KOREA's DRIED POLLACK SOUP, A MUST TRY!

Korea is indeed full of surprises! While on our 4th day of tour in this beautiful country, we were able to sample their famous dried pollack soup. Now, this is not just an ordinary soup.

The Dried Pollack Soup is a popular soup in Korea. It's commonly called HaeJangGuk (hang over soup), because its very soothing after drinking alcohol. This soup is extremely light on the stomach, and cleans all the alcohol toxins from the previous nights fever. It is cheap and healthy.   What makes it more special is the fish as its main ingredient. The fish called pollock or pollack is a common dish in most Korean's household. They say, since it is dried for many months, it turns really dry and hard. When eaten as a soup though, one can instantly feel it fights on the bite as it a chicken. And indeed, it was! Love its light taste and chicken-like feel when eaten. No wonder it is ever available in most Korean restos here!      According to Agra Food website who produces dried pollack, the very soup that is most popular among Korean drinkers is also one of the easiest to cook by housewives on a hectic morning. The hero is “bugeo-guk” (dried pollack soup). These days, the soup is getting even more popular as many women in foreign countries, including Japan, learn that bugeo-guk helps make porcelain-like skin. In Korea, there is no fish like the pollack that has so many various names. The freshly-caught pollack is called “saeng-tae,” frozen pollack - “dong-tae,” the salted one - “yeom-tae,” the one that is frozen and thawed more than 20 times through midwinter is called “hwang-tae.” Dried pollack has several names as well: the fully-grown one (when dried for about 60 days) is referred to as “bugeo,” while the young dried pollack is called “nogari,” and the half-dried one - “kodari.” Finally, the one that becomes swollen with yellowish flesh due to the temperature difference is also known as “hwang-tae.” Koreans traditionally have haejang-guk (a soup eaten to relieve hangovers) the day after drinking. Among various hangover soups, bugeo-guk is the most popular, along with kongnamul-guk (bean sprout soup). Koreans believe that the clear stock and soothing taste of bugeo-guk can relieve their upset stomach. With the addition of soft tofu or eggs, it can be all the better hangover soup. Those suffering from a hangover can consume protein and thus detoxify the alcoholic substances remaining in the body. The most important stage in the cooking process is the very first: beating a whole pollack with a bat to make the dried fish soft. After thrashing, a cook must peel the fish scales, bone the fish, rip the flesh roughly, macerate it for a moment, and then boil it. In Korean TV dramas, it is quite common to see scenes in which a wife makes bugeo-guk early in the morning for her drunken husband. This scene connotes some of the contradicting feelings the wife has: she seems to vent her anger at her husband for drinking heavily and coming home late onto the fish by pounding it up with a bat but, deep in her heart, she wants to help relieve the hangover her husband suffers from with the elaborately made soup.   Now, do not ever forget to try this simple soup when in Korea!