Nigella's #2: Korean Calamari

This post was in a draft for such a looooong time. I guess I failed to upload the pictures and ended up in nothing but the draft mode. Blah~


There are two reasons why I was so tempted to try this recipe. First, it's Korean food (well, maybe not really authentic, but hey, it contains gochujang - Korean fermented chilli paste - which I was dying to cook with). Second, because it's calamari, and I'm fond of calamari somehow.

So, I bought the gochujang paste (almost months ago before I finally opened the tub) and the paste is easily found in any hypermarket here, so you don't have to peek every single Korean mart around the town to find one.

I did some twists for this recipe. In the original recipe, Ms. Lawson didn't put any garlic at all and I was wondering why. Aren't garlic and Korean food inseparable? Because of that, I put 2 fat cloves of garlic and happily smell the aroma. I didn't use any sugar at all too, just because when I tasted, sugar is an unnecessary item to be added, I think.


Okay, enough blabbing. Here's my own twist on Nigella's Korean Calamari:

5 baby squid (here, they name it 'cumi sero')
2 tablespoons Korean cooking wine
2 tablespoons Korean gochujang paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Few dashes sesame oil
2 teaspoons cooking oil
1 fat scallion, sliced
2 fat garlic, diced

I followed her step-by-step directions to make sure that I cook the calamari long (or fast) enough to avoid overcooking it. The result? Nice! The squid is juicy, tender, perfectly cooked and the taste is awesome. I love the unique dominant scent and taste from the gochujang paste and quite surprised of how quick and easy this meal is.

chewy yummy spicy

Today's lunch was another success story :D