NAKJI BOKKEUM (Stir fried Spicy Octopus)

In preparation for the holy week, my husband and I did some last minute shopping at the fresh market a while ago and aside from our usual shrimps, fish, and mussels that’s included in the holy week menu; we bought something different: a baby Octopus. He immediately had his eye on those fresh baby octopuses and immediately bought one; and requested me to make them into something spicy and Korean like the taste of Dakkagjung that I usually make for him. I agreed, but with a little hesitation. 

You see, I am not that into octopus or squid; because I rarely get to eat tender ones! And the worst food for me is a rubbery octopus which can make you have some TMJ dysfunction! But I was up for the challenge and made it into: NAKJI BOKKEUM: Spicy Octopus Stir fry.

If you can’t find baby octopus and want an easy Spicy Squid Stir fry instead, here's the delicious recipe from Maangchi:  Ojinguh-bokkeum.

Now, back to the Baby Octopus. Here's how I exactly did it: (good for 2 servings)

 Get yourself about 200-250 grams of Baby Octopus and remove its ink sacs and innards.

 Rub it vigorously with some flour; then wash it with water about 2-3 times until all flour has been removed.

  Have a pot with some boiling water and blanch the octopus for about 20 seconds only. It is important not to overcook the octopus for it to remain tender.

 

Slice into bite size pieces. Set aside.

 Make the “spicy sauce” for the stir fry by combining the following in a bowl:

- 1 tbsp corn syrup

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 2 tbsp chili pepper flakes

- 1 tbsp chili pepper paste (Korean: Go-Chu-Jang)

- 2 tbsp water

- 2 tbsp rice wine

- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

- 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

       Mix it good then add in the sliced octopus and combine well using your hand. Make sure to put on some gloves while doing so to avoid irritating your skin with the hot pepper flakes.

    Prepare the vegetables and sliced about 1 medium white onion, 1 stalk green onion, half of a medium sized carrot, 1 green finger chilli, and 2 cloves of garlic. Also prepare about 1 tsp of minced garlic.

     Heat the pan and add about a tbsp of vegetable oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. Stir in the onion and carrot.

      Follow it with the seasoned octopus. Add in the green finger chili, sliced green onions, and minced garlic. Stir fry for about a minute or just until everything’s cooked through.

         Have yourself some taste, if it’s too spicy for your taste; add about a tbsp more of sugar; add in some toasted sesame seeds.

 Remove from heat and serve along some hot rice. This is also great as “pulutan”/ beer accompaniment if only it isn't Holy Week.

My husband enjoyed this, and I, surprisingly did too. There were a lot of tender parts, especially the tentacles but the part near its head can be a little chewy. Maybe I need to slice it more thinly next time? =)

Tip: In the rare times that I  have prepared squid or octopus, I have learned that the shorter time you cook it, the tenderer it will be.

Happy Eating! =)

Homemade Black Sesame Ice Cream

I know...... I know I said I would stop posting sweet luscious treat this week and would resume doing so on Easter, BUT it was such a rarity that I was able to buy some sour cream at the grocery last night, that I just really felt the urge to buy some and use it.

Remember when I told you not to throw the egg whites from making that custard base Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream? This is where you can finally use it.

In my opinion, making ice cream this way is much easier than the custard base ones. Although, if you are not careful in combining ingredients, you'll end up having a "sour creaminess" flavor in your ice cream which is something you and I doesn't want. I have been making different ice cream flavours using this recipe as base. Again, I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com and just played with it most of the time.

These are just some of the homemade Ice Creams I made using this recipe:

"Cappuccino Ice Cream with dark choco chunks"

"Mangoes and Cream" 

"Strawberries and Cream" 

(but this one in particular, I subbed the sour cream with yogurt; it tasted great but it melts easily)

"Black Sesame Ice Cream"

Last night, I made one of my favorite flavors again: Black Sesame. 

Here's how to do it: (good for 1-2 servings)

These are the ingredients you'll need:

- about 2 tbsp black sesame seeds

- 2 egg whites

- 1/4 cup powdered/caster sugar

- 1/3 cup sour cream

1) Toast 2 tbsp of black sesame seeds in a hot pan until it "pops" (like pop corns). Remove from heat.

2) Set aside 1 tbsp of that and ground it using mortar and pestle. Set aside.

3) In a glass or metal mixing bowl, beat 2 egg whites until foamy while gradually adding the powdered sugar; continue to do so until soft peaks form.

4) Add in 3 tsp of grounded toasted black sesame seeds and 3 tsp of whole toasted black sesame seeds.

5) Fold in 1/3 cup sour cream.

6) Transfer the mixture to the freezer covered with some aluminum foil. Freeze it and stir it every 30 minutes or so until frozen. 

Note: I usually get to do this twice only, and the result is still good. Although, stirring it every once in a while until frozen ensures that your ice cream won't form any ice crystals.

7) Ta-da!!! =)

I really like Black Sesame, it is NUTTY and EARTHY and because of its strong flavor, it successfully masked off the sour cream component of this Ice Cream. You should give it a try! =)

P.S. If you are wondering if I was able to use successfully the Philip's Delizia Ice Cream Maker this time, the answer is NO, it still was not working. =(

Well, it is good to know though, that even without any ice cream maker around, we can churn our own ice cream and load it with favorite ingredients and toppings! =)

Happy Eating! =)

Kitchen Disaster: BAKED RELLENONG BANGUS (Stuffed Milkfish)

For the record, this is the only 3^rd time I have made Rellenong Bangus (stuffed Milkfish); and my 3^rd time was still not a charm!  Not that I don’t like this dish, but just the thought of making this dish makes me soooo tired already. Yes, it is soooo daunting, I would advise you not to do it and just buy a ready to cook one like the ones from Goldilocks.

