Salty Cephalopods

Calamari. Ika. Pla meuk. Rubber bands. Whatever word you use to address the humble squid, there is no denying it's presence in the kitchens of homes and Michelin  restaurants reaches across the globe. Sure I've had my share of impenetrable kevlar sheets, but the gentle give of that savoury soft flesh beckons me back again and again. One of my favourite dishes is squid fried in garlic and butter. The simple ingredients work together so well. Clean and scrumptious.

This weekend, we went on a little road trip out to a Chinese temple, Viharnra Sien near Pattaya. Really worth a look. There are so many sculptures of every size and lots of other interesting artifacts like bronze chariots and a few soldiers from the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin. After exploring the temple grounds we went to the seaside, drove past the umbrella-laden beach stalls to the end of the road, through an open gate and into the open sandy parking lot of an empty pier-adjacent restaurant. It was a Sunday, there were lots of beach goers on the other side of the wall, picking at their salty seaside snacks, yet this quaint open air establishment nestled in the corner of the beach was empty. Are they open? Should we turn back? Was the food fresh? A man hurries out of his chair and rushes over to usher us to a table. What the hell. We were already parked. After scrolling through some wonderful Engrish descriptions on the bilingual menu, we ordered a few local basics and waited.

Salt eggs are common in Asian cuisine. These are duck eggs that have been cured in brine or  other salted mixture. I quite like the whites in congee or steamed egg but personally, I find the yolks a bit too strong and grainy for my liking (then again, I am already quite fussy about my egg yolks, salted or otherwise). The yolks are more prized and and used in moon cakes and many other dishes as a flavouring. One of these popular dishes is Pla Meuk Khai Khem or Salt Egg Squid.

Now considering I don't really like salt egg yolks it's hard for me to fall in love with this dish, although I know plenty of people that adore it. I can see why, but my taste buds and brain have yet to open their doors to the salty fragrance of the salt egg yolk. I can imagine how the saltiness of the yolks compliment the sweetness of the flavourful white squid flesh . I just haven't learnt how to taste it yet.