Ojingeo Bokkeum, aka: Spicy Stir-Fried Squid

I grew up on this dish! Ojingeo Bokkeum, also known as the Spicy Stir-Fried Squid, is one of my favorite dishes. No additional banchan is needed with this flavorful bokkeum, just rice, thus making it the orgasm-inducing rice bowl. Although I grew up with an undying love for Ojingeo Bokkeum, I had never made it until recently. It took several recipe tests. The recipe test before my trip to Portugal was flavorful, but the soy sauce was a tad overwhelming and overshadowed the underlying sweet flavor. That mellow sweet flavor is required to balance the heat from gochujang and gochugaru. 

When I returned from Portugal with a fresh mind and renewed eagerness to return to the kitchen, I tweaked the recipe. Along with changes to the sauce, I also made the bean sprouts' presence in the dish more prominent. When I took a spoonful of the final recipe test, it was pure perfection for me. 

INGREDIENTS

one pound of squid, cleaned and sliced

three cups of bean sprouts

one cup of sliced aehobak (Korean baby squash), substitute with zucchini

three tablespoons of vegetable oil

one teaspoon of finely chopped ginger

[sauce]

 a half of yellow onion, halved and sliced

four tablespoons of water

three tablespoons of gochugaru

three tablespoons of Korean soy sauce

one tablespoon and two teaspoons of sugar

one tablespoon of gochujang

one tablespoon of minced garlic

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients listed under [sauce] and set it aside. Heat a wok over high heat. Once heated, add vegetable oil and finely chopped ginger. Once the ginger becomes fragrant, add squid and prepared sauce. Stir once or twice to coat the squid. Add aehobak and bean sprouts. Stir once or twice to coat them with the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Once the bean sprouts are tender, remove from the heat and serve over rice. This recipe yields about three servings when served with rice.