Spicy stir-fried blood sausage

Sundae is a Korean-style blood sausage made by stuffing pig or cow’s blood, starch noodles (dangmyeon ), and various spices into pig or cow intestine. The intestine is then sealed, boiled, and sliced up to eat. It is a food rich in protein and nutrients, mainly sold as street food, or in large open-air markets or department store food courts in Korea these days, and it’s a very popular. There are many variations of this sausage and a wide variety of ingredients used.

When I lived in Korea, I remember ordering a plate of sundae from a stall in a market and eating it with my friends alongside tteokbokki and fish cake soup. We sat on the bench and watched the stall owner bring out the steamy sausage and slice it right in front of us before serving. Sundae is soft, savory, and nutty, and the chewy casing is also delicious. The stall owner would mix in some organs too, including liver. Some people avoid organs but I always said: “More liver, please!”

Today’s recipe is sundae-bokkeum, or spicy stir-fried blood sausage, where sliced sundae is stir-fried with vegetables and seasonings to make it spicy. It’s a dish commonly enjoyed in Korean pubs, and it’s also a menu item in Korean pubs here in New York City. It’s meant to be shared with friends over drinks: it’s sizzling, spicy, warm, fun to eat and is nicely washed down with any alcohol at all, although you don’t need to drink to enjoy it!

You can easily find imported frozen sundae in the frozen section at Korean grocery stores. Since it’s precooked and frozen, the package usually has instructions in English on how to heat it on the back.

If you’re a vegetarian, skip the blood sausage and add more flat starch noodles, about 6 to 8 ounces. This dish is pretty delicious without the sundae!

You might be wondering if you can make sundae at home, and if I have a recipe for it. I spent some time developing a sundae recipe to post on my website, but eventually I gave up. I managed to get pig blood and casings from a Chinese market, but when I mixed the ingredients together, I absolutely lost my appetite. : ) On my second attempt I used blocks of pig blood, but after finishing it, it had a strange smell, so I didn’t want to eat it at all. In fact few Koreans make this at home: it’s messy and time consuming and you have to handle a lot of blood. If I ever succeed in making it a home, I’ll let you know, but in the meantime, get some frozen sundae from a Korean grocery store and enjoy it that way. : )

Ingredients

Serves 2 to 3

• 1 pound frozen sundae (Korean blood sausage), thawed
• 3 ounces of flat starch noodles (or thin dangmyeon), soaked in cold water for an hour
• 4 ounces of cabbage, sliced into bite-size pieces
• ½ large onion, sliced
• 1 green chili pepper, sliced
• 8 to 10 large perilla leaves (kkaennip), half of them sliced into bite-size pieces, and half cut into threads
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (or any cooking oil)
• 1 tablespoon toasted perilla seeds powder (or toasted sesame seeds powder)

For seasoning sauce:

• 2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
• 2 tablespoons gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice syrup (or sugar to taste)
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¾ cup water

Directions

Prepare the sundae and noodles:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the full sealed package of sundae to the boiling water.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the sundae package from the pot and put it on a cutting board to cool down.

4. Drain the noodles and cut them in half. Set aside.
5. Using kitchen scissors, carefully open the package of sundae, then slice them into approximately ¾-inch thick pieces using a sharp kitchen knife. Wipe off the blade of the knife with a wet kitchen towel or paper towel to prevent sticking and ensure a clean cut. Be careful not to break the sundae!

Prepare the seasoning sauce:

1. In a bowl, combine gochujang, gochu-garu, soy sauce, rice syrup, and black pepper. Mix well, then add water and stir until thoroughly combined.

Stir fry:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the minced garlic and stir for about a minute until it becomes slightly crispy.
2. Add the cabbage and stir for 1 minute until it softens slightly.
3. Add onion, green onion, and green chili pepper, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the seasoning sauce, noodles, and half of the sliced perilla leaves. Gently stir for a few minutes until the noodles become soft, shiny, and transparent.

5. Add the sliced sundae and reduce the heat to medium. Gently stir to ensure they are evenly coated with the seasoning. Be careful not to break them open, they are fragile!

Serve and enjoy:

1. Transfer to a plate and garnish with the remaining perilla threads.
2. Sprinkle toasted perilla seeds powder (or toasted sesame seeds powder) on top of the perilla leaves.
3. Serve right away!
4. Put some sundae along with vegetables on an individual plate. Add a little bit of the mixture of perilla leaf threads and perilla seeds powder and enjoy!

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