Kkotgetang (Korean Crab Stew)

Hello! I am so excited to be back at it with another delicious recipe. Things have been so crazy around here and my schedule has been so busy. I am hoping to get back into posting regularly. If you have any recipes that you think I should try, let me know in the comments. I'm always on the lookout for a fun new dish to try. I love learning about new ways to use ingredients to create something even more wonderful. While a lot of the things I make have similar ingredients, they each have their own unique flavors. It's the combination of the different meats and vegetables that add to the specialness of the dish.
I don't know about you, but for me, cooking is always such a magical experience. I love combining together different ingredients to make a beautiful and whole meal. I love that through cooking you are offering up love and joy. As you are making the meal, you are infusing the food with the emotions you feel as you are making it. Cooking food and eating can seem like a mundane task to some, but I think it is magical. While eating and cooking food is necessary to survive, it doesn't mean it has to be boring. Food and cooking can be such joyous and delightful things. I think that when we take care in preparing and eating food, it can have a positive effect on our lives. When you nourish your body with food that was prepared in a loving manner, you can't help but feel amazing.

Now onto the cooking! This is another amazing recipe by Maangchi. You can check it out here.

Ingredients:
1 Pound of clean Korean Flower Crabs(fresh or frozen), cut into chunks.
7 large dried anchovies, guts removed
5 ounces of peeled Korean radish, sliced thinly
4 ounces of zucchini, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
1 green chili pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, sliced
2 tablespoons Korean fermented soybean paste
1 tablespoon Korean hot pepper paste
1 to 2 teaspoons hot pepper flakes (optional)
a few chrysanthemum greens.
Rice (optional)

*If you are using frozen crab, thaw them out in the fridge prior to cooking.

Step 1.
If you are making rice, make that first. When rinsing the rice, rinse it once and drain the water. Then rinse a second time and keep the milky white water to use for the stew. You'll need about 3 1/2 cups. Then proceed to rinse the rice and to make it as you normally would.

Step 2.
Put the anchovies in a a bag or tea strainer to keep them together. Add them to the pot along with the radish, soybean paste and hot pepper paste. Allow this to boil for 20 min at medium high heat.

 

Step 3.
While this is boiling. If you haven't already, lightly rinse the crab and cut into small chunks.

Step 4.
Remove the anchovies. Then add in the onion, zucchini, garlic, green pepper, green onion, and the crab. Cover and let it cook for another 15 minutes until the crab is well cooked and the radish looks translucent.

Step 5.
Stir the stew and add in the hot pepper flakes if you want to make this a little more spicy.

Step 6.
Add the chrysanthemum greens and remove from heat. Serve hot with rice and other side dishes.

Thank you for joining me on this weeks adventure! Leave a comment down below and let me know what you thought. Until next time.

XOXO,
Rachel