Category Archives: Seafood

Stir-fried Shishito Pepper and Dried Anchovy (Kkwarigochu Myulchi Bokkeum)

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Sue • 2 Comments

Shishito Peppers and dried anchovies 1   

More shishito please!

I just made this delicious side dish with shishito pepper (Kkwarigochu -꽈리고추) and dried anchovies (Myulchi -멸치). Though there was a moment that I thought I ruined the dish.

The start was very good. I rinsed, trimmed and fried. Then when I was about the pour the sauce into the wok, I realised that the sauce was too much for the main ingredients – shishito pepper and dried anchovies. Oh no~! Unfortunately I didn’t have additional shishito to add but also I didn’t want to get fresh ingredients ready when I was about to finish up. I picked up one pepper to taste whether it was at least “OK”. Then it was so spicy that I started to hiccup immediately.   As far as I remember from my very faint memory, shishito pepper was never hot from my mum’s cooking. My mood was dampened. (At the end of last week and earlier this week, I already failed with 2 recipes I was working on so a third failure was making me a bit upset.)

I tried to calm down. I stirred the wok for another 2-3 mins. Then I let it cool down. 10 minutes later, I came back to the kitchen and tasted the pepper and the anchovies. Ah, wait a second. It tasted nice. It was sweet. Shishito was crunchy while anchovy was a bit mushy. Then I opened my rice cooker and brought my spoon, scooped out some rice and put it into my mouth. I also picked up another sum of shishito and anchovy into my mouth. Oh, it was very refreshing! It was so tasty that my lost appetite was coming back. (Just to confirm, I didn’t lose any appetite at any point of my life) :) I got suddenly all excited. Although I intended to make “crispy” anchovy, “not the mushy anchovy”, it was still good because the crispy shishito pepper compensated for it. I probably should change the title to “Stir-fried and (lightly) Simmered Shishito Pepper and Dried Anchovy (Kkwarigochu Myulchi Bokkeum Jorim – 꽈리고추 멸치볶음 조림)”

Shishito pepper is often used when stir-frying dried anchovies in Korea. While anchovy is rich in calcium it lacks vitamin C. Hence accompanying it with shishito pepper, which is rich in vitamin C and relatively not so spicy and sweet, is a common way of making dried anchovy dishes.

At the end, my sister and I loved the shishito pepper so much that we wished that we had more to add from the beginning. Maybe next time.

… Continue Reading

Categories: Seafood, Side Dishes (Banchan)
Tags: , ,

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)

Posted on May 2, 2007 by Sue • 25 Comments

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)1

Have you had these slightly spicy, chewy and sweet stir fried dried squid strips (오징어채 볶음) before? Wow, it is a real long name in English isn’t it?

I remember when I was in primary school, I shared my lunch with other friends. The lunch box usually consisted of steamed rice, a couple of side dishes, and sometimes soup as well. Sharing your lunch box with friends mean sharing various side dishes with each other, so we can have more variety of food.

One day, I tasted these stir fried dried squid strips from one of my friend’s lunch box and it was so delicious. After school, I had to mention about this food to my mom and also asked if she can make some for my lunch box as well.

I don’t know what it is so special about this side dish but I am sure every kid loves it. I have to say it is very morish too.

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips

(AU$4.10 – available at a Korean grocery shop )

By the way, plain dried squid strips are often served as a drinking snack, especially with some beer at a bar in Korea. However I prefer to have this as a side dish with rice. I love the sweet and spicy taste. Do you?

Ingredients (takes less than 15 minutes total)

Note : The ingredients are enough to make 5 to 7 single side dishes.

  • 141 g dried squid strips
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil

-Sauce (mix these in a bowl)

  • 4 tsp Gochujang
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp red wine (or rice wine)

Methods

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)2

  1. Soak the dried squid strips in cold water for about 10 minutes.
  2. Drain the water and slightly squeeze the squid strips.
  3. Pre heat the wok for 10 seconds on high heat and add the vegetable oil.
  4. Turn the heat down to medium heat and add the sauce.
  5. When the sauce is heated, add the dried squid strips.
  6. Mix the sauce and the dried squid strips well.
  7. Simmer it for about 20 seconds (until the sauce nearly disappears).
  8. Serve it on a plate (you can sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds on top).

Stir Fried Dried Squid Strips (Ojingeochae Bokkeum)3

Similar items from Amazon

Categories: Seafood, Side Dishes (Banchan)
Tags: , , , ,

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce

Posted on January 26, 2007 by Sue • 14 Comments

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce1

Here comes a two thumbs up recipe. I didn’t quite know what to expect for this dish, because I just found the recipe in a book I bought about a month ago. What is more, I didn’t have the right amount of ingredients as it said, so I had to change a lot. Lucky I have a good imagination. I guessed what I could add more of by looking at its colour. :)

When I had the first bite of the chicken wrapped with iceberg lettuce, it was a full of surprise. It was really delicious. Of course, the fact that we were so hungry helped us appreciate the food more, so anything could have been a two thumbs up food to us, yet there was something special about it.

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce2

It tasted slightly salty yet the occasional walnuts added a savory taste and crunchy texture. I added too much chicken breast compared to the other ingredients, so the rare shrimp was a nice surprise too. (By now you know how much I love shrimps, prawns, and that kind of food, right?) Michael complained a bit about the iceberg lettuce, because it was too hard to fold compared to other kinds of lettuce, but he admitted that it gave a nice crispy and fresh texture.

Ingredients for 3 people

(Prep time – 20 minutes, Cooking time – 10 minutes)

  • Chicken breast – 800g
  • Shelled shrimps – 100g
  • 2 green chilies (supposedly not spicy)
  • 2 red chilies
  • 1/2 a medium size onion
  • Iceberg lettuce
  • Shelled walnuts – 2 tbsp
  • Some olive oil

Sauce (mix these well in a bowl)

  • Soy sauce – 3 tbsp
  • Refined rice wine – 4 tbsp
  • Oyster sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Grated apple – 5 tbsp (one medium apple gives about 6 tbsp)
  • Minced garlic – 1½ tbsp
  • Ginger powder – 1 tsp
  • Potato starch powder – 1 tbsp

Prep

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce ingredients

  1. Cut the onion into small cubes.
  2. Take the seed out from the green and red chilies, thin slice them diagonally.
  3. Rinse the chicken and shrimps in cold water, cut the chicken into small to medium cubes.
  4. Separate the iceberg lettuce, rinse the leaves in cold water, and cut them into a size easy to use as a wrap.
  5. Put the chicken and shrimps in a bowl, add the sauce and marinade it for 15 minutes.

Cooking

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce cooking

  1. Pre heat the wok, and add some oil.
  2. Add the marinade meat and stir it well until 90% of it cooks.
  3. Add the chilies, onion and walnuts stir them well.
  4. When it is cooked, serve a spoonful of the meat and vegetables on a lettuce leaf.
  5. Wrap it and dig in. (it is hard to fold if you put in too much meat.)
  6. Enjoy the surprise. :)

Stir Fried Chicken Wrapped with Iceberg Lettuce3

It is a really easy to prepare and to cook meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Categories: Eggs and Poultry, Seafood
Tags: , , , ,