Hwe Dup Bap

As far as last meal’s go, for me this is it—hwe dup bap. It contains all of my favorites: sashimi, salad greens, rice, and something spicy to linger on my tongue. What lingers is cho gochujang, a vinegary pepper sauce that some Koreans prefer as their sashimi dipping sauce. It’s the addition of this sauce that differentiates it from chirashi sushi, which I find quite dull.

It’s easy to assemble and requires no cooking aside from the rice. Or leave out the rice and save those carbs! It’s just as good without the rice. I suppose it’s the perfect summer meal, but for me it’s always a good idea.

Hwe Dup Bap
1 cup cooked rice
.5 lb. sashimi of choice (sliced into bite size pieces)
4 lettuce leaves, chopped
5 shiso leaves, chopped
1 handful daikon sprouts (these have a kick to them)

Cho gochujang
2 spoonfuls of gochujang
½ spoonful of sugar
3 tb. vinegar

For the cho gochujang, I always freestyle it à la Rachel Ray—glug this, eyeball that. Overall just start with the gochujang and adjust according to your palate. I discovered if you use seasoned rice vinegar then you can omit the sugar. The consistency should be similar to ranch dressing.



1. Spoon rice into bowl.



2. Layer lettuce, chopped shiso leaves, and daikon sprouts on top of rice Add sashimi pieces.
3. Add desired amount of cho gochujang. I would say start with 2 tablespoons.
4. Fold ingredients together.

SARDEEEENZ

yeaaaaah that's right. SARDEENZ!

this is my comfort food dish du jour (for the past 100 jours). SARDINES! who knew?!

i am FILIPINO but my dad doesn't eat meat so i love a little salty fish (see tilapia and bangus aka milkfish). when my sister and i went to paris in college, pops told us that if we always kept a pack of sardines in our backpacks, we'd have an instant meal anywhere, well-accompanied with a baguette and a bottle of wine. i've never forgotten that lesson and expect to pass it on to my own brats someday.

mais ouis, this recipe is from the minimalist. he has a fine article and even a video on how to make this, and i direct you to them both.



the key is to get good sardines in olive oil - i have used trader joes' sardines in olive oil and bucatini from the corner store, and it works beautifully. this time, however, i used a pack of sardines i brought back from greece in may especially for this dish.

throw some bread into your food processor and then fry the crumbs in a bit of olive oil. then sautee some chopped onion, then throw in the sardines, capers, and lemon zest.



throw in some pasta (here i used trader joe's brown rice spaghetti, which warrants a whole other post someday - that's sticky al-dente-ness! try it!) and some parsley. so delicious. and you're ready to go in ten minutes.