I'm Not Squidding: A Snack Straight from the Sea

It might seem strange at first glance, dried shredded squid ready for you to eat. Not a first-pick for many westerners but shredded squid was first popularized as a snack in Hong Kong during the 1970s. Now, it’s all over the Asia, from China to Singapore, and even in Korea. Over time, they added their own spin to this snack making it uniquely theirs.

Ojingeo-chae (오징어채), as it's called in Korean, is a well-known Anju (안주). A side-dish usually accompanied with alcohol or it can be eaten on its own as a snack but it’s so much more than a simple snack. Ojingeo-chae (오징어채), is also used in many other recipes.

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오늘은 아침부터 지금까지 일하고 너무너무 피곤하여 밥대신 맥주한캔 ... 삼일을 제대로 못잤더니 알딸딸 하고만~~ #혼맥 #맥주한캔 #아사히 #asahi #오징어채 #피곤

A post shared by JungSooyoung (@jungsooyoung76) on Oct 17, 2018 at 4:56am PDT

As you know, Ojingeo-chae is dried shredded squid (오징어채) but this time add Bokkeum (볶음) which means a stir-fried dish. Put it together and you get Ojingeo-chae-bokkeum (오징어채볶음). Its essentially stir-fried shredded squid; delicious and quite soft in texture. You just need chili pepper paste known as Gochujang (고추장), garlic, soy sauce, sugar, vegetable oil, and sesame seeds. It varies from recipe to recipe, some may include rice wine. If you want to try making it on your own, Sue from My Korean Kitchen has a recipe on her blog.

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#오징어채볶음,#백진미,#오징어채,#홈쿡,#반찬,#가을,#우리집,#밥도둑,#집밥최고,#맛스타그램,#푸드스타그램,#먹스타그램,#맛있다,#foodstagram,#instafood,#koreanfood,#yummyfood,#dried,#squid,#stirfry,#spicy,#dailypic,#happytime,#행복,#힐링,#일상,#소통,#사진,#생각 활활 불타오른 불금 우리집 밥도둑 매콤오징어채볶음 국내산 백진미라서 더 건강 맛나다 현미유3숟가락, 다진마늘 1숟가락 양조간장 2숟가락, 고추장1숟가락 고춧가루2숟가락, 꿀 1.5숟가락 소주 5숟가락 모두 섞어 끓여 주다가 백진미채를 넣어주고 버물버물 버무려주고 참기름, 깨소금 샤라라 불을 끄고 골고루 살퐁 무쳐주면 울트라 킹왕짱 맛있는 우리집 가을 반찬 밥도둑 완성 양념장이 넘 많다 싶으면 매콤어묵볶음 양념으로 사용해도 굿 불금 저녁반찬 준비 즐겁게 바쁘다 바뻥!^^😤😆😍😎🤔💕🍂🍁

A post shared by 아진 (@sunapingu) on Nov 1, 2018 at 11:30pm PDT

What do you call identical squids? Twin-tacles! This next dish, Ojingeo-chae-muchim (오징어채무침), is quite similar to Ojingeo-chae-bokkeum(오징어채볶음). The main difference is the way that it’s cooked and you can see this in the name. Instead of ending with bokkeum (볶음), it ends with muchim (무침) which means a dish that has seasoning mixed in. This makes making these spicy squid strips, quite easy. It’s simple and foolproof! Queen of cooking, Maangchi, has a recipe on her blog.

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남녀노소 누구나 좋아하는 진미채. 다소 딱딱하고 질길수 있는 오징어채를 촉촉하고 부드럽게 만들어 봤어요~ 견과류(호두)를 넣어서 영양까지 잡았네요 식감이 쫄깃한게 부드러워서 좋은데요~~^^굿굿😊😋🙆👄 #집밥#혼밥#진미채사랑#오징어채무침#마른반찬#즐거운식탁

A post shared by 🏡즐거운식탁 (@enjoymealyou) on Oct 16, 2018 at 6:02am PDT

Head down to your local Korean market and try out some squid. Whether you eat it by itself or make one of these recipes, you’re sure to have to a good time.