To be honest, while watching Season 2 of Culinary Class Wars I got a little bummed when they starting whipping out the Korean provincial ingredients. NOT THAT I DISLIKED THE IDEA!!! But because I knew it was gonna be a challenge for me to get my hands on a lot of them heheh.

For instance: Sea Squirt? Yeah, good luck sourcing that in Toronto.

But we make DO!!

Not with Sea Squirt, but with Anchovies, because I wanted to recreate Chef Sam Kim’s Anchovy Paccheri!

The anchovies in this recipe might not be from Jeju, but using anchovies preserved in oil sure as hell did the trick. This turned out F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S-L-Y.
And subbing this ingredient will definitely make this recipe more accessible to many more of you!

So, Let’s make it!

Recipe:

Makes 1 serving of pasta

Squid Broth:

2.5 LB whole squids
2L water
3 cloves of garlic
5g small dried anchovies

Clean and prepare your squids. Separate the head from the body. Remove the innards, clear backbone, the skin and wings. Discard.
Cut the bodies lengthwise to open them up.
From the tentacles: remove the eyes as well as the beak. Discard.
Rinse the desired parts (bodies and tentacles) under cold water to wash away any gunk.

Place the tentacles and squid bodies in a large pot. Fill the pot with water, about 2L.
Add the whole garlic cloves and small dried anchovies (heads and guts removed). Bring the water to a boil. Skim the foam off the top for the first 5 minutes of boiling.

Let the broth simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Remove from the heat.
Allow it to cool slightly before straining. Discard the squids, garlic and anchovies that were caught in the strainer.

Set your finished broth to the side. If not using right away, this can be stored in the fridge for about 4 days, or can be frozen to use at your leisure!

Anchovy & Garlic Infused Oil:

6 anchovies filets (preserved in oil)
4-5 cloves of garlic
250 ml extra virgin olive oil

This can be done in the oven or on the stovetop.

For oven: Place all your ingredients in a small heatproof dish. Place in the oven at 250 degrees for about 60 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.

For stovetop: Place all your ingredients in a small saucepot (there should be enough oil to almost cover the cloves of garlic.) Place the pot over the lowest heat, and let it slowly cook until the cloves of garlic are soft and golden. About 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it!

Let the oil cool. Store any leftover oil in a jar in the fridge when not using.

Anchovy Breadcrumbs:

20g panko breadcrumbs
20ml Anchovy & Garlic Infused Oil
1 anchovy filet (preserved in oil)

In a small saucepan, add your breadcrumbs, Anchovy & Garlic Infused Oil and anchovy half.

Place the pan over low heat. Stir with a spatula or spoon to evenly coat the breadcrumbs in the oil. Use the back of the spoon to smash the anchovy, breaking it up into pieces.

Shaking the pan frequently, toast the breadcrumbs until they turn a golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl to use later.

Young Radish Tops:

1 Young Radish (with greens)
15ml Anchovy & Garlic Infused Oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 anchovy filet (preserved in oil)
pinch of chilli flakes

Clean and prepare your radish, separate the greens from the root. Pick only nice and fresh looking greens. Rinse them under cold water to wash off any dirt. Save the radish root for something else.

In a small saucepan, add the oil, minced garlic, anchovy and chilli flakes. Place over medium heat. When the garlic and chilli flakes starts sizzling, add the washed young radish tops.

Shake the pan, and sauté quickly, for about 30 seconds. Quickly remove from the pan to prevent overcooking and place on a plate or tray for later use.

Anchovy Pasta:

8 Paccheri
10g coarse salt (for boiling pasta)
water (for boiling pasta)
40ml Anchovy & Garlic infused oil
2 cloves finely minced garlic
3 anchovy filets (preserved in oil)
250ml Squid Broth
15g butter

Fill a medium pot with water. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring the water to a boil.

Once boiling, add your Paccheri noodles. Par-cook for only 8 minutes (half the proper cook time) and remove from the water.

In the meantime, add your finely minced garlic, anchovy and your Anchovy & Garlic infused oil to a large saucepan.

Place it over medium heat. Once it starts to sizzle, sauté the garlic and anchovies for about 40 seconds, then quickly add a ladle of your squid broth (120ml). Stir.

Let this come to a simmer, and then add your par-cooked pasta, and turn down the heat to low.

Continuously move the Paccheri about the pan to release the starches. When the pan gets too dry, add a touch more squid broth. Continue to slow cook the pasta for about 6 minutes, allowing it to soak up that broth and absorb the anchovy flavour, adding more broth if necessary.

At the end, when the pasta has reached a nice al-dente, turn off the heat and add 15g of butter. Shake the pan and stir the pasta to emulsify the sauce and coat each noodle.

To Serve:

Place your cooked Paccheri in a bowl. Top with residual sauce.
Garnish with your sautéed Young Radish and sprinkle with the toasted Anchovy Breadcrumbs.
Optionally, sprinkle on a few toasted pine nuts.

Enjoy!

Anchovy Paccheri