The first time I made this was during 2^nd year high school, during Home Economics, which was done by group. I was asked by my group mates to be the one to separate the milkfish skin from its flesh in preparation for the Relleno. At that time, maybe because of pressure, I was able to do it without tearing the fish skin and we made it all look whole again just in time for our Home Economics teacher to grade it.  We were lucky. After that, I found out that there are fish vendors who’s more skilled in doing this, so whenever I make one, I just requested the fish vendors if they can prepare to “relleno” it for me.

When I married my husband, I discovered that he never had rellenong bangus before so I decided to make one for him. Unfortunately, there are no fish vendors here in Narnia that prepares the milk fish for "relleno". So, I had to retrace the exact step by step on how we exactly did it several years ago! And, it was not a SUCCESS! Just before I fried it, the milkfish skin tear apart and its flesh was all over the pan; and it became a “Rellenong Bangus Omelette”. But nonetheless, my ever supportive husband claims he enjoyed it, so much, that he always requests for it, much to my apprehension.

Yesterday was a Sunday, and I had no Clinic duties so I ran out of excuses not to make some Rellenong Bangus for him. When he came home, he was like a giddy kid with 2 pieces of 600 g milkfish. I was horrified and I had to knock back my entire drool back to my throat!

Okay, here’s the deal, with proper instrumentation, I have no problem removing gums then suturing them back again together into its jaw bones during oral surgeries. But I seem to have a huge problem, de-fleshing, deboning and removing the flakes of the milkfish then re-installing them back again to make it all whole again during Rellenong Bangus cooking! So much for surgical precision!

Oh well, read on to know how I faired during my 3^rd attempt of cooking Rellenong Bangus.

Tip: If you have generous fish vendors in your market, kindly ask them to already debone and separate the milkfish flesh from its skin, asking them that you plan to make a Rellenong Bangus. This will save you a loooooot of time in the kitchen.

If your fish vendors are not that gracious in doing this, here’s how you should do it:

Note: This is not a glamorous thing to do!

1) Clean the fish of all its gills. Pound the fish using the back of your knife to loosen its flesh from its skin.

2) Fracture the spine at the back of neck and remove its guts.

3) Using something that is not so sharp, like the wide handle of your serving spoon, carefully release the milkfish flesh from its skin, pushing toward until its tail.

4) Crack the bone at the tail and pull out the milkfish flesh and set aside the fish skin and meat.

So here’s my “murdered” version of it: 

When the hardest part is over, here’s what you will do with the milkfish skin and flesh:

1) Soak it in a shallow plate marinated in 2 tbsp of Calamansi juice (you can use lemon or lime), 2 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp ground pepper. Set this aside until ready to use.

2) In a stockpot, pour some water just enough to cover the milkfish flesh, add some salt, celery leaves from 2 celery stalks (save the celery stalk for later use) and bay leaves. (If you don’t have celery leaves or bay leaves, just use salt water). Boil the milkfish until flesh is white and cooked.  Once cooked, drain and flake the fish flesh, making sure that all of its bones have been picked off.

Tip: If you have some kitchen tweezers around, it will come handy at this time.

Tip: Do not throw this stock; you can use this fish stock for other use. Save it in the fridge.

3) In a sautéing pan, fry about ½ cup of diced potatoes and ½ cup of diced carrots. Set aside.

4) In the same pan, heat about 3 tbsp of cooking oil, sauté 1 diced onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tomatoes, and 2 sliced celery stalks.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

5) Stir in the flaked milkfish, 1/3 cup green peas, and 1/3 cup raisins.

6) Make a well at the middle of the pan and stir in 2 beaten eggs.

7) Incorporate the cooked carrots and potatoes. Top it with about 3 tbsp of cubed butter and just let it melt. Season with some salt and pepper and add about 2 tbsp of liquid seasoning (like Knorr Liquid Seasoning or Maggi Savor).

8) Remove from heat and stir in about ¾ cup of shredded cheese.

9) Let it cool and prepare to stuff this in the fish skin.

*This is the 2^nd hardest part!  And this was when disaster happened. While stuffing the milk flesh to the skin, the inevitable happened and I, once again, tear the skin from its head! And once more, I got LAZY and did not attempt to stitch it together this time. So, instead of dredging the milkfish in flour and sewing its slit with needle and thread; and then frying it again to explode all the flesh in the pan like the last time I did, I opted to BAKE it this time. Preheat  oven to 275 C; butter the baking dish then bake the stuffed milkfish for about 45 minutes or until skin is a little golden and crispy.

10) Slice into serving pieces and serve with some hot rice. Dip it in some catsup if desired.

Whew!!! That was a lot of hard work and I am still NOT looking forward to making another one! Hahaha So I should prepare myself with more excuses for my husband since he is already requesting for another one!

Honestly, I think, if for the taste alone, this was a winner! But if this will be graded by my Home Economics teacher, this will FAIL!  =)

They say practice makes perfect, but I would still just buy ready ones, IF ONLY it is available here! =)

Happy Eating! =)