Hobak Bokkeum
When I decided to utilize the grill to make some meatloaf paninis last fall, I wanted to add a grilled side since I was going to have a batch of coals going already. That meatloaf sandwich had a lot of Korean inspiration to it, so I began crafting a side that followed suit. After settling on a grilled zucchini with a spicy sesame oil sauce, I realized that idea was already along the lines of the traditional Korean stir fried zucchini dish called hobak bokkeum. So I then changed course slightly to attempt to adapt that existing recipe to the grill instead.
This dish is very simple, with saeujeot (tiny shrimp), garlic, and zucchini slices sautéed in a mixture of regular and sesame oils, then finished with scallions and sesame seeds. To change this up for the grill, I started first by making a mixture of sesame oil and garlic, and I opted to use fish sauce instead of saeujeot because of personal preference. I was kind of looking forward to a spicy side, so I went ahead and added in gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes) too, which I did see in some hobak bokkeum recipes out there, but it's not the norm.
This dish commonly uses zucchini cut into thin rounds and/or halves to form smaller pieces. That wouldn't do on the grill though because that size would fall through the grates, so I went with my trusty method of cutting the zucchini into half-inch slices on a bias so they would be sufficiently big and thick enough to hold up over the flames.
I then coated the zucchini with oil and gave it a light seasoning of salt before setting the slices over direct heat. I like my zucchini really tender and well browned when I'm grilling it, but that's not what this side calls for, so against my instincts, I let these grill until they were still a little firm in the middle and with only light to medium browning. This only took a couple minutes per side for the slices that were over the hottest parts of the fire, a minute or so more for slices that were in slightly cooler pockets.
Once the zucchini was all done, I placed the slices back in the bowl and quickly added in the sesame oil mixture since I wanted the garlic to get some heat to help take the raw edge off a bit. I added in scallions too before tossing everything to distribute the seasoning and scallions evenly. Then I moved everything into a serving bowl and garnished with sesame seeds.
This ended up being a nice little side and a good accompaniment to the more heavily flavored panini. The mellow touch of the zucchini meant that the trio of the garlic, sesame oil, and fish sauce were all well accounted for in the flavor, but their quantities weren't in such amounts that they really dominated, achieving a good balance with the tender vegetable which had a fire kissed touch to it. I was actually expecting this to be spicier than it was—the gochugaru really just added some background heat—which allowed me to easily imagine what this would taste like without the pepper. While I enjoyed this side with my sandwich, I felt it would be even more welcomed in a Korean barbecue feast, so it may just make another appearance on my table since Korean barbecue is something I get the grill going for at home at least a few times a year.
