As I mentioned, I got a little overexcited at the farm and brought home a giant mess of scapes. Visions of scapes cooked both Korean-style and American (Western?)-style danced before my eyes and...yeah. We've been getting scapes every week too. They're a little tricky to chop because of their curly nature, but I'm going to deal with all of them tonight. No more excuses. rawr.
Also, I realized I've been spelling maneul jong wrong this whole time. FFF. It SOUNDS like 마늘쫑, but it's actually 마늘종. ㅠㅠ...
Ways to use scapes:
- Maneul jong bokkeum aka garlic scape Korean stir-fry (see below)
- Sauteed with a bit of olive oil until slightly charred
- Wash, chop, and freeze in ziploc bags (try and push out all the air from the bags before sealing). Should be fine for later use in cooked recipes or in soups.
- Maneul jong jangachi: need to translate a recipe because I couldn't find anything in English. But this is pretty much my favorite banchan except for maybe the lotus roots and kkakdugi kimchi tops (I told you, I have an unhealthy obsession with stems).
I told my mama I was going to try making maneul jong jangachi and she just was like, "wtf why would you do that? It's too much work. Just go buy it." I, of course, am not going to listen to her because I really do love these things and I already have a bunch in my fridge. But after translating the recipe, I understand what she meant by "wtf" and "too much work." Erughhh.
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Maneul Jong Jangachi (마늘종 장아찌)
Note: Not sure what a good translation of this would be, but maybe "Spicy Pickled Garlic Scapes"? Ugh, sounds as bad as describing kimchi as Spicy Pickled Cabbage or soondubu jjigae as Spicy Tofu Stew (yuckyuckyuck). Whatever, it is noms.
I'm dividing ingredients into two sections. The scapes need to be brined first, so I'll list those ingredients first, followed by the marinade/sauce that they will sit in.
Ingredients (brining):
- Garlic scapes (600g of scapes = 1 large bunch of scapes, which is not very precise. Hopefully this works out okay.)
- 3 cups water
- 3 large spoons of salt (literally translates to large spoon. I think that's equal to one heaping kitchen spoon? 1 tbsp? Apparently, the salt solution is supposed to be 5%, or 50g salt per 1L water. But I don't know what that means in US measurements. buh. If this turns out tasting bad, I'll go back and do the conversions and try again.)
- 1 cup minced garlic (optional, but makes everything tastier)
Ingredients (marinade/sauce)
- 6 large spoons gochujang (hot red pepper paste)
- 1 large spoon gochukkaru (red chili pepper flakes)
- 1/2 small spoon anchovy (myeolchi) fish sauce
- 1/2 large spoon vinegar
- 4 large spoons sugar*
- small amount of whole sesame seeds
- whole or sliced garlic cloves (optional)
* The recipe I'm looking at says 1 spoon sugar and 3 spoons "oligo sugar." Wasn't sure what the heck that was, but apparently it's an artificial sweetener. The aftertaste of artificial sweeteners makes me buggy, so I'm going to adjust the recipe and just use regular sugar. Honey might be okay to use as well, but use less since honey is sweeter than sugar.
Directions:
1. Bunch the scapes together and chop off bottom ends of scapes. Discard. Working up from the bottom, chop into 2 inch segments. If your scapes are super duper curly like mine, work in small bunches of 3-4 stems.
2. The recipe I am looking at says to throw away the flower buds and tips, but we all know these are yummy to eat. Set aside and use them in a stir fry or soup!
3. Wash chopped scapes.
4. Boil water and salt in a large pot. When boiling, remove from heat and let cool slightly (to 70 deg C ish)
5. Place chopped scapes in hot salted water and make sure all the stems are fully submerged. If not, make more salt water!
6. OMG. Real time translation means real time commentary. Recipe says to let the scapes sit for 3-4 days. DAYS. I thought my Korean was just sucking and I was reading that wrong, but no. It's days. >.< Okay, let your scapes brine for 3-4 days. This probably means the salt solution needs to be measured fairly accurately to prevent weird things from growing. I believe we're supposed to leave these out to pickle at room temperature (the warmer the room, the better), so I'm going to err on the side of oversalting the water, just to be safe.
7. Wash a piece of scape and taste to see if they are ready. Apparently, if there is a "hot, biting taste" (translated literally), they are ready. They should look a bit pickled and shrivelly. I'm going to include a link to the original recipe below for picture comparison purposes because at this point, I've lost all faith in my ability to follow this recipe by itself and still succeed. T_T
8. If the scape is too salty, place the scapes in a bowl of fresh water and let some of the salt leach out.
9. Wash the scapes thoroughly in clean water.
10. Place scapes in a mesh colander and press out excess water.
11. Spread out scapes over a mesh surface and let drain/air dry for a few hours if possible.
12. Mix all ingredients for the marinade/sauce except the whole or sliced garlic cloves and sesame seeds. If you're not using cloves, add some minced garlic.
13. Adjust seasoning (sugar/vinegar/fish sauce) to taste. According to the recipe, the vinegar brings out the sweetness of the sugar and the fish sauce complements and deepens the saltiness of the dish. Makes sense.
14. Combine the sauce/marinade, whole or sliced garlic cloves, the garlic scapes, and the whole sesame seeds.
15. Mix thoroughly, ensuring that all the stems are fully coated with the marinade/sauce. Err on the side of making too much marinade/sauce*. If there isn't enough, the scapes sitting on the top will dry out and lose their flavor :( or the scapes will start to mold :O
*Tip from me: If you have extra sauce leftover when you finish eating your scapes, you can mix it with plain white rice. Om nom nom.
16. Store in the fridge! According to the recipe, scapes normally go soft in about 6 months, but with the method we used above (blanching in hot salted water), the scapes should stay crunchy and asak asak fresh for a year. O.O A YEAR.
17. As days pass, the scapes will further pickle and become more and more yums. Make some rice and eat your heart out.
I shall give it a go this week and we'll see how this turns out. I really hope I don't give myself botulism or something. Also, I wonder why the maneul jong jangachi at H-Mart always says it's expiring in 2-3 weeks if it can supposedly last so long? They always over ferment everything!!! The kimchi I get from H-Mart also goes sour in less than a month. :(
Anyways...wish me luck.
Original recipe can be found here. The pictures are so, so pretty!!! This lady (or man) is a total pro.
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