Small Octopus Soup (쭈꾸미 국)

I picked up jjukumi/jjuggumi (쭈꾸미; small octopus) from a Korean market the other day without much thought of how I'd cook it. Although jjukumi bokeum (볶음), sautéed in gochujang sauce with lots of vegetables, is a popular choice, I wanted to give my stomach a break from too much of coffee, alcohol and spicy foods I've recently consumed. With other ingredients I had at home, I made jjukumi soup, which came out to be full of oceany flavor. It was a hot soup on a hot day, yet the jjukumi soup was light, refreshing and comforting. Oh I couldn't help myself at the end - I added a few slices of jalapeno and red hot finger pepper, which came through in the soup without making it screaming spicy.

4C water

1/2 medium sized onion, peeled and sliced

1/2 zucchini, rinsed and sliced to half-moon shape

4 thin slices of jalapeno pepper

4 thin slices of red hot finger pepper

6 frozen oysters, rinsed in cold water

1 package of silken tofu, cut into big pieces

1 package of jjukumi (6 in my package), rinsed thoroughly with salt and flour

2 stems of scallions, cut into 1 inch (2 cm) pieces

4 stems of garlic chives, cut into 1 inch (2 cm) pieces

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Bring water and onion up to a boil then simmer until the onion slices are thoroughly cooked. Add zucchini, jalapeno and hot finger pepper slices and cook until the zucchini slices start turning translucent. Add the oysters and silken tofu and bring up to a boil. Add jjukumi and bring up to a boil. Add the scallions and garlic chives and stir. Remove from heat and season with fish sauce and soy sauce. Adjust seasoning to your taste.

Frozen oyster packages are available in Korean markets, which I use mainly to flavor soups. Jjukumi packages sold are usually already cleaned and ready for cooking. Still, I rub jjukumi with a spoonful of salt and flour then rinse in cold water until I see clear water. Jjukumi require only a couple minutes of cooking time (it'll become stringy-chewy with longer cooking), so they are added towards the end.

I cut jjukumi in smaller pieces after the photo shoot above, and dipped in my spicy-sour sauce (gochujang: vinegar: soy sauce: honey = 2: 2: 1: 1) which I usually keep in the refregerator for bibim guksu (비빔국수; mixed noodles).