[Food] Myeongtae, Fish with Countless Names 2 (명태, Pollack)

[Food]

[Food] Myeongtae, Fish with Countless Names 2 (명태, Pollack)

In my previous article on Myeongtae, I told you briefly about the countless names for pollack in Korea and a few related dishes. Today, I want to tell you more about pollack dishes in Korea :)

Koreans love hot and spicy dishes. Spicy chili, garlic, spring onions with pollack or frozen pollack gives a savory flavor and usually hits the spot for many Koreans. The broth of stew and soup also provide refreshing and hearty energy with the silky flesh of pollack.

Spicy saengtae (Raw pollack) and egg soup, saengtae jjigae

The difference between raw pollack and frozen pollack is that raw pollack has a softer flesh while the frozen one has a chewy and tough texture which entertains one's teeth and tongue.

Spicy frozen pollack soup (동태찌개, Dongtaejjigae)

There isn't only spicy pollack soup, there's also a mild one which is made of dried and frozen pollack called hwangtae.

Hwangtae haejangguk (Dried and frozen pollack soup). Once I introduced this dish in an article where I talked about Haejangguk.

Hwangtae soup is not spicy enough to give you the hot and refreshing flavor of flesh and broth. I would recommend hwangtae haejangguk for Korean breakfast :)

This is kodari jorim which is spicy braised semi-dried pollack. Kodari also has a chewy texture but it's not as tough as frozen or full-dried pollack.

Myeongtaejeon (Fried pollack fillet cake)

Myeongtaejeon is usually cooked for Korean New Year's day and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) because myeongtae fillet was eaten on a special day in Korea a long time ago due to its high cost :) It has a savory, salty and soft flavor.

Fermented and salted pollack eggs (명란젓, Myeongranjeot)

All of pollack's miscellaneous parts (egg, gill, intestines etc.) can be turned into 'jeotgal', which is a salted and fermented dish. Among them, fermented and salted pollack egg is most popular. It's salty, silky and elastic texture goes very well with plain rice, and the Japanese also love this dish.

If you have a chance to visit Korea and are a seafood lover, I recommend you taste various and countless Korean pollack dishes :)

Bon Appétit!