Nakji Bokkeum is a stir fry using two Korean spices: red pepper flakes and red pepper paste, along with sugar, producing a sweet and spicy balance.

On  a Saturday night, while trying to figure out what to do for dinner, I remembered that I had some frozen octopus. This dish came together quickly, using the ingredients I had on hand. Sure, a Korean green pepper would have added a nice bit of heat to this recipe, but it was still pretty darn tasty for something created on the fly. I ran out of red pepper flakes so I added my secret ingredient: curry powder. Just little bit will add a new subtle layer of heat and depth.

I thought a bowl of neutral soup would balance out the heat, so I also made Mee Yuk Gook (seaweed soup). Voila! I love it when I can whip up something without having to step out to buy something. I’ve substituted squid for octopus in my previous post, and I would recommend going that route if you’re not a fan of super chewy things (other than Hi-Chew candies).

Once again, I got grossed out while handling the octopus. This time, I handed it off to Dan and he graciously sliced the octopus for us. What a guy! =)

Recipe: Nakji Bokkeum (Octopus in Spicy Sweet Sauce)
Makes 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound of octopus (fresh or frozen)
1 medium sized white onion, sliced
2 small carrots, julienned (about 1 cup after slicing)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 heaping tablespoon of gochujang (red pepper paste)
2 teaspoons of gochugaru (red pepper flakes)
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of curry powder
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
1 Korean pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 stalk of green onion, cut into 1/2″ pieces
Black pepper to taste
Serve with: brown or white rice, or somyun noodles
4 stalks of chives, cut into 1″ pieces (optional)

Procedure:

1. Prepare all the vegetables. Set aside.

2. Rinse octopus under cold water. Using a very sharp knife, cut the tentacles into 2″ pieces, and the head into 4 small pieces. (Peel if you want to, but I don’t mind the skin once it’s cooked.) Fill a bowl with very cold water and place the octopus there until you’re ready to cook.

3. In a small bowl, combine gochujang, gochugaru, sugar, soy sauce, and curry powder. Set aside.

4. Add sesame oil, red pepper flakes and garlic into a large cold pan on the stove. Turn the heat to medium and stir it around for 1-2 minutes, until the sesame oil has turned to a deep red hue. (The heat is added gradually in order to avoid burning the garlic pieces.)

5. Add all the vegetables to the pan and pour half of the sauce mixture. Cook over medium heat until all the vegetables have cooked through, about 5 minutes. The onions will release a lot of water, so cook until all the water has evaporated.

6. Drain water from the bowl with the octopus. Add to the pan. Pour rest of the sauce and cook, until octopus is no longer translucent in color.

7. Adjust seasonings as needed. Sprinkle green onion on top. Serve with rice or noodles!

Does it make you want to throw up? Good! Then you’ll remember not to do it again next time (hopefully).

And once you become confident, you won’t even need to see the recipe anymore. You will be able to just FEEL it and know how much of something is enough.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t following a recipe with this one and ended up adding way too much sugar. Don’t worry, as always, my mistake has been adjusted accordingly for you

I believe this is the same recipe for Nakji bokkeum (small octopus), which basically has the same stuff but a different sea creature.