Hwe Dup Bap

I discovered hwedupbap or as some know better, sashimi salad, when I went to Baltimore. This Korean dish is cold, fresh and simply delicious. It’s similar to bibimbap but rather than using beef, you use raw fish. I was inspired to make it myself, so after much research and youtube stalking of a Korean lady named "Maangchi," (I swear I had her video memorized and could picture her julienning the veggies when I closed my eyes), I made my way to the Korean market in Austin to pick up the ingredients for the dish. I found everything I needed, but the tricky part was going to be the sashimi grade fish. I didn't know how trustful I could be with the Korean Market, so I timidly asked the lady in charge if they carried sashimi grade salmon and tuna. I also didn't know how good her English would be, so I spoke plainly and slowly, emphasizing "sashimi" in case she was confused. Feeling like a fool, she responded back quickly with, “Yea we have tuna and salmon. Both are sashimi.” After showcasing her solid command of the English language, she told me the salmon only came in large packs because it was from the restaurant side of the store. After some deliberation, I decided to get it, and she barked out, "Freddy, go get me a salmon from the back!…the smallest one you can find!" Freddy appeared with a 2.5 pack of frozen salmon filet. Wow, I thought, I've gotta get creative with how I'm gonna use this!

I went home and followed the video exactly. Here’s a link to it if you’d like to see her in action: (http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/hwedupbap). I layered the rice, veggies (used sesame leaves for the first time!), sesame seeds, roe, nori, and sashimi. There’s a great sauce that is prepared along with the dish and you use it to spice up the dish to your liking. I also made a side of miso soup (also one of her recommendations).

Both Edwin and I gave it two thumbs up!