Tripe--Korean Style

My roommate's mom came to visit for the first time a few years back and she stayed with us for a few days. I remember coming home from class one day to find the apartment filled with the aroma of sesame oil, ginger, and garlic, the kitchen was filled with ingredients for numerous different dishes--fish cakes, red bean paste, ginger, beef, seaweed, mussels, and so much more. But there was one dish that she made that really stuck with me: Spicy Tripe.

My roommate has asked her mom several times for the recipe, but she honestly claimed that she pretty much eyeballs everything. So here's my recreation of that recipe...which is pretty close.

Ingredients:

Finely ground red chili flakes

ground ginger

ground garlic

chopped scallions

red bean paste

finely chopped jalapeno

sesame oil

tripe

salt

Trim off the fat from the tripe (about 1/2 pound piece)

Coat the tripe in flour and rinse

Boil the tripe for 15-20 minutes with 3-4 table spoons each of ginger and garlic

While tripe is boiling, make the sauce

In a large bowl, add 3-4 tablespoons of red chili flakes

Slowly add hot water to the red chili flakes until it becomes paste-like

Add 1 tablespoon ginger

Add 1 tablespoon garlic

Add 1 1/2 tablespoon red bean paste

Add jalapeno and scallions to flavor

and mix together

When tripe is done, take it out and while it's hot, cut into bite sized pieces

Add to sauce and mix until evenly coated

Add salt to taste

Add 2-3 tablespoons of sesame oil to taste

Serve to friends and get rave reviews!

We served this with jap chae, or vermicelli noodles

Here's a quick recipe:

Mushrooms

Green onions

Shredded carrots

(you may also add spinach and/ or egg and/ or any other kind of vegetable you'd like)

jap chae noodles

pre-marinated bulgogi (beef)

garlic

ginger

soy sauce

sesame oil

Boil vermicelli noodles

sautee all the ingredients separately

strain noodles and add to a large bowl with all the sauteed veggies and beef

mix with soy sauce for flavor

and finally add the sesame oil

Note: I always add the sesame oil last because the oil keeps the ingredients from absorbing other flavors.