Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Squid (Ojingeo Bokkeum)

Ojingeo Bokkeum, Korean spicy stir-fried squid is one of my favorite dish to order in a Korean restaurant.  I also like the octopus version.  However, sometimes the dish we ordered turned out super sweet or just too sweet for my taste, so I intend to make it myself.  The one I had was served on a bed of raw cabbage, I thought that was an excellent idea in the sense that juices would come out from this dish and flavored the raw cabbage.  Downside was of course they used lots of cabbage hence the dish looked like a great serving size but in fact half of it was the cabbage.  I also liked that they added Korean rice cake in it and gave this dish an extra chewiness.  I would have added rice cake if I have some on hand but since I didn't, I used the Korean fish cake instead.

I didn't make my sauce too sweet nor too spicy as my girls shared this dish with us.  Surprisingly Edda, my little girl loved this dish a ton!  She said it was delicious and asked me to make it again.  She is also a fan of my kimchi pancakes, even requested to save some for her lunch box the next day.  :-)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size squid (gutted and skinned), wash, cut crisscross pattern and slice (pictures shown below)
• 1 piece of Korean fish cake, slice
• 1/2 onion, slice
• 2 green onions, cut into 1.5-2 inches length
• 1 carrot, diagonally slice
• 1/4 red bell pepper, slice
• 1/4 orange bell pepper, slice

Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. cane sugar
• 1 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
• 1 Tbsp. gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes)
• 1/2 Tbsp. mirin
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Before serving, add a little ground white pepper and 1 Tbsp. sesame oil

Slit one side to open it

Crisscross the inside of the squid

Then, cut into pieces

Method:

1.  Cut all the ingredients and set it aside on a plate.  Cut the squid and set it aside.  Mix the sauce ingredients into a bowl, set aside.

2.  Heat wok.  When heated, add in canola oil.  When hot but not smoking, add in onion and white part of green onion, stir-fry for a while.  Add in carrot, red and orange bell peppers, stir-fry well.  

3.  Add in fish cake and squid.  Stir-fry a little and then add the bowl of sauce.  Mix well and stir-fry until the squid is cooked.  Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil and white pepper, give it a stir and serve!