Making sweet and spicy Korean stir-fried squid

Stir-fried squid is a Korean-style stir-fried seafood that combines chewy squid with sweet and spicy red pepper paste seasoning and goes well with rice. In Korean restaurants, it is often served as a squid rice bowl or mixed with somen. It is easy to explain to foreigners as “Korean spicy squid stir-fry,” and it is a Korean dish that is especially recommended to people who like seafood.

If you search for stir-fried squid in 10,000 Recipes, you will see many different recipes such as Baek Jong-won style stir-fried squid, sweet and spicy stir-fried squid, and simple stir-fried squid without soup. The common key is to not fry the squid for a long time and to finish it quickly over high heat before the water comes out of the vegetables. In this article, we have compiled a basic stir-fried squid that is easy to follow at home.

Stir-fried squid ingredients

For 2-3 servings, prepare 2 cleaned squid, 1/2 onion, a handful of cabbage, a few carrots, 1 green onion, 1 Cheongyang pepper, and a little red pepper. If you lightly cut a cut inside the squid body, the seasoning will soak in well and the squid will look pretty. If you slice it too thinly, it will quickly become tough, so it is best to use generous bite-sized pieces.

Make the seasoning by mixing 1 tablespoon of red pepper paste, 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, and a little pepper. If you want to reduce the spiciness, you can reduce the red pepper powder a little, and if you want to make it sweeter, you can replace some of the sugar with oligosaccharide.

Preparing and preparing squid

Remove the intestines and transparent bones from the squid, wash under running water, and dry thoroughly. If there is a lot of water, a lot of soup will be created when frying. You can peel the skin or use it as is. If you want to soften the texture, make a diagonal slit inside the body and cut the legs into an easy-to-eat length.

It is best not to slice vegetables too thinly. Since onions and cabbage release moisture during frying, they must be cooked briefly over high heat to retain a crunchy texture. Slice the green onions diagonally to bring out the flavor, and add the peppers at the end to add color and spicy flavor.

Stir-fry order

Heat the pan sufficiently, add cooking oil, and fry some green onions first to release the aroma. Add onions, cabbage, and carrots and quickly fry over high heat for about 1 minute. When the vegetables start to wilt slightly, add the squid and seasoning sauce and mix quickly. If you cook squid for a long time, it becomes tough, so it is best to stir-fry it with the feeling that it will be done within 2 to 3 minutes.

When the seasoning is evenly distributed over the entire squid and the squid is cooked white, add Cheongyang pepper, red pepper, and the remaining green onion. If there is too much soup, push the ingredients to one side of the pan, simmer the seasoning briefly over high heat, and mix again. Adding sesame oil and sesame seeds at the end brings out the nutty flavor.

Tips for eating deliciously

The simplest way to make stir-fried squid is to put it on white rice and eat it like a squid rice bowl. If you have any spicy seasoning left, you can mix it with boiled somen, or you can put it on lettuce with rice and eat it as a wrap. When you feel the spicy taste is strong, it is good to eat it with soft food such as steamed egg or seaweed soup for a good balance.

For the remaining stir-fried squid, heat it briefly over medium heat as the squid may become tough if you heat it for a long time. Stir-fried squid, moist and shiny, is a menu item that shows off the charm of Korean spicy seasoning. With the chewy texture of seafood and the rich taste of red pepper paste seasoning, it is a spicy rice side dish that you must try during your trip to Korea.