Squid jerky and other banchan puzzlements

You know how it is when you visit a Korean restaurant. You get a selection of banchan, some of which are familiar and some of which you've never seen before and aren't sure what they started out as. Multiply that several times and you get the banchan selection at H-Mart, where despite labels, things remain puzzling.

The item above is labeled "seasoned squid." It turns out to be an incredibly chewy dried seafood product, so much so that I wonder whether there was some preparation step we should have done. Chop it into tiny bits? Pulverize with a meat mallet? Soak in hot water? The flavor is fine, but it's a real workout for the jaw.

We also got some beefsteak plant leaves that tasted as if they been cured in something tannic and then mixed with soybean paste. Anyone know what gives them the odd tang?

LAZ wrote:We also got some beefsteak plant leaves that tasted as if they been cured in something tannic and then mixed with soybean paste. Anyone know what gives them the odd tang?

Could it be.... poison?

Naah. Harold McGee's Curious Cook column in the New York Times (subscription may be required) talked about tomato leaves recently, and how they've gotten a very bad rap for toxicity. He says it would take a pound to make you ill, hardly possible in a panchan serving.

That's if "beefsteak leaves" are actually tomato.

the "beefsteak" in question are actually perilla leaves or also known as japanese shiso leaves. they're in the mint family and to me have a taste akin to light anise flavor.

oh... and that dried squid stuff. it's more like a drinking (as in alcohol) snack.

LAZ wrote:

The item above is labeled "seasoned squid." It turns out to be an incredibly chewy dried seafood product, so much so that I wonder whether there was some preparation step we should have done. Chop it into tiny bits? Pulverize with a meat mallet? Soak in hot water? The flavor is fine, but it's a real workout for the jaw.

The H-Mart version looks much more appetizing than the squid jerky I've purchased from Viet Hoa, which is a uniform off-white color, very stringy and packed into a plastic pouch. It is a workout for the jaw, kind of like a fishy chewing tobacco. I just pull it apart with my hands and eat little clumps at a time.

jeffcoloma wrote:oh... and that dried squid stuff. it's more like a drinking (as in alcohol) snack.

Agreed.

Does the H-Mart jerky have a spicy kick to it (looks from the coloring like it might)?

Viet Hoa
1051 W Argyle St
Chicago IL 60640-3707
773-334-1028

happy_stomach wrote:Does the H-Mart jerky have a spicy kick to it (looks from the coloring like it might)?

It's got some red-pepper flavor but it's not exceptionally spicy.


Yes, beefsteak plant is also called shiso or Perilla frutescens. The plastic leaves you get with your sushi are supposed to emulate it. I'm very fond of the fresh version. (For a treat, ask in a Japanese-run sushi bar for ume-shiso maki.) But these have been pickled or treated with something odd-tasting.

I think if you drank too much while trying to chew that squid, you could choke to death.