[Food]

[Food] Saeu-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정)

Any dak-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Chicken, 닭강정) restaurant in cities near the East Sea of the Korean peninsula cooks Saeu-gangjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정). Fishermen by the East Sea catch lot of shrimp, and that's why deep fried chicken restaurants in cities by the East Sea sell deep-fried shrimp too.

No one knows who invented saeu-ganjeong but everyone knows that deep-fried shrimp covered with sweet and spicy sauce tastes greater than common deep-fried shrimp :)

A few days ago, I visited Sokcho (one of the cities by the East Sea coast) and visited the Deep Fried Food block of Daepo Port in Sokcho. Daepo Port is famous for its seafood and it also sells many deep fried seafoods. There's one deep fried shrimp place that I love to frequent :)

Daepo Port in Sokcho

Deep Fried Seafood Place

Saeu-ganjeong (Sweet and Spicy Deep Fried Shrimp, 새우강정)

They don't peel shrimp shell, they deep fry the whole shrimp including its head, legs and tail. The deep fried shrimp shell  gives an even crispier texture, which goes well with a sweet and spicy sauce.

If you ever visit cities in the East Sea coast, go to a seafood market and try saeu-ganjeong please. I'm so sure that saeu-ganjeong can be one of your best deep fried foods :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Jukkumi (webfoot octopus, 주꾸미)

Jukkumi Bulgogi (Spicy webfoot octopus bulgogi in grill)

Jukkumi (webfoot octopus, 주꾸미) isn't a very well-known or popular seafood ingredient, even for many Koreans. I'd say it's a minor seafood ingredient compared to octopus and poulp which are very well-known for being eaten raw, steamed or  as a spicy stir1fried dish. It usually lives in the coastal areas of China, Korea and Japan (except for Hokkaido). It crawls among the rocks and pebbles of the shallow coast, and usually hides in caves and holes to avoid becoming prey to larger predators.

Jukkumi usually grows as big as your hand with its 8 legs, and spawns its egg from December to February (which means they taste best in the autumn before the breeding season). Koreans catch and eat them from March, after the breeding season, to protect them from perishing, and their eggs actually do not taste very nice; much like uncooked rice or chestnut.

Freshly caught jukkumi with ink that they just shot

I marinated jukkumi to cook spicy jukkumi-bulgogi :)

Fresh jukkumi is very chewy and gooey with a tough flesh that you have to chew a lot in your mouth :) Some people don't like its texture but most people love jukkumi's chewy and gooey flesh.

Jukkumi can be stir-fried, barbecued or boiled for soup but the best recipe (in my personal opinion) is spicy barbecue on grill. When jukkumi's unique texture is coated with a smoky and spicy flavor, it makes a marvelous synergy of taste :)

Put some well-barbecued spicy jukkumi into steamed rice or roasted seaweed with some spring onions or chives. It's really nice but it can be a little spicy.

I had jukkumi with steamed rice, and strawberries for dessert :)

There are many typical spring foods in Korea including strawberry, sole, mugwort, spring herbs, and jukkumi (webfoot octopus) is one of them too :)

This lovely spring, how about savoring a nice jukkumi dish? I'm sure that it will fill you with the blossoming energy of spring :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Gwamegi (과메기, Half-dried herring and saury)

Gwamegi has been a very familiar and friendly food for fishermen of the east coast of the Korean peninsular for a long time (since the 16th century) because of its taste and affordable ingredient. Its main ingredient is herring or saury (mackerel pike) which is very cheap and easy to catch. When fishermen found out about its recipe a long time ago, they made it with herring. However, when the temperature of the East Sea became affected by climate change  since the 1960s, they used saury as a substitute for herring. These days herring gwamegi is being produced again because climate change has continued to impact the East Sea. 

Saury (Mackerel pike)

Herring

To make gwamegi, fishermen remove the intestines, gills and scales of fresh saury and herring, then skew its eyes to prevent it from getting rotten. Then fish are frozen to -10 degrees Celsius, and undergo repeat outdoor freezing and defrosting from December until the fish become half-dried.

When fish is fully half-dried, its bone and skin are removed. It has a really savory, somewhat fishy taste with seaweed, kelp, laver, garlic, spicy green chili, chogochujang (red chili paste with vinegar) and ssamjang (mixture of red chili paste and bean paste).

It rarely becomes stale and can be stored for a long time so fishermen favor it. It was also a good food supply for them when they lost their ship due to invasion and robbing by Japanese pirates.

