Braised Dried Pollack and Radish
Easy and Delicious Side Dish: Braised Dried Pollack and Radish using Fridge Staples (Kim Jin-ok’s Favorite Recipes)
Hello everyone! Today, I’ve prepared a hearty side dish using ingredients readily available in my refrigerator. I found some dried pollack (hwangtae) in the freezer and decided to braise it with a radish I had on hand. This dish is incredibly easy to make and a perfect accompaniment to rice, so please give it a try! If you don’t have dried pollack, you can substitute it with dried anchovies for soup stock – just be sure to remove their heads and guts. Alternatively, you can chop up dried pollock (buk-eo-po) into bite-sized cubes.
Ingredients- Dried pollack (Hwangtae) 30g
- Radish 500g
- Green onion 1/2 stalk
- Cheongyang chili peppers 2
- Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) 2 Tbsp
- Minced garlic 1 Tbsp
- Soy sauce 10 Tbsp
- Mirin (rice wine) 2 Tbsp
- Sugar 1.5 Tbsp
- Cooking oil 1.5 Tbsp
- Black pepper a pinch
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
1. Prepare the dried pollack. Rinse it lightly under running water and then cut it into bite-sized pieces with scissors. If the dried pollack has any unpleasant smell, soak it in rice water for about 5 minutes, then squeeze out any excess water before cutting.
Step 2
2. Peel the radish and weigh out 500g. Slice it into half-moon shapes about 0.8-1cm thick. Cut the green onion (1/2 stalk) into large pieces, and thinly slice the Cheongyang chili peppers (2) diagonally.
Step 3
3. In a pot, arrange the sliced radish at the bottom. Add the prepared dried pollack, large pieces of green onion, and diagonally sliced chili peppers. Then, add a pinch of black pepper, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, 2 Tbsp gochugaru, 10 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp mirin, 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil, and 1.5 Tbsp sugar. Pour in 700ml of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. (If you don’t have dried pollack, you can omit it and use anchovy-kelp broth instead of water to make a delicious braised radish dish.) After 15 minutes, remove the lid and increase the heat to high. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency – I simmered for an additional 5 minutes. Taste the sauce during the final simmering stage over high heat and adjust seasoning (soy sauce or sugar) to your preference. Note that radishes are sweeter in winter, so you might want to reduce the sugar amount if using sweet radishes.
