Korea Life and Cultures

I know I've been gone a long time and I'm going to cheat and not even give a new recipe but something that I should have finished up long ago. It's crazy because I'm not working and my son is in preschool which means I have a LOT of time to myself. Yet, I feel busier than ever just going around and doing random things. I'm supposed to go back to work soon, but taking this last year off has been a blessing in disguise. I feel so much better and re-energized!

I keep saying how I wish there was a way that I never had to work again. Wishful thinking. In this economy, I guess I should be happy that I have something to go back to. =P

Anyhow, here we go! Clear ojinguh gook. I have no idea what else to call it! All the women in my family make this soup for special occasions like choo-suk or my Grandpa's jae-sah. I think the reason is because it's quite time consuming because there are a lot of steps. It's a "special" gook that we eat once or twice a year.



First go and grab some book-uh. This is the brand my MIL sent from Korea. It’s great. I don’t know if they sell it here. =/

Anyhow, grab about 1/2 cup of book-uh with some dashima (sea kelp - thanks to whoever pointed that out!) and boil it in about...oh let's say 8 cups of water. Boil it for about 20 minutes or so while you're getting everything else prepared. I didn't measure anything yet again. Sorry. Am I becoming a Korean mother on you? A little bit of this and a little bit of that! =)



Wash and clean your squid and bring a pot of water to a boil.



Drain about 1/2 cup of beef...



Slightly boil the squid. This really helps in getting the fishy smell out and it also gets rid of all the excess liquid from the squid.



Chop up about two cups of moo.



In a pot, heat about 1 TB of sesame oil, 1/2 TB of minced garlic, and 2.5 TB of gook ganjang.



Add the beef and saute until done.



Chop up your squid like so....



And add the squid and moo and mix it for a little bit.



Then add the book-uh broth and some tofu and let it boil for about 30 minutes on low heat. The broth will eventually turn white.



The finished product! Munchkin *LOVES* ojinguh so this is one of his favorite gooks. =)