Fish in Korean food
Fish (생선)
Korean soups and stews are often built on a broth of dried anchovies. Fish can be dissolved in a soup or stew even when none is visible.
Where it hides in Korean food
Dried anchovies with kelp are the common base for Korean soup stock. Doenjang stew, kalguksu and janchi guksu usually use an anchovy broth too.
Kimchi is seasoned with salted seafood, and the southern regions in particular use plenty of salted anchovies. Fish sauces such as anchovy or sand lance sauce also season soups and stews, not just kimchi.
Fish cake made from fish paste often goes into tteokbokki and is a common gimbap filling. Soupy tteokbokki is often simmered in an anchovy and kelp broth.
Bugeo guk, a soup of dried pollack, is a common hangover soup, and stir-fried dried anchovies are one of the most typical side dishes.
Dishes that contain it
Usually in it
Sometimes in it
- BibimbapAlbap, a named version, heaps fish roe such as flying fish roe on the rice.
- Budae-jjigae (army base stew)The broth is typically a fish, meat or bone stock rather than water, so fish can be in the soup without any seafood in the pot.
- GimbapFish cake strips and canned tuna are both popular fillings, and a single shop often sells several rolls that differ only in which one is inside.
- Haemul-pajeon (seafood scallion pancake)Some recipes mix the batter with anchovy stock instead of plain water, so the batter itself can contain fish, apart from the seafood.
- JapchaeFish cake japchae uses sliced fish cake in place of the meat.
- Naengmyeon (cold noodles)Hoe-naengmyeon, a Hamhung variety, tops the spicy noodles with marinated raw fish, usually skate.
- SamgyeopsalThe dipping sauce is usually ssamjang, but some places serve meljeot, a salted anchovy sauce, or salted hairtail innards. It comes as a separate sauce, so you can decline it or ask them not to heat it on the grill.
Based on the 14 dishes this site has researched. Dishes not listed here can contain it too.