Gogalbi, not your ordinary galbi

 I am a southern gal and I have to admit that I really love southern style Korean food.

If you ever visit Busan of South Korea, there is a district called Nampo-dong; very famous for their seafood street vendors and restaurants.
You will smell smoky grilled fishes and other sea creatures on every little ally; Fun hang-out place with friends.

The dish I am introducing today is called "Go-galbi" originated from Busan.
It almost sounds like express take-out Korean BBQ dish but it is not.
Well, it can be..., I guess.
It is actually a mackerel(Go-deong-uh) slobbered in sweet tangy chili sauce.
They call it "galbi" because it is cooked like galbi and meaty like galbi.
I don't own a open flame brick BBQ pit in my cosmopolitan cave, so I will adapt the traditional cooking method into my everyday humble skillet over the gas burner.
It tastes as good as the ones in the restaurants.

Please, try this recipe!
Otherwise you are missing something really, really, really, I mean really good Korean fish dish.
And it is quite simple to make..., as always.
After all, I am a simple person.

 Here are the stuffs I use to make today's recipe.

These are frozen mackerel fillets, individually wrapped.
Only 3 fillets in the package..., some people just don't like even numbers.

Wash some rice to make rice starch water by reserving the milky water that has been used to wash the rice. You only need about 2-3 cups.
For the detailed instruction on how easily you can make this rice starch water, click HERE.

Drown your frozen fishes in the rice starch water for 20 minutes.
Two reasons;
#1 : They are salted in the package, more than you need. Need to get diluted.
#2 : As they're thawing, the starch water will reduce the fish smell during the cooking.
Please, don't ask me for the food scientific reason how it works, because I simply don't know, but it works like a wonder.

Meanwhile finely chop your garlic and ginger so you don't get bored while waiting.

In a small mixing bowl, combine garlic, ginger, chili paste, chili flakes, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Now here is the problem that I am encountering because none of you will be able to find this ingredient outside of Korea. It is a type of extract called "maeshil jeup" - the home-made kind.
I could never find this anywhere in the U.S.
Sweet tangy syrup that comes from the green plums. This is NOT a plum sauce or juice!
So I will give you the substitution. Use lemon juice with corn syrup instead.

Mix altogether.

When 20 minutes are over, Deliver your fishes out of water and pat them with paper towel.

Gently coat them lightly with corn starch on both sides.

Shake off the excess.

Heat some oil on the skillet over medium heat.

Sear the skin side for 3-4 minutes until it gets NGB-nice golden brown.

Flip and sear the flesh side for 3-4 minutes, too.
You can tell it's got nice crisp texture on the skin side. Yum...

Flip back so the flesh side is staring at you.

Important! Reduce heat to low.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp of sauce on top.

Spread around to cover.

Put the lid on or cover with aluminum foil and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
This will set the sauce on the fillet nicely.

While waiting slice some onions and scatter them on a serving platter.



When your fish is done, lay it on top of the fluffy onion bed.

Now, hurry up and grab a bowl of hot freshly cooked rice.

 
And dig in...

Ooooh!

Mamma Mia! Here I go again

My my, how can I resist you...

Don't miss this Holy mackerel!
Your leftover turkey will get jealous...

Gogalbi
(고갈비, pan seared mackerel with chili sauce)

3 mackerel fillets, salted and frozen

2 cups rice starch water*

1/2 cup corn starch

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup sliced red and green onion for garnish, optional

Sauce:

2 Tbsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)

2 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice wine

1 Tbsp sugar

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely minced

1 Tbsp green plum extract (mashiljeup)**

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sesame seeds

a few dashes of black pepper 

* : Rinse the rice once and drain. Add 2-3 cups of water and rapidly swirl around the rice. The water will take some starch out of rice and becomes milky. Reserve the milky water.

** : Substitute with 2 tsp fresh lemon juice + 1 Tbsp corn syrup.

Take the frozen mackerel fillet out of package and soak in the rice starch water for 20 minutes to thaw.

Meanwhile make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients.

Take the fillets out of starch water and pat with paper towel to dry. Coat with corn starch lightly on both sides.

Heat oil in the nonstick surface skillet over medium heat. Sear the fillet, the skin side first, for 3-4 minutes. Flip and sear the other side for 3-4 minutes as well. 

Reduce the heat to low, and turn the fillet again so the meaty side is facing you. Spread the sauce over the fillets all around, about 1 Tbsp per fillet. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 minutes so the sauce can set on the fillets.

Place fillets over onions on the platter and serve warm with rice. Enjoy!

Printable recipe