Odeng Guk 오댕국

Woo! We just came back from spring break in Orlando and I did everything I wanted to do. Drink butter beer, touch a dolphin, SWIM with a dolphin. Omg it was amazing. And now I'm just pooped and so very tired. I had to also ride all the roller coasters in the various themeparks. AND I HATE roller coasters. I don't know why people enjoy the feeling of having their guts in their throats. Although, nothing can be quite as bad as the X ride in six flags in California. That is a BAD ride. and I'll never go on that again. But the rides weren't so bad at Universal. Plus I had to ride all the Harry Potter ones just because I'm a true hp fan like that :P

I tried to take pictures of our ride photos but they're extremely stingy about that. Got caught a couple of times... very embarrassing. But then I always turn out like I have an extra Y chromosome in those pictures. very unflattering...

Anyhoo, back to food! This is a meal we made during our last exam because it's extremely easy to make. You can get all the ingredients from your local asian market and store it in your freezer for months and make it whenever you like!

Odeng Guk 

Ingredients
1. 1 tbsp minced garlic
2. 1/2 sliced onion
3. 2 tbsp sesame oil
4. small piece of kelp
5. 6 dried anchovies
6. 2 inch block of korean radish or japanese daikon (so essential)
7. 1/2 pack of oden (japanese or korean)
8. 1 tbsp yoon du or soy sauce
9. 2 tsp korean chili powder (or more if you like spicy)
10. handful of chopped green onions, sesame seeds (if you like)

Here's what kelp looks like and what yoondo is. It's like an organic soysauce that's been sweetened a little bit with sugar cane. Adds a lot of umami to your dish!

Usually, if you're not mooshikae (brash in korean) like me. You'd make the dashi in a different pot. But I don't like having to wash two pots so I leave the anchovies and kelp in it. Plus, I don't mind eating it. Extra calcium for me!

Okay, so first heat up some sesame oil (maybe also a drop of olive oil so things don't start burning). Fry the minced garlic and sliced onion. You can also do this to the anchovies to get rid of the freezer/ fishy smell. Once the onions are slightly translucent, add around 3-4 cups of water. Put in the kelp in there too. Let it boil for around 3 minutes.



For the daikon/radish, cut it into mini cubes or half moons. However you feel like eating it. But the mini cubes cook and get softer faster. The radish is soo critical to the refreshing taste of the soup. So drop those in. Let it boil for another 3-4 minutes or until the radish is partially soft. Then add in the odeng. This stuff is also called fish cake and a lot of asian cuisines have some sort of version of it. In Korea, you can get ones with bits of carrot, onions and veggies embedded in it. Or ones with dang myung (potato noodles) or just simple plain ones. They are my all time favorite street food. SO delicious. I'll always remember begging my aunt to get me some after swimming lessons :)

Anyway, I digress. Let it boil for another 3 minutes and add the yoondu or soysauce, chili powder, some pepper, green onions. Adjust the saltiness with salt or more soysauce to your liking.

After the last boil, add some sesame seeds to garnish and enjoy with some bap! nom nom nom

Although he likes plain white rice, I've made him eat purple rice. It's rice mixed with all sorts of beans, brown rice and some other grains. It's a lot healthier and it tastes better too (in my opinion)!

Happy eating!