Ojingeo muchim is a spicy, sweet and tangy dish that’s made with boiled squid and fresh vegetables. It’s also called ojingeo cho (vinegar) muchim. Along with ojingeo bokkeum, stir-fried squid and vegetables, ojingeo muchim is one of the most popular ways to prepare squid in Korea.

Cucumber and Korean radish (mu) are common vegetables for this dish. I did not use radish in this recipe to keep it simple, but try it for an extra crunch factor. If you want to use it, cut a little bit of radish into thick matchstick-shaped pieces, salt for 20 minutes or so and squeeze out the water before tossing with the squid. This keeps the dish from becoming watery. If minari (water dropwort) is unavailable, you can use buchu (garlic chives) or kkaennip (perilla leaves) instead. Cleaning the squid can be a chore, but the dish is pretty easy to put together after that. The perfect blend of spicy, sweet and sour tastes in this dish will surely increase your appetite.

Ingredients:

● 1 medium squid (about 400 grams)

● 1 kirby cucumber or 1/2 Korean cucumber, thinly sliced

● 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

● Several stalks of minari, cut into 5-centimeter pieces

● 1 green or red chili pepper, thinly sliced

● 1 scallion, finely chopped

● 2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)

● 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste)

● 2 teaspoons soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon sesame oil

● 1 tablespoon sugar

● 1 teaspoon corn syrup

● 2 tablespoons vinegar

● 1 teaspoon minced garlic

● Pinch of salt and pepper

Clean the squid (see below). Bring a medium-size pot of water to a rapid boil. Drop the squid in and cook briefly for about a minute. Quickly remove, and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking and cool.

Cut the squid into thin bite-size strips (about 1 centimeter thick, 5 centimeters long). Keep it in the fridge to cool.

Prepare the vegetables.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together.

Combine the sauce and squid, and mix well. Add the vegetables, and toss well. Add more sugar, salt or vinegar to taste. Serve chilled.

How to clean the squid: Grab the body in one hand and the head in the other. Firmly pull apart with a slight twisting motion. The head and innards should easily slip out of the body. Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes. Remove the beak from the tentacles and the skin from the flesh.

By Ro Hyo-sun

For more recipes, visit www.koreanbapsang.com.