Spicy Octopus Over Rice (Nakji Dup Bap)

Sorry for the lack of posts last month! Lots of traveling and procrastinating. But we're back. When we made this dish we were going through a heat wave in LA, but now with the freezing temperatures it's the perfect cozy dish guaranteed to warm you up. Remember our trip to Nakzi Village? It was our inspiration but we made it to go over rice. Instead of rice you can also cook some 'somyun' noodles to go on the side. Either way it's so good.

Ingredients for 3 servings:
- 3-4 octopi(nakji) preferably fresh. Can be found in Korean or other Asian markets.
- 1/2 bag of been sprouts
- 1/2 onion
- 1/2 carrot
- 1 small zucchini
- Green onions
- 1/2 green chili
- 3 bowls of cooked rice
- Crushed seasoned seaweed and toasted sesame seeds for garnish

For the sauce:
- 4 T red chili paste
- 4 T red chili powder (adjust this if you don't like it too spicy)
- 1 1/2 T soy sauce
- 2 1/2 T rice wine
- 2 1/2 T Korean cooking syrup (you can substitute with agave)
- 1 T minced garlic
- 1/2 T plum extract
- 1 T sugar
- 1 1/2 T sesame oil
- 1 T toasted sesame seeds

Part 1. Prepping the octopus

1. Cut the heads off of the octopi. Make sure you don't cut through the head as the ink will go everywhere.

2. Put the legs in a strainer with a spoon of flour and a spoon of course salt. Rub it in well with your hands.

3. Rinse well in running water.

3. Dip the octopus into boiling water for 3 seconds each.

4. Slice into bite size pieces.

5. Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Add to the octopus.

6. Mix well and set aside while you prep the other stuff.

7. Blanche the bean sprouts in boiling water for about 1- 2 minutes.

8. Rinse and drain. Season with a little bit of sesame oil and salt.

9. Slice the rest of the veggies. You can use any kind of vegetable you like. Cabbage and bell peppers are also good options.

10. Put some oil in a heavy bottomed pan heated to medium. Add onions, carrots and zucchini. cook until softened.

11. Then add the green onions and green pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes.

12. Add the sauce and octopus.

13. Stir around and cook for another couple minutes until the octopus is just cooked through. You don't want to over cook the octopus as it will get rubbery.

14. Put the rice into bowls and top it with some bean sprouts and octopus. Garnish with seaweed and sesame seeds.