 Jiu Hoo Char (Stirfried Cuttlefish Floss)
Jiu Hoo Char or Stirfried Cuttlefish Julienne is the quintessential Penang Nyonya dish. Despite its name, the main ingredient of jiu hoo char is not the expensive cuttlefish floss, but rather the lowly turnip, which gives the dish much of its body. However, jiu hoo char without jiu hoo see (cuttlefish floss - shredded or julienne cuttlefish) would be like chicken pie without chicken - unacceptable. Everything about this dish is finely sliced, or julienned. If you are too lazy or rushed to julienne the ingredients, the alternative is to shred them with a shredder - but gourmets of Nyonya cooking would quickly point out that the taste of shredded vegetable is nowhere as tasty as julienne. Certainly shredding would have killed the texture so vital in jiu hoo char.
Jiu Hoo Char
Apart from cuttlefish floss and turnip, the other ingredients of jiu hoo char include generous amounts of cabbage and carrot, followed by onions and if you wish, shiitake mushroom as well. When my wife makes jiu hoo char, she also adds leek and parsley. Ah on yes, you need fatty belly pork to give it the natural oil - this is not a halal dish.
Jiu hoo char can be eaten as a starter served with Chinese lettuce, which you use to wrap the julienne vege. I find that to be too extravagant a method to consume jiu hoo char - though my wife likes to eat it that way - preferring instead to have it with hot white rice.
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