Nakgopsae (Busan Octopus, Tripe and Shrimp Pot)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow jeongol pan, 12 inches
• •Portable tabletop burner
• •Small pot for broth
• •Kitchen scissors or sharp knife
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the broth

   Put 3 cups water, the kelp, and the anchovies in a pot over medium heat. When the water reaches a gentle simmer, pull the kelp out before it turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, strain, and measure 2 cups. This pot reduces hard, so a clean broth matters.

2. 2

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together the gochugaru, gochujang, soy sauce, fish sauce or guk-ganjang, maesil-cheong, mirin, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Do not add more gochujang because the color looks timid. Gochugaru gives the red body, while too much paste makes the pot muddy and sweet.

3. 3

   Prepare the seafood

   Pat the octopus and shrimp dry. If the octopus is whole, rub it with 1 tablespoon coarse salt for 1 minute, rinse well, remove the beak and innards, then cut it. Dry seafood takes the seasoning cleanly; wet seafood waters the pot before the vegetables have a chance to sweeten it.

4. 4

   Ready the gopchang

   Use gopchang that has already been cleaned by the butcher, then parboil it 5 minutes and rinse. If using honeycomb tripe, simmer it separately until tender before it enters the pot. The jeongol cooking time is short, so tough offal will not soften there. It only has time to give flavor.

5. 5

   Arrange the pot

   In a wide shallow jeongol pan, lay the onion, cabbage, radish, and zucchini on the bottom. Arrange the octopus, gopchang, and shrimp in separate sections over the vegetables, then place the soaked dangmyeon to one side and spoon the sauce into the center. Add the chilies and scallions last. Arrange by color before the broth goes in, because jeongol is cooked at the table and the first sight is part of its manners.

6. 6

   Start at the table

   Set the pan on a portable burner and pour 1 1/2 cups broth around the edge, not directly over the sauce. Bring it to a lively simmer, then loosen the sauce into the broth with chopsticks. Unlike jjigae, which is usually carried out finished and named for one main ingredient, jeongol carries several ingredients arranged together and cooks in front of the table.

7. 7

   Lift the octopus

   After 3 to 4 minutes, when the octopus curls tightly and turns opaque, lift those pieces onto a small plate. Let the gopchang and vegetables simmer 4 to 5 minutes more. Octopus forgives almost nothing. Pull it the moment it curls, then return it at the end, and it stays tender instead of turning rubbery.

8. 8

   Reduce and serve

   Simmer until the sauce thickens and clings to the shrimp, noodles, and vegetables, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth only if the pan threatens to dry before the noodles soften. Return the octopus for the final minute. Taste the sauce on a spoon of rice before adding anything. It should be red, savory, lightly sweet, and still let the shrimp taste like shrimp.

9. 9

   Finish with rice

   When the solids are nearly gone, leave 1/2 cup thick sauce in the pan. Add the cooked rice, crushed gim, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil, then stir and press it over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until the bottom catches lightly. This last rice is not an afterthought. In Busan, many tables remember the pot by this final spoonful.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for cleaned gopchang from a Korean butcher if you can. It is beef small intestine, often translated carelessly as tripe in English. Honeycomb tripe works if that is what your market has, but simmer it tender first and know that the pot will taste leaner.
• •Fresh octopus is best in spring and autumn, when it is sweet and firm. Frozen cleaned octopus is an honest home choice, but thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and dry it well.
• •Keep the dangmyeon modest. One hundred grams is enough to catch sauce without turning the pan into a noodle dish.
• •If the sauce tastes flat, add 1 teaspoon soy sauce before you add more sugar. Sweetness is easy to notice and hard to take back.
• •A portable burner is the right modern tool. A charcoal brazier is not required for honesty here; 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the anchovy-kelp broth up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it. Measure 2 cups for the pot before serving.
• •Mix the sauce up to 2 days ahead. It improves as the gochugaru hydrates, and the garlic settles into the paste.
• •Clean and parboil the gopchang or tripe earlier the same day, then refrigerate it covered. Bring it close to room temperature before arranging the pan.
• •Do not cut octopus too far ahead. Prepare it within a few hours of cooking, keep it cold, and pat it dry just before it goes into the pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 650g)