Seafood Vermicelli Casserole is a creative seafood vermicelli dish that blends Cantonese and Hunan flavors. The core is that the vermicelli soaks up the seafood flavor and sauce, resulting in a rich and savory taste. I. Origin: A Creative Dish of Cantonese and Hunan Integration - Rooted in Cantonese Teahouses: Guangdong teahouses often use dried scallops, dried shrimp, squid, and other seafood with vermicelli, enhanced with XO sauce or seafood broth, making it a classic teahouse snack. - Around 2004, Cantonese chefs introduced the early "Seafood Dry-Fried Vermicelli Casserole," featuring the combination of seafood and vermicelli. - In 2008, a Hunan cuisine team collaborated with Cantonese chefs to improve the dish, repeatedly adjusting it for 30 days to suit popular tastes. After its launch in several Hunan restaurants in Changsha, it became a hit, a "must-order" at every table, and subsequently spread throughout the country. II. Popularity: Home-Style and International Expansion - Core Highlights: Vermicelli that doesn't stick together, rich seafood flavor, and a strong sauce aroma; can be stir-fried or casserole-style, suitable for both home cooking and restaurants. - Affordable price (28-38 yuan/serving), with a wide appeal, and exported to Singapore, the United States, Germany, and other places, becoming one of the most popular home-style dishes in Chinese cuisine. - The name "Haihuang" (Sea King) signifies the gathering of the essence of the sea's freshness, while "Bao" (Casserole) is a figurative description of its shape or container, often written as "Bao" (Pot) to better reflect the cooking method in a clay pot. III. Fun Facts - Key to Preparation: Soak the vermicelli in warm water until soft, then mix with oil to prevent sticking; fry shrimp heads to extract shrimp oil for added aroma; add XO sauce or seafood sauce for freshness; the clay pot keeps it warm for better flavor absorption. - Easily confused with the "Krusty Krab" from SpongeBob SquarePants, but the two are completely unrelated; one is a real-life food, and the other is a fictional animated burger.
Materials
7 Steps to Make Seafood Vermicelli Casserole
1. Soak dried vermicelli in warm water for 10 minutes until softened, then drain. This will prevent it from sticking when stir-frying. Soak dried scallops in warm water for 20 minutes and shred them. Remove the shrimp veins from the shrimp and cut the squid tentacles into small pieces (thaw the squid rolls). Cut green and red peppers into small strips and prepare minced garlic and scallion segments.
2. In a bowl, add light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, XO sauce or satay sauce, and half a bowl of water. Stir well and set aside. No additional salt is needed.
3. Heat oil in a wok, add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant. Over low heat, first add shredded scallops and stir-fry until dry and fragrant, then add shrimp and squid tentacles. Stir-fry over high heat until the ingredients change color slightly.
4. Add the green and red bell pepper pieces and stir-fry quickly for 10 seconds to cook the vegetables until just done but retain their crispness. Set all ingredients aside.
5. Leave some oil in the pan, add the soaked glass noodles, use chopsticks to separate and stir-fry until the noodles turn slightly yellow and have a slightly charred aroma, avoiding sticking and clumping.
6. Pour all the stir-fried seafood and side dishes back into the pot, pour in the prepared sauce, stir well with chopsticks, cover the pot and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes to allow the glass noodles to absorb the broth.
7. Remove the lid, turn up the heat, and stir-fry quickly until the sauce thickens and coats the glass noodles. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and a little white pepper powder. Serving it directly from the pot will give it a Cantonese clay pot flavor.