Today, this is one of the best side dishes for soju :)

People usually favor herring gwamegi over saury gwamegi because herring tastes lighter, cleaner and motr plain than saury. Gwamegi is a seasonal dish that you only can eat during the winter, which gives a chewy and firm texture filled with DHA, EPA and vitamin E :)

Today Guryongpo of Pohang is the main production area, famous for gwamegi. Don't forget to visit Guryongpo for gwamegi if you have any chance to visit Pohang :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Maesaengi (매생이, Seaweed Fulvescens)

Maesaengi (매생이, Seaweed Fulvescens) is not a very well-known seafood/

ingredient in Korea, it's usually eaten in China and Korea as soup and porridge. The reason why it's not well known to most  people is that it can only be grown in the crystal-clear clean sea in winter. Fishermen of the south-western coast (Jeonnam province) of the Korean peninsula usually plant and cultivate it.

It gives a savory, mild and refreshing taste with a very silky texture. It doesn't puff any steam out even when boiled or very hot, so you have to be very careful when you eat any porridge or soup made of maesaengi. There's an idiom in Korean that says. 'Give maesaengi soup to the annoying son-in-law' (the son-in-law will burn his tongue if he doesn't know his mom-in-law is giving him maesaengi).

You'd better be careful if you've been a naughty boy (or son-in-law)

Maesaengi is one of my favorite ingredients because it gives a refreshing sea flavor and also goes very well with any kind of hot soup or porridge (even in ramen and cup noodle). Moreover, it's very easy to cook. You can make pancake with it too.

Oyster is perfect partner to maesaengi

It's maesaengi pancake, not green tea flavored one.

You can buy maesaengi in any winter market. It looks like a ball of thin green string. Wash it with salt water, then it's ready to be put into pancake dough or soup :)

These days, with the help of food science and technology, people can buy quick-frozen dry maesaengi which becomes fresh when it goes into hot water or soup :)

A package of quick-frozen maesaengi from Wando (Wan Island in south-west region of Korea)

This one bag contains maesaengi for one person

Maesaengi is full of minerals, folic acid, zinc, fiber and proteins - very nutritious :) If you are thinking of hot soup or porridge in the winter, how about maesaengi soup today? I hope you don't burn your tongue :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Osam Bulgogi (오삼불고기, Squid and Pork Belly Bulgogi)

Americans who usually live in Hawaii and the east and west coasts enjoy a dish called 'Surf and Turf' which is a combo of seafood and meat, cooked lobster and thick juicy steak.

In Korea, there is a combo dish of seafood and meat, too, though it's not as fancy as lobster and grilled steak. It's a very popular and liked common dish that you can enjoy in most Korean restaurants.

It's a combo of stir fried squid and pork belly in spicy chili sauce which Koreans call Osam Bulgogi (O for Ojing-uh - Squid in Korean, and Sam for Samgyeopsal - Pork belly). It means Bulgogi is made of squid and pork belly, but is spicy. Bulgogi usually means stir fried soy-sauce marinated meat but it can also mean spicy stir fried meat.

Osam bulgogi was first invented in a restaurant in Daegwallyeong Pass, Pyeongchang city, which is a gateway between the eastern and western regions of Gangwon. Fresh squid from the East Sea and pork, vegetables and mushroom from the western region of Gangwon were cooked into Osam Bulgogi with a spicy sauce that most Koreans love.

The chewy and savory taste of squid goes very well with juicy pork and fresh vegetables. It's one of the best side dishes for liquor and rice. Although I'm not a big fan of squid, I like to eat osam bulgogi for lunch :)

If you want to indulge in fresh seafood and juicy meat, how about osam bulgogi today?

Bon Appétit!

[Food]

[Food] Muneo (문어, Octopus)

Octopus is the symbol of a villain in western culture but it's a symbol of high expense and taste in Korean culture. Due to its boneless, eight-legged and countless sucking discs, you may think octopus is disgusting, but you may change your mind after tasting fresh octopus :)

Octopus lives in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. The smallest octopus grows less than 3cm while the biggest kind of octopus (Giant Pacific Octopus) grows as large as 10m and weighs 272kg. This interesting 'cephalopod' is very clever; as smart as a dog (according to some ichthyologist), and is a master of camouflage.

Nevertheless, octopus is a very delicious seafood to Koreans. Koreans prefer octopus to be parboiled to give a tender, chewy and fresh taste which is a contrast to squid or calamari. Octopus is usually caught in the East Sea with Yeongju city in Gyeongbuk province being the most famous city for octopus. There are so many shops and restaurants that sell fresh or parboiled octopus in Yeongju Central Market :)

It may feel slimy and slippery in your mouth, but it will surprise you as you slowly chew it. I didn't like octopus either, but now I'm very fond of it after first tasting parboiled octopus a few years ago :)

If you can find any edible and affordable octopus in your market, take it home and parboil it :) Slice them into thin pieces, with soy sauce, vinegar or sour and spicy sauce (e.g. sriracha sauce) :) Enjoy.

