am. It really is the best grilled squid in town.

Comments

[meemalee]

I thought they were some kind of crayfish when I saw the first pic :)

I do love squid, but the one time I bought some to prep and cook at home, they freaked me out too much and I had to abort the mission.

[Andrea Nguyen]

Robyn and Dave, I smell the charcoal fire from the photos. We grilled baby octopus last week and ate them with beer. The squid you have here looks divine, especially the tentacles.

[foodhoe]

Looks like the perfect way to start the day. I love how the tentacles get crispy and blackened on the grill! Never heard of using sugar on tomatoes, is it good? Will have to try it, ginger, soy and sugar too...

[Jim Stuart]

Great blog! Wonderful pictures, good writing and interesting topics. Makes me hungry. Eating Asian is pretty difficult here in Santiago, Chile. Chilean-Chinese is like American Chinese before Szechuan, and in Iowa to boot! There is good Korean though—too spicy for Chilean tastes. But we have great sea food. See http://eatingchile.blogspot.com/
Best wishes - Jim

[irugnotmis]

I used to eat tomatoes with sugar every summer when I was still living in China. It's quite the summer-time after-meal dessert!

[joan]

i've never had raw tomatoes with sugar, but spaghetti sauce or ketchup is essentially tomatoes with sugar! there's also a tomato egg dish that is on the sweet rather than savory side.

[BHsu]

is the sauce for the tomatoe, a soy paste with sugar and ginger? Last time I was there, I thought i remembered the sauce was kind of thick? Or does the sugar make it thick?

Thanks