Korean Inspired: Devil's Tongue Stir Fry

Today it hit me...

Only about FIVE months until we leave Korea!! FIVE!
Wow- it's all going by so fast! We have spent most of our marriage here together, and soon we will leave.

Although we have been here 4.5 years, sometimes it still isn't easy. Korea is still, after all, a foreign culture. Language is different, logic is different, expectations are different and FOOD is DIFFERENT!

I have had a love/hate/love/hate relationship with Korean food in my past 4.5 years here. When I arrived in Korea I was SUCH a picky eater! Not such a good thing when almost every Korean dinner out looks like this-



Then, after I got past the shock, I started opening up and trying new things! "New things"= fish and MUSHROOMS! How exotic, I thought! ha! After I was starting to get along with the idea of Korea food... I converted to a vegetarian/vegan. Things changed slightly.

I'm lucky that the pre-school I teach at offers free lunch to the teachers. It's a great way to experience Korean food! Most of the food I can't eat because of the cow bones, fish broth, seafood, etc- and that's ok with me. But some days.... oh boy! SOME days, I really luck out! This was the case last Thursday. I had a delicious broccoli, mushroom and DEVIL'S TONGUE JELLY side dish!! YUM!!!

Have you ever heard of Devil's Tongue Jelly? In Korean it's called "gon yak" (곤약), in Japanese it's called "konnyaku". It comes from the root of a plant that grows in subtropical Asia- most refer to it as a potato or yam. Wow- it is such a great addition to meals!

This is black Devil's Tongue Jelly. It also comes in white.

The Japanese call it "The Broom of the Stomach". It is referred to as such because of it's ability to "clean out" your colon- it's used for such in Chinese traditional medicine for this reason. This is how it made its way to Korea so very long ago.

 In addition to the high fiber content, Devil's Tongue Jelly also has starch,  protein and almost no calories because so much of it is made of water. In some studies it has been shown to normalize cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure! For this reason, it is a very popular diet food for women in Korea. Not that I'm advocating it to be used as such!

So, I decided to give cooking with DTJ or "gon yak" a try! At the store, I was surprised to find only the white kind. If you're here in Korea, you can find it in the area where all the kimbap making supplies are. Here's what I got-


Here's my American-Korean fusion recipe. I'm calling it:

DEVIL'S TONGUE STIR FRY
Sounds like a witch's brew! Perfect for your Halloween Dinner Party!

Ingredients for Stir fry:

• 1/2 brick of Devil's Tongue Jelly
• 8-12 mushrooms (depending on size)
• 2 cups of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1/2 of an onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup organic Tamari (soy sauce)
• 4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons blackstrap molasses
• 3 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 cloves of garlic

Serve with soaked quinoa and spelt or other whole grain and a side of steamed broccoli.

I started by opening the bag and pouring its water out, then I rinsed it a few times until the smell was gone. You'll know what I mean when you open the bag.

Next, I cut it the package in half and cut it then into cubes.

Check out my new ceramic knife!! Woo hoo! LOVE it!

Next, I marinated the cubes in 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar and 1/8 cup of Tamari. You could also use Soy Sauce, or Shoyu, they are all similar.

I marinated it just for a few minutes while I was preparing other things.

When I was ready to cook, I put the coconut oil, garlic and onion into the pan and cooked it for 2 minutes on medium heat.

Next, I added in the chickpeas and the other 1/8 cup of tamari and 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar. I cooked everything for about 2 or 3 minutes.

After that, I put in the mushrooms and Devil's Tongue Jelly along with the remaining tamari in the bowl.



I let everything cook on Medium High heat until all the water started coming out and looked like this.

See how it looks bubbly?

I didn't add the broccoli to the stir fry because I wanted to keep as much of it's nutrients intact. I've been craving broccoli, sesame, chickpeas and almonds lately. My first thought- maybe my body is needing extra Calcium right now! So, I gladly indulged. Check out the nutrition in just 1/2 of the meal. Keep in mind, this is only 1 out of 3 for the entire day! Wow!

Look at that protein, B6, Iron and Zinc! Who says the vegan diet is deficient in those things!?!? Shame! I tracked the nutrition from www.fitday.com *Note: The fiber and carbs ratios on this chart may be off for my specific way of eating. I eat a high carb diet- this is set to the standard US requirements. So, this meal is not really 79% of my actual carb needs for the day.

I'm going to try to soak in as much Korean food as I can in my last 5 months here. I love finding new cultural foods to add to my repertoire.

Have you ever tried Devil's Tongue Jelly? What were your thoughts? Let me know if you have any good recipes using it!

I'm leaving Tuesday night for Japan! We have a 5 day weekend here in Korea thanks to the Korean harvest festival (Chuseok). Can't wait to hike Mt Fuji and sip some tea in Kyoto with my hubby!

Details on Japan and that new "Client Access" tab at the top coming to the blog soon- can't wait to share!



Try a new food.

Listen to your body.

Soak your grains.


Live your life,

The Empowered Way


Meg