Jjamppong 짬뽕

| By: Tim Solanki |

Today’s recipe is 짬뽕 (Jjamppong) which is a Chinese-Korean spicy noodle dish. This recipe is very customizable to a person’s taste. In this dish, a lot of the vegetables can be omitted or added. For example, I personally don’t like carrots, so I chose to omit them from this recipe. Also if you prefer mild or less spicy food, then you can fix the amount of spice you proportionally.

Ingredients

Yield: 2-3 servings

For the Stock:

• 2 멸치육수 teabags

• 8 Cups of water

For the Vegetables:

• 4 green onions (cut thinly)

• 3 ounces of cabbage (cut thinly)

• ½ a large onion or 1 small onion (sliced)

• ½ zucchini (cut into bite sized pieces)

For the Seafood & Meat:

• 8 mussels, scrubbed, debearded, soaked in salted water for a few hours, and washed

• 4 large shrimp, shelled and deveined

• 4 ounces squid (sliced into rings)

• 24 small clams (soaked in salted water for a few hours, and washed)

• 4 ounces of thinly sliced pork or beef or chicken (cut into bite-size pieces)

• OR, for me, I used 500 ml of frozen seafood medley. The seafood variety is up to the cook’s choice.

For the Noodles & Seasonings:

• 2 Bunches of Noodles

• 5 tablespoons of 고추가루 (Korean red pepper flakes)

• 2 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon of minced ginger or ginger paste

• ¼ cup of vegetable oil or enough to fill the pan

• 1 teaspoon of salt

Cooking Instructions

Make the Stock:

1. In a large pot fill with 8 cups of water. Put 2 broth packets in and boil for 20 minutes. Then simmer for another 20 minutes.

Make the Pepper Flakes Mixture:

1. Combine 5 tablespoons of 고추가루 (Korean red pepper flakes) with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.

2. Mix well until fully incorporated.

Make 짬뽕 Jjampong:

1. Heat a large pan or wok on to high heat. Add vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, and stir about 20 seconds with a wooden spoon until the garlic starts to turn a little crispy.

2. Then add the thinly sliced pork (or meat of your choice) and stir until almost cooked.

3. Clear a spot in the wok by pushing the garlic, ginger, and the meat to the side. Tilt the wok so that the excess vegetable oil slides into the cleared area. Put the 고추가루(korean pepper flake) and sesame oil mixture into the oil and mix with a wooden spoon until it creates a smoky flavor but not long enough to burn.

4. Then stir everything in the wok together into the hot oil.

5. Then add the rest of the vegetables and stir until the vegetables are wilted.

6. Add the 짬뽕 and seafood mixture into the broth after the second 20 minutes is over.

7. Boil until the seafood is fully cooked then simmer.

Make the Noodles:

1. Bring a large pot to a boil. Then put in the noodles.

2. Cook the noodles for 4 minutes until cooked.

3. Then rinse under cold water to preserve chewiness.

To Serve:

1. Serve the 짬뽕 mixture over the cool noodles.

2. Eat!