Maangchi 2: Hwedupbap (Raw Fish Mixed with Rice and Vegetables)

I love gochoojang, a spicy Korean chili pepper paste. When I was growing up, we primarily used it as a dip for lightly steamed vegetables that were eaten with rice wrapped up in leaf lettuce (sahm). In college, if I didn't have any other bahn chan available, I would spread Sam Bok gochoojang (my favorite brand) over white rice or ramen noodles and eat it as a reminder of home.

I also love sushi and I've only ever seen raw fish served in the Japanese style: sliced tuna or salmon (or other seafood delicacy) served over a ball of seasoned rice or wrapped up in a seaweed handroll. Most places around here will use sriracha (a Thai chili sauce that is both spicy and tangy) when making spicy sushi rolls, but my favorite local sushi joint, which happens to be Korean-owned, offers a twist. When you order spicy scallops or raw oysters, the sauce they use is gochoojang. My mouth is salivating even as I write this.

Leave it to The Motherland to combine my two loves into a single dish: Hwedupbap and thank-you to maangchi.com for introducing me to it.

This dish, made from raw fish mixed with raw vegetables, is similar to another one of my favorite Korean meals, bibimbap, the mixed rice and (cooked) vegetables dish that I blogged about here. Hwedupbap is a little more feasible for home cooks because it requires very little preparation, especially when you buy the sashimi (sushi-grade raw fish) already cut-up from the Asian market (pictured on the right side of the photo below).

Maangchi's recipe calls for cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and gaen yip (often referred to in English as sesame or perilla leaves). Korean people typically eat raw gaen yip wrapped around rice with gochoojang (similar to sahm) or they will cook it in soy sauce and serve as bahn chan. It has a very strong, distinctive flavor and is one of my favorite Korean greens. Lucky for me, my father grows tons of it in the backyard all summer long (although you can buy it year round at most Korean markets).


The steps are simple:

1. Season the gochoojang.
2. Chop/prepare the vegetables.
3. Layer everything in a bowl over rice.
4. Mix and chow down!

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• If you are a vegetarian, Maangchi includes instructions on how to prepare tofu in place of the raw fish. We frequently ate steamed tofu with a thin, seasoned gochoojang sauce as a meal when I was growing up, so this alternative sounds very tempting to me.
• You can use any vegetables or greens that you like here. I added radish sprouts and raw vidalia onions that were very thinly sliced.

The Results
Delicious, although I'm not sure this is the best use of expensive sashimi. The gochoojang flavor really overpowers the delicate fish. I'll probably try this with tofu the next time I make it.


Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy!
• Time to prepare: 20 minutes, not counting the time to cook the rice
• Prognosis: Will definitely be making this again

My Shopping List
I spent $10 on the sashimi, which was enough for two people. I also bought the radish sprouts. I had everything else at home.