[Food]

[Food] Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Koreans love seafood as much as they love meat, freshwater food and local vegetables. Koreans eat and use most resources from the sea including fish, shell and marine plants.

According to a recent survey carried out by the Korean Maritime Institute in 2020, the most eaten seafood is squid, followed by mackerel, laver, hairtail and flatfish.

Today's fish is hairtail (also known as cutlass fish), which is one of the most popular seafoods in Korea. It's been caught in Korea, Japan, China and also in South-East Asia. It has a very long, shiny, silver-colored body with sharp teeth. It aggressively preys on smaller fish. It's called 'Galchi' in Korean, which means 'Sword Fish', because of its look and the way it swims. It swims like other fish do but it can also swim vertically. Hence the name 'sword fish'. You'll be convinced by the following pictures :)

Contrary to its tough appearance, it has a very soft and silky flesh loved by all. However, it's unfortunate to say that hairtail is one of the most expensive fish, so people can't eat it everyday like mackerel or anchovy. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping in mind that the dark-hairtail from Mokpo is a little cheaper than the silver-hairtail from Jeju Island :) Koreans usually roast it over a grill with salt but they love Galchi-Jorim (Braised Hairtail) most :)

Roasted silver hairtail

Galchi-Jorim (갈치조림, Braised Hairtail)

Put a chopped piece of hairtail into a pot with water, spicy sauce with chili powder, daikon and vegetables, and braise it till the chopped hairtail is well cooked. Then it becomes somewhat like a spicy fish stew with a spicy and savory flavor :) Moreover, the flesh of the hairtail easily absorbs the sauce, adding more flavor with the stew. Spicy, salty and savory with a silky flesh! It doesn't get much better than this as a favorite Korean dish. So galchi-jorim is one of the most popular dishes on the Korean lunch or dinner menu. Many Korean restaurants sell galchi-jorim too. You can easily find good galchi-jorim restaurant in Seoul :)

Bon Appétit!