Chewy and Delicious Cockle Salad: A Seasonal Delicacy, Revealing the Secret Recipe!
Chewy and Delicious Cockle Salad: A Seasonal Delicacy, Revealing the Secret Recipe!
Seasoned Cockle Salad with Cockle Sauce, Recipe for Cockle Bibimbap
Despite a busy day, it doesn’t show. I tried to advance my posting schedule for the new year, but ended up typing on my keyboard in the early morning hours, sleep-deprived. Eventually, I closed my laptop and slept. Today’s menu is cockles. I don’t often cook them because it’s a bit of a hassle, but they are an ingredient I find myself making at least once a year. Here’s how to make a delicious cockle salad that requires minimal ingredients!
Main Ingredients- 1kg fresh cockles
- 2 Tbsp coarse sea salt
- 2 Tbsp cooking wine (mirin or sake)
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
Rinse the cockles under running water and scrub their shells clean with a brush. Add 2 tablespoons of coarse sea salt and enough water to cover them. Seal the bowl with a black bag and let them purge in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight. This process helps the cockles expel any sand or impurities, ensuring a cleaner taste. If you don’t have enough time for purging, be sure to rinse them thoroughly.
Step 2
After purging, rinse the cockles again under running water to remove any remaining debris. It’s important to check carefully, as some impurities might be lodged between the shells, or a few cockles might not have purged completely.
Step 3
Fill a pot with enough water to fully submerge the cockles and bring it to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling vigorously, add 2 tablespoons of cooking wine (like mirin or sake) to help eliminate any fishy odors. If you don’t have cooking wine, you can use cheongju or soju as a substitute.
Step 4
Add all the purged cockles to the boiling water. Stir them in one direction to ensure even cooking. The water will become quite cloudy as the cockles cook; this is a natural process due to the proteins and impurities being released, so don’t worry.
Step 5
Remove the cockles as soon as they start to open. Aim to take them out when about 30% of the cockles have begun to open. Boiling them for too long will make the cockles tough and chewy, so be mindful of the cooking time. Generally, 2-3 minutes of boiling is sufficient.
Step 6
Quickly rinse the cooked cockles under cold water to stop the cooking process. For cockles that have already opened, you can leave them as they are. For those that remain closed, use a spoon or a cockle opener inserted into the gap between the shells and twist gently to pry them open. Remove one shell, leaving the meat attached to the other for easier handling.
Step 7
Now, let’s prepare the delicious seasoning! In a bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of finely ground red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon of oligosaccharide, 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil or perilla oil, 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds, and a pinch of black pepper. Mix everything well. (You can adjust the sweetness and spiciness to your preference.) For a richer flavor, add the finely minced vegetables (onion, carrot, green onion, chili pepper) and mix them in. I’ve made this seasoning to my taste without precise measurements, but feel free to customize it to your liking!
Step 8
Generously spoon the prepared seasoning over the cockle meat and gently toss to combine. The ‘cockle salad’ is ready, perfectly balancing the natural flavor of the cockles with the savory seasoning! It’s also fun to pick out the cockle meat from the shell.
Step 9
For an even more special treat, add thinly sliced perilla leaves to the cockle salad. The aromatic perilla leaves will enhance the flavor. If you mix this seasoned cockle salad with warm rice, you’ll create a wonderful cockle bibimbap. Enjoy a delicious meal with seasonal cockles!
