Seafood Made Simple: Gochujang the secret to making Korean fried monkfish

Savoury, sweet, and spicy, gochujang is a hero condiment and a store cupboard essential in my kitchen

Korean Fried Monkfish with Kimchi. Picture: Chani Anderson

Gochujang is a Korean fermented chilli and soya bean paste. Savoury, sweet, and spicy, it’s a hero condiment and a store cupboard essential in my kitchen. It’s also the secret to making the utterly delicious and addictive Korean fried chicken — or in this weekend’s recipe's case — Korean fried monkfish.

For the Cork on a Fork festival two summers ago we put together a menu focusing solely on shellfish.

Celebrating the rich bounty of crustaceans and molluscs our island has to offer also helped to highlight the importance of regenerative aquaculture. The star of that menu was a simple snack of Korean fried mussels, each one cooked, picked, coated, and generously tossed in this glorious sauce. Laborious and mouthwatering in equal measures.

A blend of rice, corn, and potato flours produce a light and crunchy coating before the nuggets of fish are tossed in a piquant and fiery sauce. Here I’ve used monkfish for its meaty texture but cod, hake, pollock, or ling would all produce similar results. I’ve also used this recipe with blanched cauliflower for a fabulous vegetarian version.

The accompaniment to such scrumptious fried fish in this instance is a fresh and crunchy kimchi slaw made with seasonal red cabbage and carrots. (I often use this simple dressing with cucumbers, white and sweetheart cabbage, or just straight up with some julienned carrots.)

A typically fermented food, kimchi is a wonderful product and an excellent way to include gut-boosting bacteria in your diet. With everything from fried rice, to grilled cheeses, soups, and stews, it adds a wonderful sourness and depth of flavour to so much of my cooking. I always like to have a little stashed in the fridge. With a few splashes of fish sauce and Korean chilli flakes, you can make your own fresh kimchi in a flash.

Korean Fried Monkfish with Kimchi

recipe by:Aishling Moore

Gochujang is a Korean fermented chilli and soya bean paste

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 450g monkfish, cut into bite-sized chunks

• 1 tsp black and white sesame seeds

• 2 scallions, finely sliced

• For the coating

• 150g potato starch

• 80g cornflour

• 40g rice flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• For the sauce

• 1 tbsp butter

• 2 tbs gochujang

• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp mirin

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• For the kimchi

• 1 small red cabbage, finely sliced

• 1 carrot, finely sliced

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

• ½ tsp caster sugar

• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced

• 1 tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)

Method

1. To make the quick kimchi place the finely sliced red cabbage and carrot in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

2. Add the fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, caster sugar, minced ginger and Korean chilli flakes. Mix well and set aside.

3. To prepare the sauce place the butter, gochujang, honey, ketchup, mirin and apple cider vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, whisk well to combine.

4. Keep warm.

5. To prepare the fish, pat dry using some kitchen roll to remove any excess moisture and cut into bite sized chunks.

6. Pre-heat the oil in your deep fryer to 190°C.

7. Combine the potato starch, rice flour, corn flour and baking powder in a medium sized bowl and mix well.

8. Dredge the nugget-sized pieces though the blend of flours, shaking off the excess as you go.

9. Place on a baking tray until all coated and you’re ready for frying.

10. Depending on the size of your fryer work in batches when frying the fish. Fry for 2 minutes until crisp.

11. Drain well on kitchen paper. Place all the fried monkfish pieces in a large mixing bowl. Pour over the warm sauce and toss to coat.

12. Sprinkle the monkfish pieces with sesame seeds and scallion. Serve immediately with the fresh red cabbage and carrot kimchi.

Fish tales

You’ll find gochugaru, gochujang, rice flour, potato starch and mirin at your nearest Asian market.

To prepare the kimchi, I like to use a mandolin. You could also use a speed peeler, box grater or a food processor to prepare the vegetables.

If you don’t have a deep fryer, use a heavy based pot filled halfway with oil and work in batches. A thermometer is essential if you don’t have a deep-fryer.

For a substantial meal serve with steamed rice and drizzle with your favourite mayonnaise.

The sauce keeps well in the fridge for up to a week and works great as a marinade prior to oven roasting fish.

This fresh kimchi is best eaten on the day it’s made