Bulnak-jeongol (불낙전골, Beef and Octopus Hot Pot)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow jeongol pan or 12-inch braiser
• •Portable tabletop burner
• •Fine strainer
• •Kitchen scissors or sharp knife
• •Tongs or long chopsticks for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the octopus

   Put the nakji in a bowl with the flour and coarse salt. Rub it firmly for 1 minute, especially along the tentacles, then rinse under cold running water until it no longer feels slippery. Remove the beak and eyes if your fishmonger has not done it. Cut the tentacles into 2-inch lengths and the head into bite-size strips, then keep it cold. Clean octopus cooks cleanly; poorly rinsed octopus muddies the broth before you have even begun.

   Frozen cleaned nakji is acceptable. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, not on the counter, then rinse and dry it well before seasoning.
2. 2

   Build the broth

   Put the water, dasima, anchovies, 100g radish, and dried shiitakes if using in a pot over medium heat. When small bubbles gather at the edge and the kelp softens, lift the dasima out at once. Leave it longer and it gives bitterness and a slick texture. Simmer the anchovies, radish, and shiitakes for 10 minutes more, then strain. Season the broth with 1 tablespoon guk-ganjang and 1/2 teaspoon salt. It should taste clean and a little underseasoned, because the beef marinade and octopus sauce will join it later.

3. 3

   Marinate the beef

   Mix the soy sauce, grated pear, grated onion, mirin, sugar, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and black pepper. Add the beef and turn it gently with your hands until every slice is coated. Let it sit 20 minutes at room temperature, or up to 4 hours in the refrigerator. Thin beef does not need a long soak; too much time turns it salty and soft.

4. 4

   Season the octopus

   Mix the gochugaru, gochujang, guk-ganjang, mirin, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, ginger, maesil-cheong or sugar, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Spoon two-thirds of this sauce over the octopus and keep the remaining sauce for adjusting the pot. One tablespoon of gochujang is enough. The red color should come mostly from gochugaru, so the broth stays bright and the octopus still tastes like the sea.

5. 5

   Prepare the vegetables

   Drain the soaked dangmyeon. Cut the cabbage into pieces that can be picked up with chopsticks, slice the pot radish thin so it softens quickly, and keep the carrot narrow enough to cook with the mushrooms. Trim the minari or ssukgat but do not chop it small. Jeongol is eaten from the shared pan, so every piece should be easy to lift without tearing the whole arrangement apart.

6. 6

   Arrange the pan

   In a wide 12-inch jeongol pan, lay the radish, cabbage, and onion across the bottom. Arrange the carrot, mushrooms, tofu, scallions, chilies, minari, and drained dangmyeon in separate bands by color. Set the marinated beef in the center. Keep the seasoned octopus in its bowl beside the burner for now. This is not fussiness: the lower vegetables sweeten the broth, the beef can be loosened as it cooks, and the octopus waits so it stays tender.

   If you want the table to see the octopus before cooking, set the bowl beside the pan. Do not bury it in the broth early for the sake of a pretty picture.
7. 7

   Start the jeongol

   Set the pan on a portable burner at the table. Pour in 4 cups of hot broth around the edges, keeping 1 cup back for later. Bring it to a steady simmer and cook 5 to 6 minutes, loosening the beef with chopsticks as it firms and letting the vegetables settle. Taste the broth. If it is flat, add a teaspoon or two of the reserved octopus sauce. If it is strong, add a splash of the reserved broth. Adjust in small amounts, because a shared pot concentrates as it cooks.

8. 8

   Cook the octopus

   Add the seasoned octopus to the center of the active simmer and spread the pieces so they touch the broth. Cook 90 seconds to 2 minutes, just until the tentacles curl and the flesh turns opaque. Lift the first cooked pieces into bowls or to the cooler edge of the pan. Do not let octopus sit there while everyone talks. That is how tender becomes rubber.

9. 9

   Finish and share

   Scatter the sesame seeds over the top and tuck in any remaining minari for a fresh green finish. Keep the burner low as you eat, adding the reserved broth when the pan reduces. Serve with hot rice, kimchi, and a few clean banchan. The broth should taste of beef, octopus, mushrooms, and vegetables in balance, not of sugar and chili paste alone. This is bap doduk, a rice thief, but a well-mannered one.

Chef Tips

• •Buy nakji, small octopus, when you can. If the market only has larger octopus legs, slice them thin across the grain and cook them even more briefly. The rule does not change: the moment it curls and turns opaque, lift it.
• •Use thin bulgogi-cut ribeye or sirloin, not stew beef. The beef should loosen into the broth in minutes. Cubes need long cooking and belong to a different pot.
• •Do not bury this jeongol under gochujang. Gochugaru gives clean red heat, while too much paste makes the broth heavy and sweet. Let the beef taste like beef and the octopus taste like octopus.
• •A jeongol pan is best because it is wide and shallow, but a 12-inch braiser, a shallow electric skillet, or a shabu-style pot will do. The vessel can modernize. The order of cooking cannot.
• •Leftovers are safest when cooled quickly and refrigerated within 2 hours. Reheat the broth and vegetables once, but do not expect leftover octopus to stay tender.

Advance Preparation

• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month. Warm it before pouring it into the jeongol pan so the table cooking starts promptly.
• •The beef can be marinated up to 4 hours ahead and kept refrigerated. Bring it out 20 minutes before cooking so it does not chill the pot.
• •The vegetables can be cut up to 6 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Keep the minari or ssukgat wrapped in a barely damp towel so the leaves do not collapse.
• •The octopus can be cleaned 1 day ahead, but season it only shortly before cooking. Salted seafood held too long tightens before it ever reaches the pan.
• •Do not fully cook the assembled jeongol ahead. Its whole character is the table cooking: beef loosening, broth reducing, octopus lifted at the right second.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 650g)