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

Altang- Spicy Pollock Roe Stew

Hey there! How are you? I'm doing much better now that I am no longer sick. I'm glad to be back to my normal self. This week I have decided to make Altang which is a spicy Pollock roe stew. I had never encountered Pollock roe before but I was inspired to try this dish after watching the BIGBANG Happy Together Special. At the end of the episode they all have a dish that they brought and in T.O.P's dish he used a piece of salted Pollock roe on top and I thought it was interesting. Then I was perusing my new cook book and saw that this recipe used Pollock roe so I decided to try it. Pollock roe was definitely an interesting ingredient to work with. I would like to try a dish in future that utilizes the Pollock roe in its raw form.
This week my playlist has moved away from it's BIGBANG influence. Don't worry, I still mainly listen to BIGBANG but this week some other artists have caught my attention. The song Catch Me by UP10TION has been playing on repeat. It's such a fun and catchy song, plus the boys have got some cool dance moves. The music video is funny, strange and playful, plus you can turn on the subtitles so you know what the lyrics mean. I like to play this song in the morning because it helps to wake me up and get me going. The other song on my playlist is Crazy by 4MINUTE. This is one of my favorite songs. I love singing along with it because it makes me feel like a little bit of a badass. Girl Power all the way!
Now onto the recipe!

Ingredients
5 ounces Korean radish (mu) or daikon, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices and then into bite-size pieces (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
3 cups water
1 (12-ounce) package frozen Pollock roe (naengdong-myeong-ran), thawed in the refrigerator
4 or 5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons Korean hot pepper flakes (gochu-garu)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 scallions, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces
1 green Korean chili pepper (cheong-gochu), stemmed and sliced
1 red Korean chili pepper (hong-gochu), stemmed and sliced
1 ounce (about 1/2 cup) chrysanthemum greens (ssuk-gat) washed and left whole or cut into 3-inch lengths, or a small handful of basil.

Step 1.
Combine the radish, onion, soybean paste, and water in a shallow 10-inch pot or saute pan. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the onion is almost translucent, about 12 minutes.

(I forgot to add the water during this step so my onions and radish cooked at a different speed)

Step 2.
Add the fish roe, garlic, hot pepper flakes, and salt, turn the heat down to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

 

Step 3.
Scatter the scallions, chili peppers, and chrysanthemum greens over the top of the boiling stew, cover, and cook for another 3 minutes. Serve.

I am really happy with how the recipe turned out. This stew was really delicious but really spicy. I think next time I'd add less red pepper flakes. I also think this would be a tasty stew to make with fish instead of the Pollock roe. I hope you all enjoyed this weeks adventure! I have some fun changes coming in the next few weeks so keep an eye out. I hope you have a great week!

XOXO,
Rachel

Haemul Sundubu Jigae (Seafood Soft Tofu Stew)

Since the weather is starting to turn colder here in Southern California (Yes, I know it's still not that cold because it is Southern California) I decided to make a stew. I don't often cook seafood but this looked so amazing that I had to try it. So I took a little trip to the Korean market it Northridge. I love going to the Galleria Market because it always has everything I need and everyone is so nice. I love going to the Korean market far more than going to the regular grocery store. Maybe the fascination factor hasn't worn off yet. I can't wait to keep exploring the aisles as I cook different recipes.

One thing you should know about me is that anytime I cook Korean food I listen to K-pop. I feel the two go together nicely and it makes the cooking process a lot funner. My current playlist has a lot of BIGBANG on it. If you don't know who they are I highly recommend checking them out. They are so incredibly talented! Not only are they awesome singers and rappers, they are also incredible song writers. (I totally look up the lyrics in English but do appreciate the songs in Korean) They have such a commanding presence when they're performing and create the most elaborate music videos. Check out their song Bang Bang Bang to see what I mean. Some of the members have also done solo projects or collaborations with other members. I love the song Good Boy by G Dragon and Taeyang. It is so good! I warn you, it is highly addictive. So now you can picture me dancing around the kitchen to these songs while I make the following dish.

I found this recipe on the Korean Bapsang. I think it was pretty easy to make. The hardest part for me is preparing all the ingredients, there is a lot of chopping. One of the main ingredient in many Korean dishes is anchovy broth or stock. It can seem a little intimidating but it can be very simple. I've only made the broth with just anchovies and water. I have not attempted it with dashima yet, maybe next time. This is what my finished broth looks like.

Ingredients
1 package (11 ounces) sundubu (extra soft/silken tofu)
2 ounces beef or pork (rib eye, sirloin, pork loin or pork belly)
7-8 pieces of seafood assortment (shrimp, mussels, clams and/or oysters)
1/2 small zucchini (2-3 ounces)
1/4 onion (2-3 ounces)
1 scallion
1 tablespoon red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru)- adjust to taste.
1 teaspoon sesame oil ( use more if using more gochugaru)
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 cup anchovy broth
Salt
Pepper

I used clams and shrimp for the seafood. I used a little more seafood than what the recipe called for. I had about 14 clams and 13 shrimp. I let the clams soak for 30 minutes to encourage them to spit out any sand and then I scrubbed them to get any debris off.  While the clams were soaking I cleaned the shrimp and took their shells off.

 I cut the pork belly into strips (about 1 inch) and I cut up the onion, zucchini and scallions in large chunks. I used a whole zucchini for this recipe.










In a pan over medium heat I combined the red pepper flakes and sesame oil until it formed a paste.

Then I added the pork, onions, garlic and soy sauce. I stir fried it until the pork and onions were almost done, about 2-3 minutes.

 I added the anchovy broth and brought it to a boil. I then let it boil for 3-4 minutes.










The I added the zucchini and soft tofu in large chunks. I brought this all to a boil again and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Stirring occasionally to make sure the tofu didn't stick to the bottom.

 I put in the clams and shrimp and let it cook until the clams opened, about 2-3 minutes. A little salt and pepper to taste. I put in the scallions right before turning off the heat.









I am very proud of how it turned it. It was super delicious! Warm and spicy, just what I needed on a cold day. I hope you have enjoyed this recipe and the insight into my current playlist. I have enjoyed sharing it with you. Have a great week!

Xoxo,
Rachel