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Jeoneo (전어, Gizzard)

'Even the runaway daughter-in-law returns home because of the smell of grilled jeoneo'

*In traditional Korean culture, the daughter-in-law in most families had to go through rigorous house-work and bullying from her husband and in-laws (especially her mother-in-law). It was not an unusual thing for the daughter-in-law who couldn't bear married life to flee from her husband. However, people say the smell of roasted jeoneo is so tasty and savory that it brings the runaway daughter-in-law back home.

Jeoneo tastes best when roasted or chopped raw because it's fatty, but some people (like myself) don't like jeoneo so much due to its countless tiny bones. It's so frustrating picking out every bone so people recommend eating them from head to tail, chewing through the flesh and bones. Oh, please don't forget to marinate them in salt water for 5 minutes or in rice wine to remove its fishy smell. As you chew, it's raw or roasted flesh gives you a fatty and savory flavor  :)

Jeoneo is caught throughout coastal areas, so you can enjoy it in every coast-side city in Korea, there are also Jeoneo festivals in Boseong and Gwangyang in Jeolla province :)

Bon Appétit!

 [Food]

[Food] Hoedeopbap (회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap)

Culture is a way of life so it always changes, flows elsewhere and forms new cultures. We can even think of 'stem culture' (this is beginning to sound somewhat like a virus!). Hoedeopbap(회덮밥, Raw Fish Bibimbap) is a result of Korean and Japanese food culture; born of raw fish and topped rice (Japanese) and bibimbap (Korean mix rice). I'm sure that the Japanese never thought Koreans would bring culture into their country and make it into bibimbap.

It's a very simple, quick, tasty and exotic (for non-Koreans) food. Grab a bowl containing steamed rice, chop vegetables (carrot, pickled radish, cabbage, lettuce, roasted sea weed, cucumber etc.) and put them into the bowl. Also, top it with raw fish (or raw seafood likewise squid, calamari, shrimp, prawn etc.). The most important ingredient to spice it up is chogochujang(초고추장, sour Korean chili paste). You can buy pre-made chogochujang or make it yourself by mixing Korean chili paste and vinegar. Koreans prefer to dip raw fish fillet so it's a given that they'll use chogochujang even for hoedeopbap.

Hoedeopbap is a typical dish found in every seafood restaurant in Korea. They usually use shark fillet cubes, squid, calamari, salmon, sole, flounder, rock fish, sea squirt and flying fish roe for everyday hoedeopbap. Abalone, octopus, sea urchin roe and tuna are added to make expensive hoedeopbap. However, it's surprising that no one knows who and how hoedeopbap was made in Korea for the very first time. Regardless, there's no doubt that hoedeopbap is one of the most popular seafood dishes in Korea :)

Bon Appétit!

[Food] Mulhoe (물회, Cold Raw Fish Soup)

 [Food]

[Food] Mulhoe (물회, Cold Raw Fish Soup)

Many world foods such as Kebob and Dutch Coffee originated on sea ships with traders and fishermen who lacked a selection of many choices of nutritious meals on long-distance travel across the vast ocean.

Meanwhile, in Korea, fishermen who had to spend more than a half a day in a small ship (or chug boat) without a 'kitchen' couldn't eat well. They had to work from very early morning till the afternoon but didn't have much time to relax at lunchtime. So they made a very quick meal that can be easily cooked on any ship.

Grab any bowl and slice freshly caught fish and shells into a fillet, and throw them into a bowl. Then pour cold water, chopped vegetables, gochujang (Korean red chili paste) and some ice cubes. Yes, raw fish is already exotic and this mulhoe (물회, cold raw fish soup) is even more exotic :) You can find mulhoe in any seafood restaurant in the eastern and southern coasts of South Korea because any fish can be used for mulhoe. Flounder, rock fish, snapper, sole, squid, or sea cucumber; it really doesn't matter as long as it's not stale :)

These days, some restaurants even use expensive seafoods such as abalone, sea urchin roe, coral fish to upgrade to a unique marine dish and to satisfy gourmets.

If you consider yourself a big fan of seafood and even raw fish, how about trying mulhoe? It might be challenging but it may just suit your palate :)

Bon Appétit!