Imagine taking warm, invigorating spoonfuls of a rich spicy broth of fresh seafood by the seaside on a chilly day. Beloved in the coastal regions of South Korea for exactly that reason – the haemul jeongol or spicy seafood hotpot is a healthy dish for everyone. It is made with an assortment of shrimp, black mussels, squid, prawns, octopus and cod fish, and various vegetables that simmer in freshly prepared stock to surprise your palate with its ever-changing textures and flavours from the ocean.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Seafood:
- 50 gms shrimp
- 60 gms black mussel
- 50 gms squid
- 100 gms black cod fish (bones and tail for stock)
- 50 gms baby octopus
- 75 gms tiger prawns
- 1 scallop
Other dry and wet ingredients including vegetables and oil:
- 15 gms white onion
- 5 gms carrot
- 10 gms baby marrow
- 5 gms spring onion
- 15 gms button mushroom
- 15 gms shimeji mushroom
- 5 gms inoki mushroom
- 2 pieces shiitake mushrooms
- 10 gms king oyster mushrooms
- 2 gms (2 pieces) red chili
- 2 gms (1 piece) green chili
- 3 gms chives ('buchu' in Korean)
- 70 gms white radish
- 3 gms garlic
- 2 gms ginger
- 50 gms Chinese tofu
- 500ml water for vegetable stock
- 2 gms dried anchovy
- 2 gms dried seaweed (kelp)
- 5 gms coarse Korean chili powder
- 5 gms fine Korean chili powder
- 3 gms salt
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 5ml chili oil
Method
Step 1: Preparing the stock
1. Coarsely cut an onion into a large half piece and slice spring onions into thirds.
2. Slice the large red chili into thick, slanted pieces and ginger in two to three chunks.
3. Cut the radish into round slices, and add the dried shiitake mushrooms, cut onion, spring onions, red chili, ginger and radish to a pot with the water for vegetable stock.
4. Start up the stove, and add the dried anchovies, cod fish bone and tail, and seaweed.
5. Let the stock simmer for 20 minutes at medium heat, and from time to time, remove all the bubbles formed on top with a ladle to cook a clear stock.
Step 2: Preparing vegetables and seafood for hotpot
1. While the stock is simmering, wash and clean all the seafood carefully in running water. For mussels, take care to remove the beard and scrub the shell to remove barnacles.
2. Slice the cod fish fillet, shrimp and scallop lengthwise and place on a plate for the seafood assortment.
3. For squid, slice in thin rings, and cut the baby octopus in two.
4. As for the baby marrow, carrot and chives, slice in thin, approximately five-centimeter pieces.
5. Thinly slice the king oyster mushrooms lengthwise from head to end, and for the shimeji and enoki mushrooms, simply cut off the ends.
6. Cut the green and red chili into slanted pieces, and coarsely chop the rest of the onion in large pieces.
7. Slice the tofu into cubes.
Step 3: Cooking the hotpot
1. After 20 minutes of cooking the stock, add the coarse and fine Korean chili powder, chili oil, soy sauce and minced garlic to the stock to add flavour.
2. Simmer for 10 more minutes, and then strain into a bowl.
3. Take the seafood hotpot bowl, and using tongs, place the baby marrow, carrots, onions, mushrooms and tofu circling the bottom of the pot side by side.
4. Arrange the mussels, black cod, tiger prawns, shrimp and squid in the centre of the pot and pour the cooked stock over it.
5. Place the pot on the stove, and boil for seven minutes with the lid on.
6. At the end of boiling, use a ladle to remove bubbles at the surface of the broth to make a clear soup.
7. Place green and red chilli according to taste, and serve with chives cut in around 4-5 cm strips and enoki mushrooms to garnish.
