Korean Again ? Yes Way !

Good morning, friends !

I feel sorry that I have posted nothing since approximately 3 months ago

No matter what happened, I'm back !

Today's post, I'd like to share to you about my Korean lunch again.

This dish is quite famous in its origin country, it's spicy, hot, and a bit fishy (?) 

You must've bet what kind of cuisine this is, must you not ?

...and by the way, I made this by myself again, with a handful assistance from my little sister.

You are right,

Today's menu is Jjampong!

Jjampong is a spicy seafood stew. Koreans usually serve it with noodle, but in my version, I eat it with rice, instead. Thus, you will not see any kinds of noodles appear on my grocery list... hahaha.

Let's start to cook!

First thing first, I'm showing you every ingredients you need to make Jjampong

I. Ingredients

- Any kind of sea products (e.g. shrimps, squids, mussels, clams, crabs, scallops). Mine used peeled squids and clams. I peeled 4 to 5 squids, so they look white and clean. Also, I pre-boiled around 1 pound of clams within salted water for 15 minutes, that helps shorten cooking time thereafter.

II. Seasonings

- 4 to 5 red chilies, slice in big chunks

- 1 medium tomatoes, cut into 12 slices

- 2 pieces of bay leaves

- 5 cloves of garlic, thinly slice them

- 1 small lemon grass

- 2 to 3 green onions, chop them to small pieces

- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (salted)

- Salt and sugar

- Gochujang (Korean red chili paste)

III. Procedure

- Prepare all of those ingredients and seasonings

- Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, let it heat up for a minute

- Add garlic and chilies to cooking oil, stir fry them until the garlic is a bit brown

- Add tomatoes, lemon grass, and bay leaves. Let them sit for a couple of minutes, wait until the tomatoes and bay leaves turn a little withered. 

- After those ingredients are evenly cooked, put all the squids and clams together. Mix all in there together, the squids and clams have to absorb all of the flavor from the ingredients added. 

- When the squids start to feel a bit dense, add some water and get it simmered.

- If you see bubbles start coming up from the bottom of the pan, add around 1 and a half tablespoons of gochujang (Korean red chili paste)

- Stir them all for a while, and last but not least, sprinkle some of green onions. Don't forget to turn off the stove, afterward.

- That's it, Jjampong is ready to serve !

This is how my Jjampong look like

For your information only : If you would rather eat Jjampong with noodles, you may add the noodles right before you turn off the stove. It is when all the ingredients are actually well cooked, then you add the noodles, let it there for a couple of minutes to soften and stir them all. This way, your noodle is not going to be over cooked and mushy. And yes, if you prefer more spicy taste, you can either add red chilies or gochujang to your Jjampong. It's up to your palate.

All right, I think that's my recipe for today.

Please, tell me if you try it at home, and share some of your kitchen stories.

See you next time, friends!