Vegan Spicy Stir-Fried Squid (Ojingeo Bokkeum)

This Vegan Spicy Stir Fried Squid (Ojingeo bokkeum) is the the perfect side dish to pair with freshly cooked rice. Made with konjac to replace the squid and loaded with vegetables, this healthy Korean spicy stir fry comes together in under 20 minutes for a quick and easy weeknight meal!

How to Make Spicy Stir Fried Vegan ‘Squid’

Ingredients (+Substituions)

To replace the squid, we’re using konnyaku (also known as konjac) which is a root vegetable. The dietary fibrous part of the plant is used to make blocks of konnyaku or noodles, which resembles a similar texture to squid or octopus– chewy with a bite. Out of the package, it has a slightly fishy smell and flavour which I thought would work really well in this dish. However, if you don’t like that fish-cake like flavour, you can boil it for 3 minutes to remove it. To add a bit more texture and flavour, I also added in shiitake mushrooms. If you don’t have access to konjac, this dish works really well with king oyster mushrooms.

As far as vegetables go, you can really use anything you have on hand. For this recipe, I kept it very simple and used vegetables you might typically find at Korean restaurants: onions, carrots, and scallions. Zucchini, cabbage and bell peppers are perfect for this dish too!

For the spicy sauce, it’s made up of garlic, ginger, soy sauce, gochujang (Korean red pepper pate), gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes), sugar, oligo rice syrup and black pepper. If you don’t have oligo rice syrup on hand, simply replace with more sugar to your liking. Feel free to adjust the level of spiciness too with a lighter or heavier hand of the gochugaru.

Directions

1. Prepare the konjac: Remove konjac from the package. If you do not like the fishy flavour of konjac, bring a pot of water to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Otherwise, rinse the konjac and then slice it in half. Cut each half again, you should end up with 4 squares (refer to video). Score each side diagonally about 1/4 of an inch of space between each cut. 
2. Prepare the vegetables: Slice the vegetables into roughly the same size pieces (about 1 1/2 inches in length). 
3. Cook: Over high heat, add 1 1/2 tbsp oil to a large pan. Add the onions, shiitake mushrooms and carrots. Then add the white parts of the scallions. Stir fry the vegetables just until the carrots are wilted and onions are slightly translucent (about 1 1/2 minutes). Add the konjac, green part of the scallions and sauce. Stir fry and mix until everything is well coated with the sauce. Turn off the heat, drizzle in sesame oil and sprinkle in sesame seeds. Remove pan from heat and serve immediately with rice. 

This spicy, mega flavourful spicy ‘squid’ stir fry is the perfect side dish alongside rice! You probably won’t be left with any leftovers but if you do want to make some ahead of time, keep it in a air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave for about 45 seconds or until heated through.

More Vegan Seafood Recipes to Try

• Vegan Poke Bowl with Crispy Tofu
• Vegan Kaki Fry (Japanese Fried Oysters)
• Eggplant Kabayaki (Vegan Unagi Don)
• Vegan Teriyaki ‘Salmon’
• Vegetarian Oyster Sauce – coming soon!
• Vegan Mentaiko (Spicy Cod Roe) – coming soon!
• Vegan Dashi – coming soon!

If you recreate this Vegan Spicy Stir-Fried Squid recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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