Korean spicy fish
galchi jo rim
First, she slices the daikon radish into thick chunks, and makes the sauce out of soy sauce, water, garlic, ground Korean hot pepper, and sesame seeds.
She prepped the rest of the veggies that will go into the dish: jalepenos and zucchini.
She layered in the pot the radish first, then the fish. She'll top this much with sauce and begin to cook, adding the other veggies once she can start smelling the fish cooking.
Here is a pic of what the package of fish looked like. She got it from the freezer at Sun Oriental Market (626 Congress St. Portland, ME, right next to Korea House restaurant). I hear you can get this at Korean markets all over the country.
In case you're a fisherman and want to catch your own. Here's what it looks like fresh. The fish common name of hairtail makes sense because it's tail gets as thin as a hair. Beltfish also makes sense because the fish is narrow and long like a belt! I don't know why others call it cutlassfish.
This is the Korean hot pepper - the secret to the spicy sauce in the fish dish.
This is what wakame seaweed (for the seaweed side salad) looks like dry. She soaks it, boils it for five seconds, slices it and then tops it with Korean hot sauce. Delicious!
Here is what the package looked like (she likes Wang brand) -- so long and huge! (She simply used scissors to cut as much as she wanted to use). I'll be also be using this in miso soup! It's known as one of the world's most invasive species, so please don't try to grow it here. I'll be hopefully hearing from some Maine seaweed farmers about some nice, local substitutes.
Here's the main dish - chunks of daikon radish showing on top, summer squash and jalapeno.
She served four banchan, sidedishes, with the fish dish. Clockwise from top: galchi jo rim, kimchi, fish cake stir fry, sesame-dressed soy sprouts, seaweed salad.
Me in heaven, eating seaweed salad dressed with a 700-year-old family secret!
Thank you Tiffany Converse Photography. (All the beautiful photos are hers. Mine are the mundane but informational ones) Please ask permission to use. lindsay@lindsaysterling.com
