How to soak and rehydrate dried sea cucumber? A guide to choosing water, the right size to soak to, and how to tell when it is ready

Dried sea cucumber is the finished product made from sea cucumber after processing. It keeps for a long time, and its nutritional value is no less than that of fresh sea cucumber, so it is very suitable to keep on hand at home. But if you want to eat it, you have to rehydrate it first. So how do you rehydrate dried sea cucumber? Is bigger always better? How do you tell whether it is fully rehydrated?

1. How to rehydrate?

1. Tools to prepare for rehydrating:

Purified water or mineral water, containers absolutely guaranteed to be free of oil, and some dried sea cucumbers.

2. Rehydrating method

(1) Method for rehydrating light-salted dried sea cucumber:

(1) Soak:

Place the dried sea cucumbers in cold water and soak for about 48 hours, until each sea cucumber is soft with no hard core and no hard lumps when squeezed. Change the water every 8 hours during this time; soaking in the refrigerator crisper works best. Once rehydrated, be sure not to let them touch oil or other impurities, so as not to affect the quality of the rehydration.

(2) Cut:

Using scissors, cut the sea cucumber open along its opening, remove the sand mouth, and rinse the sea cucumber clean;

(3) Boil:

Put the sea cucumbers into a deep, oil-free pot and add cold water (the water should cover the sea cucumbers by at least 10 cm), cover with the lid, then follow these steps: first bring the water to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and cook for 30 minutes, then turn off the heat and let sit covered for 30 minutes; wait until the pot has cooled, without opening the lid at any point, then continue cooking over low heat for 20 minutes, turn off the heat, and let sit covered for 25 minutes;

(4) Pinch:

Let the pot cool naturally, then take out the sea cucumbers and put them in an oil-free container. Pinch the body wall on both sides of the sea cucumber with your fingers; put the ones that pinch through easily into a basin of cold water; the firmer ones can be returned to the pot and continue to be braised as described above (shortening the braising time appropriately depending on the condition of the sea cucumbers), until every sea cucumber pinches through;

(5) Expand:

Put the cooked sea cucumbers into cold water, soak for one hour, then change the water (adding ice cubes works even better), place in the refrigerator crisper, and change the water and ice every 12 hours; they will be fully rehydrated after soaking for 3 to 4 days (depending on personal taste, the soaking time can be appropriately shortened);

(6) Store:

Wrap each rehydrated sea cucumber individually in a plastic wrap or bag and store in the freezer; before eating, take the sea cucumber out and let it thaw naturally, then it is ready to eat.

(2) Method for rehydrating semi-dried sea cucumber:

(1) Open up: cut along the opening of the sea cucumber with oil-free scissors, then remove the sand mouth and teeth (which resemble calcareous matter); these can simply be taken out by hand.

(2) Boil: rinse the cleaned sea cucumbers and put them into a pot of purified water, bring to a boil, then turn to low heat, cover with the lid and braise for 25 to 30 minutes; after cooking, turn off the heat and keep the lid on for another 2 hours, and it is done.

(3) Once rehydrated, drain the sea cucumbers, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, then put them in the freezer; when you want to eat them, soak them in cold water until separated, and they are ready to eat.

2. Is bigger always better?

Although the size of dried sea cucumber can serve as one of the standards for judging its price and quality, bigger is not necessarily better, because the price and size of sea cucumber are related to some extent to the species, processing method and growing conditions; once the variety differs or the processing method differs, the size of the processed sea cucumber will also differ.

Moreover, the size of dried sea cucumber cannot be the only standard for whether it can expand a lot, because different processing methods give dried sea cucumber different expansion rates. For example, good light-salted dried sea cucumber can expand to more than 14 jin, while around 11 to 13 jin is a normal level. For dried sea cucumber made by other processes, such as lagang salt or old light-salted, the expansion rate is relatively lower.

However, the price of sea cucumber can, to a certain extent, reflect its quality and expansion rate, because the price is what it is, so paying too much attention to the size of sea cucumber after expansion is also unscientific.

From a processing standpoint, the expansion of sea cucumber has a certain limit, and usually pure light-salted dried sea cucumber has the highest expansion rate, because it is minimally processed, which favors expansion, while for lagang salt and old light-salted sea cucumber, the expansion rate varies somewhat depending on the intensity of the processing heat or the salt content of the sea cucumber.

Therefore, when rehydrating sea cucumber, one should not pursue the expansion rate too much; only by keeping it within a reasonable expansion figure can the quality of the sea cucumber be demonstrated. If it is below the reasonable expansion rate, it proves the sea cucumber has a quality problem; if it is obviously above the reasonable range, it will to some extent damage the cells of the sea cucumber, leading to loss of nutrients.

3. How do you tell whether sea cucumber is fully rehydrated?

Besides mastering the heat, some simple methods can also quickly tell you whether sea cucumber is fully rehydrated. For example, after taking the sea cucumber out, gently pinch the middle section with your fingers; if it pinches through, it means the sea cucumber is done. Or try picking it up with chopsticks to see whether they can hold it and whether it is springy, because a well-cooked sea cucumber is not easy to hold, and once picked up it has a springy feel.