One of the most impressive sections of Korean grocery stores is the seafood section. Lots of care and attention is placed on the seafood options. Up until recently, I hadn’t purchased any fish and instead focused on the beef and pork dishes. Last week I bought some salted yellow croakers. I had no idea what to do with them, but I quickly learned that they are used for soups. The croakers I bought already had their fin removed and were ready for cooking. And unlike fish served at American grocery stores, the heads were still attached. Eyeballs and all!
I kind of followed the recipe posted in the description of this YouTube video. I didn’t have the cooking wine or hot pepper oil. I also was out of anchovies used to make the Korean Anchovy Kelp Stock. It didn’t matter, as the soup tasted awesome. My fish had lots of little bones, but it didn’t bother me to remove them as I ate the soup. I also made some rice which I added to the soup.
Korean Yellow Croaker Soup
canadian nomad
Dec 12, 2012 — 11:29 pm
Your food experimentation is fantastic 🙂 (I’ve got 7 ferments on the go) You make a great guinea pig 😉 … seafood is definitely an underutilized element in our N. American cuisine, and admittedly for many years, I never strayed beyond Salmon, Tuna and Shrimp/prawns … but something happens when you cross over 30 and I’m becoming more adventerous … the one pet peeve I have with fish is … the bones! I wonder, can you cook them to the point of softness and much ’em in?
MAS
Dec 13, 2012 — 8:10 am
@canadian nomad – Not sure. This dish did have a lot of bones. My plan is to make this dish again with a different fish. Hopefully one with less bones.