ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Drunken Late Night Squid Edition

Last weekend I returned from a rousing night out with my friends quite drunk and quite hungry, and in such situations, it’s not uncommon for me to summon a sober party and request transport to the nearest late night eatery, particularly if it means venturing into Koreatown for some late night galbi, bulgogi, tofu, or pho. However, as I am trying to be thrifty of late, I decided I would make do with some drunken snacks of my own making. But what to have? My apartment has been a bit under-stocked recently, and the options for homemade vittles were few and far between. But then I got to thinking: I really wanted Korean food, and I had all these Korean ingredients in my fridge, and furthermore, I had just recently made this neat recipe for dinner that I could surely whip up again. And so it was decided: I would be cooking SQUID.
Yes, in a strange turn of events, I happened to have half a bag of frozen squid rings in the freezer. That was all I needed to get this party started. So even though I was probably in no state to be cooking, let alone near an open flame, I got out my wok and went to work. Photos of this most peculiar adventure after the jump…

Here’s the clock. It was 2:10 AM when I started this craziness.

First I started off with some Korean hot pepper powder. This stuff is brutal. The first time I made this recipe, I wound up with a raging inferno on my tongue. I reduced the amount of powder this time around, but I later discovered that it was of no use. There was much sniffling.

Next I added a spoonful of hot pepper paste. That’s right: two different varieties of hot pepper ingredients. I was really setting myself up for some severe gastrointestinal malaise.

Also into the mix went some sugar and minced garlic. Lovely odors ensued.

The recipe called for corn syrup, but I don’t have that, nor do I wish to really cook with it. I just added some water and a little extra sugar instead.

Next I chopped up half an onion, and since I have the most sensitive eyes in the world, I cried abundantly.

In my wok I heated up some vegetable oil. I had to make sure I didn’t do something stupid here — you know, like DRUNKENLY PASS OUT ON MY BED.

I then added the pepper sauce to the hot oil and sautéed it for about thirty seconds.

Next came my frozen squid rings. Usually, I like to defrost such things so as not to make the dish too watery, but I was drunk and impatient. In retrospect, I should have simply added less water to the sauce in the bowl.

Waiting with bated breath / playing with my camera’s timer.

As you can see, the rings gave off a bit too much liquid.

But in the end, it all turned out quite lovely.

Consider this late night craving fulfilled!

Sadly, after all that, I could only eat half of the dish because it was so incredibly hot — both in terms of temperature and spice. I simply could not endure. It was very tasty though. If anyone makes this recipe, be sure to defrost the squid or add less water (or none at all) to the pepper mixture. The sauce wound up being a tad too thin. It was still good, but the first time I made the dish with thawed squid was better. Nevertheless, after putting the leftovers in the fridge, I sat down on my couch, watched half of The Soup, and finally passed out. An evening well spent, if I say so myself.