I love Soondae. Soondae is a Korean blood sausage that's composed of noodles, blood, and a bit of pork. The taste ranges from slightly metallic to a bold blood flavor. I like it in between.
The first time I had it, it was stir-fried with cabbage, gochujang, and carrots (called Soondae Bokkeum) and served with a steaming bowl of rice and kimchee on the side at the Durebak Restaurant located in HMart. Let me tell you, it was super simple but oh, SO good at the same time!
Ever since, I've been trying to make my own version of the dish. Some recipes called for adding dangmyeon (sweet potato starch noodles) or ramen, and some added tteok (Korean rice cakes). Some added both! After some trial and error, I've finally come across a recipe from Future Dish that compares to the first time I had it, yay! I added a few more veggies to it, doubled the sauce, subbed some ingredients to what i had on hand. All in all, a good recipe if tried as is.
Here's my slightly adapted version of the recipe, enjoy!
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Spicy Korean Soondae Bokkeum
(1) 500 gram package of Soondae
1 whole Onion, sliced
1/4 head of Green Cabbage, roughly chopped or julienned
1/2 a whole Carrot, sliced or julienned
1/2 Red bell pepper, sliced
Handful of snow peas, chopped
2 chives or green onion, chopped
6 to 8 Perilla Leaves, julienned
4 Tablespoons of Gochujang (pepper paste)
2 Tablespoons of Gochugaru (pepper flakes)
4 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
2 Tablespoon of Rice Syrup or Honey
2 Tablespoon of Maesil (Korean plum extract) or Mirin
2 Tablespoon of Minced Garlic
2 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil, Perilla Oil, or combination of both
2 Tablespoon of Sesame Seeds
Few Shakes of Black Pepper
Few Shakes of Perilla Seeds Powder for garnish (optional)
Prep Soondae:
Bring a pot of water up to boil. Don't take the Soondae out the plastic package. Add it directly into the boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat. Give it another 5 minutes to simply sit in the water and steam.
Carefully take the Soondae out of the package. Let it cool down. Then use a knife and cut into small bite-sized pieces. Sample one - it's ok to eat by itself and a dab of salt.
Make Sauce:
Take out a mixing bowl and thoroughly mix: Gochugaru (4T), Gochujang (2T), Soy Sauce (4T), Sugar (1T), Honey (2T), Maesil (2T), Minced Garlic (2T), Sesame Oil (2T), Sesame Seeds (2T), Black Pepper (few shakes).
Make Soondae Bokkeum:
Place frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once its hot, place in some oil. Then add in the cabbage, onions, and carrots. Cook for a few minutes then add bell pepper and snow peas. Stir-fry until the cabbage and onions turn soft. It should take about 4-5 minutes.
Once cabbage turns translucent and soft, add in the sundae. Then add in all of the spicy marinade sauce. And reduce your heat to a medium-low (!) Then stir-fry everything and get it nicely coated. If it's a little dry, add a few tablespoons of water if you want it a little saucey. After 1-2 minutes, turn off heat. Add on some of the sliced perilla leaves for color. You can also sprinkle-on some perilla seeds powder (if you have it). Give it one final stir and plate.
Garnish with the rest of the sliced perilla leaves on top.
