Stir-fries
Ojingeo Bokkeum (Spicy Stir-fried Squid)
Stir-fry the vegetables over high heat first to drive off moisture, then add the squid with the sauce and cook for only about 3 minutes. The longer squid cooks, the tougher it gets, so finish quickly.
한국어로 보기 (Korean version)
Steps
- 1
Slit open the squid body and remove the innards and the clear quill, then rinse the tentacles, running your fingers along them to strip the suckers. Score the inside of the body in a crosshatch pattern and cut into strips 1 cm wide and 5 cm long.
Grip the skin with a paper towel and pull; it's less slippery that way.
- 2
Cut the onion and cabbage into large pieces, slice the carrot thinly, and slice the leek and chili on the diagonal. Mix the gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, and mirim to make the sauce.
Mixing the sauce ahead keeps you from scrambling once the heat is high.
- 3
Heat the cooking oil in a pan over high heat and stir-fry the onion, carrot, and cabbage for 2 minutes until just slightly wilted.
- 4
Add the squid and sauce and stir-fry over high heat for 3 minutes, until the flesh turns opaque white and is cooked through.
Cooking longer makes it tough and watery, so stop at around 3 minutes.
- 5
Add the leek and chili and stir-fry 30 seconds more, then turn off the heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Substitutions
| Instead of | Use | How |
|---|---|---|
| squid | 250 g cleaned baby octopus (jukkumi) | Rub the baby octopus with flour and rinse, then stir-fry it for the same time as the squid. |
| cabbage | 1/3 Korean zucchini (aehobak) | Cut the zucchini into half-moons and stir-fry it with the onion; if it releases water, cook it off over high heat. |
Storing leftovers
It's seafood, so don't keep it long. Cool, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and eat within 1 day; to reheat, stir-fry over medium heat for just 1 minute until hot all the way through. Reheating longer toughens the squid and draws water from the vegetables. Don't freeze the finished dish — only freeze raw squid, cleaned and portioned.
Serve with
Rice, a clear soup like kongnamul-guk (soybean sprout soup), and gyeran-jjim (steamed eggs). Mixing rice into the leftover sauce is good too.
Making more or less
If you double it to 2 squid, stir-fry in two batches so the pan stays hot and the dish doesn't get watery.
Questions
How do I keep ojingeo bokkeum from getting tough?
Squid that cooks too long curls up, turns tough, and releases water. Heat the pan well and cook only one squid's worth at a time to keep the heat high. Scoring the inside of the body helps the sauce soak in and keeps it from curling as much.
More with the same ingredients
