Haemul-jjim (Braised Mixed Seafood)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pot, braiser, or deep skillet, 12 inches across
• •Kitchen shears for crab and squid
• •Tongs or two large spoons for lifting and folding
• •Small bowl for starch slurry

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the seafood

   Scrub the mussels or clams and discard any with cracked shells. If a shellfish is open and does not close when tapped, throw it away. Rinse the crab pieces under cold water, removing any loose shell fragments. Pat the squid dry and score the inside lightly in a crosshatch before cutting it wide; the scoring helps the sauce cling and keeps the pieces from tightening into hard bands.

2. 2

   Mix the sauce

   In a bowl, stir together the gochugaru, soy sauce, fish sauce or soup soy sauce, gochujang, doenjang, rice wine, maesil-cheong or sugar, garlic, ginger, and black pepper. Use only 1 tablespoon gochujang. The color should come mostly from gochugaru, because too much paste makes the sauce sweet, heavy, and dull.

3. 3

   Lay the sprouts

   Put the soybean sprouts in a wide heavy pot or deep skillet, then scatter the onion and carrot over them. Pour in the broth. The sprouts are not a garnish here; they are the bed that lifts the seafood from direct heat and releases enough water to make the braise without drowning it.

4. 4

   Start the firm seafood

   Nestle the crab pieces and mussels or clams over the vegetables. Spoon half the sauce over the top, cover, and cook over medium-high heat for 7 minutes. Do not stir hard yet. Let the shellfish open and let the crab give its flavor to the broth first.

   Any mussel or clam that stays closed after cooking should be discarded. A full table is good; a careless table is not.
5. 5

   Add shrimp and squid

   Uncover and add the shrimp, squid, remaining sauce, scallions, and chilies. Lift and fold everything with tongs or two large spoons so the sauce reaches the bottom without crushing the seafood. Cover again and cook 4 to 5 minutes, just until the shrimp turn pink and the squid curls. This is the step people overcook. Stop while the seafood is still tender.

6. 6

   Thicken the sauce

   Stir the potato starch with the cold water until smooth. Uncover the pot, lower the heat to medium, and drizzle in the starch slurry while lifting the seafood and sprouts through the sauce. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until the red sauce turns glossy and clings to the sprouts and shells. If it thickens too much, add 2 tablespoons water. If it is thin, cook one minute longer before adding more starch.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Turn off the heat. Fold in the minari if using, then drizzle with sesame oil and scatter sesame seeds over the top. Minari should wilt from the heat already in the pot, not cook down into nothing. Serve in the cooking pan or slide the whole mound onto a large platter, with rice, kimchi, and plenty of napkins for the crab shells.

Chef Tips

• •Buy seafood by smell and firmness, not by the label. It should smell clean, never sour or ammoniac. Frozen shrimp is acceptable if it was frozen well, but tired crab will ruin the whole pot.
• •Keep the squid pieces wide, at least 1 1/2 inches across. Thin strips overcook before the sauce thickens, and then you blame the recipe when the knife work was the problem.
• •Bean sprouts must be soybean sprouts, kongnamul, not mung bean sprouts. They hold their crunch and give the dish its body. Mung bean sprouts collapse too fast.
• •A wide pot matters more than a special pot. You need surface area so the seafood cooks evenly and the sauce reduces quickly. A deep narrow pot traps too much liquid.
• •For a milder table, reduce gochugaru to 3 tablespoons and keep the gochujang at 1 tablespoon. Do not add extra sugar to soften the heat; sweetness covers the seafood faster than chili does.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be mixed up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking so it loosens and coats evenly.
• •The seafood can be cleaned earlier the same day and kept covered over ice in the refrigerator. Do not salt it ahead, and do not cut the squid too early if your refrigerator is warm.
• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Pull the kelp as soon as the water simmers, then simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more for a clean broth.
• •Cook haemul-jjim just before serving. Reheating toughens shrimp and squid, though leftovers can be gently warmed and served over rice the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 370g)