How To Make Squid Game Season 2's Dosirak

When "Squid Game" took the world by storm in 2021, it introduced many Americans to various aspects of South Korean culture and cuisine. Some enthusiastic fans of the first season felt obliged to recreate the dalgona honeycomb confection imprinted with assorted shapes featured in one nail-biting game. Now, after watching Season 2, many foodies are excited to test their culinary skills by making dosirak.

In the episode "Six Legs," after voting to continue in the games, contestants are given a small metal tin filled with various ingredients. Akin to a Japanese bento box, this is dosirak, is a common lunch option in South Korea. The lunchbox fare in the show consists of white rice, fish sausage, soy-braised black beans, stir-fried anchovies, kimchi, and a fried egg.

To prepare dosirak, start by cooking the backbone of the dish: rice. While it is boiling, add a splash of vinegar to the rice to make it fluffy. Once cooked, fill two-thirds of your bento box-style container with rice. Banchan, the side dishes that compose the rest of the meal, simply need to be heated to a safe temperature and placed in the last third of the container. The fish sausage should be cut into discs, then added where the rice and other ingredients intersect. The fried egg is goes on top of the rice and should be served sunny side up as opposed to over-easy, so skip the flip and heat it low and slow.

Some ingredients in the "Squid Game" rendition of dosirak might be difficult to come by unless you live near a specialty Asian food market (you don't often see soy-braised black beans and fish sausage in your local Costco). Still, there are a few ingredients more commonly stocked in U.S. groceries that work as substitutes for the less-common elements you may have trouble finding. Just as there are various adaptations of a Korean corn dog, dosirak doesn't always have to be made with the same fixings.

If you can't find fish sausage (or simply favor using something else) Spam can be an adequate substitute. Other components people use to construct dosirak include steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, mung bean sprouts, fried tofu, and shredded dry seaweed. Some folks also make glass noodles with carrots and scallions to put into their dosirak.

If you prefer to cook the cuisine as seen on TV, kimchi is generally available at most local grocery stores, as are anchovies and eggs. You can braise black beans in soy sauce on your own, or simply heat them up and then use soy sauce as a condiment. Whatever ingredients you land on in your version, if you use a container that has more visual appeal than a metal tin, your dosirak should look even more appetizing than it does on "Squid Game."