Jjigae · Stews 찌개
Saengtae Jjigae (Fresh Pollock Stew)
생태찌개
Romanization: saengtae-jjigae
Chunks of fresh, never-frozen pollock simmered with radish, tofu and a red chili broth, finished with water dropwort and crown daisy — a winter stew prized for its clean, bracing taste.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
RegionGangwon · Gyeongsang · Seoul & Gyeonggi
Jump to recipeRecipe
Ingredients · Serves 4
- 1 wholeFresh pollock (saengtae)about 800 g, cleaned and cut into 5 cm pieces; keep roe and liver if present
- 200 gKorean radish (mu)cut into thin 3 cm squares
- 200 gFirm tofusliced
- ½ mediumOnionsliced
- 50 gWater dropwort (minari)cut into 5 cm lengths
- 50 gCrown daisy (ssukgat)
- 1 stalkLarge green onion (daepa)sliced on the diagonal
- 2 Red and green chili pepperssliced
- 1.2 lAnchovy-kelp stock or rice-rinsing water
- 2 tbspGochugaru
- ½ tbspGochujang
- ½ tbspDoenjang
- 1 tbspGarlicminced
- 1 tspGingerminced
- 1 tbspSoup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)plus salt to taste
Method
Technique: Making Guk and Jjigae, Making Yuksu: Anchovy-Kelp Stock
Step 1: Rinse the fish pieces in cold water, scraping out any dark membrane and blood along the backbone. Keep the roe and liver separately.
Step 2: Bring the stock to a boil with the radish and simmer 10 minutes, until the radish turns translucent and the broth tastes sweet.
Step 3: Stir in the gochujang and doenjang, then add the gochugaru, garlic and ginger.
Step 4: When the broth is at a full boil, add the fish, roe and liver — the folk encyclopedia stresses that sea fish should go into already boiling broth and cook only until done, or the flesh falls apart. Add the tofu and onion and simmer 7–8 minutes without stirring.
Step 5: Season with soup soy sauce and salt. Add the chili and green onion, then lay the water dropwort and crown daisy on top and turn off the heat; aromatic greens go in after the fish is cooked to avoid a fishy smell.
Step 6: Serve at the table in the pot, with rice.
Origin & History
Pollock (myeongtae) has more Korean names than almost any other fish, each for a different state: saengtae fresh, dongtae frozen, bugeo dried, hwangtae dried through repeated winter freezing and thawing, kodari half-dried. The Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture explains that the fish was caught off the east coast in winter. Saengtae-jjigae is the stew made from the fresh fish, cooked the same way as the more common frozen-pollock dongtae-jjigae: cut into pieces and simmered with radish, tofu, water dropwort and crown daisy in a broth seasoned with chili flakes and gochujang or doenjang.
Pollock stews are well documented in early twentieth-century cookbooks. The folk encyclopedia notes that Lee Yong-gi's 1924 Joseon mussang sinsik yori jebeop includes a dried-pollock stew with meat, green onion, tofu and gochujang, and a pollock soup made from cut pieces dipped in egg, while Bang Sin-yeong's Joseon yori jebeop gives instructions for a dried-pollock stew in an earthenware pot. Its entry on spicy fish stews calls the pollock stews — fresh, frozen, roe and innards — the great "national" fish stews of winter.
Fresh pollock is now a rarer thing in Korea. According to The Korea Herald, catches off the Korean coast peaked at about 160,000 tons in 1981, fell below 9,000 tons by 1995, and have been under a ton a year since 2004. Fishing for the species has been banned in Korean waters since 2019, and most pollock eaten in Korea is imported, largely from Russia. Saengtae on a menu today usually means chilled imported fish rather than a local catch.
Key Ingredients
Alaska pollock (myeongtae)명태A lean, mild cold-water fish that Koreans know by a dozen names, depending on how it has been frozen, dried or salted. Dried bugeo simmers into a clear hangover soup, and its roe becomes myeongnan-jeot.
Korean radish무A stout, heavy white radish, often tinged pale green near the top. It is cubed for kkakdugi, left whole in the clear brine of dongchimi, shredded into salads and simmered into broths.
Tofu두부Fresh bean curd made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the curds. A quiet staple of Korean cooking since at least the late Goryeo period, it is pan-fried, braised in spicy soy glaze, or simmered in stews.
Yangpa (onion)양파The bulb onion, literally the "Western scallion." A latecomer to Korea, it is now everywhere: sweetening stir-fries and braises, pickled in soy sauce as yangpa-jangajji, and served raw beside grilled meat.
Minari (water dropwort)미나리A long-stemmed, aromatic water plant with a fresh, celery-like perfume. Blanched and dressed as minari-muchim, tucked into kimchi, wrapped into little bundles for minari-ganghoe and piled into fish stews and hot pots.
Ssukgat (crown daisy)쑥갓An edible chrysanthemum grown for its feathery, deeply lobed leaves and tender stems. Its bold, resinous perfume finishes spicy fish stews and hot pots, and it is a classic leaf for the ssam basket and quick namul.
Green onion파Korean green onion (pa), from thick-stemmed daepa to slender scallions — chopped into nearly every seasoning sauce, soup and kimchi, and the star of pa-kimchi.- Korean Chili Peppers (Fresh)고추Fresh Korean chili peppers, eaten green (putgochu) or red (hong-gochu): from the fiery cheongyang-gochu to the small, wrinkled, mild kkwari-gochu that is braised and stir-fried as banchan.
Gochugaru고춧가루Korean red chili powder, made from dried red peppers ground coarse or fine. It gives kimchi, gochujang and countless banchan their color and warmth.- Gochujang고추장Fermented red chili paste — sweet, savory and hot. Made from meju powder, glutinous rice, malt and gochugaru, it is a later addition to Korea's family of jang.
Doenjang된장Fermented soybean paste — the savory foundation of doenjang-jjigae, many soups and dressings for namul. It is one of Korea's core jang, or fermented sauces.
Garlic마늘Used raw, minced, pickled and roasted, garlic is one of the essential aromatics of Korean food — in seasonings, marinades, kimchi and namul.
Ginger생강Fresh ginger root, used in small amounts to brighten kimchi paste and marinades and to tame the strong smells of fish and meat.
Soy sauce간장Korean soy sauce, in two main kitchen forms: pale, salty guk-ganjang (soup soy sauce) brewed the traditional way from meju, and darker, sweeter jin-ganjang for braises and marinades.
Nutrition
| Calories | ~88 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | ~12.2 g |
| Fat | ~2.7 g |
| Carbohydrates | ~3.4 g |
| Fiber | Not reported |
| Sodium | ~546 mg |
Notable forProtein · Selenium · Vitamin B12
MFDS has no analysis of fresh-pollock stew, so these figures are scaled from its home-style dongtae-jjigae, made with the same fish frozen (per 100 g: 44 kcal, 6.11 g protein, 1.37 g fat, 1.72 g carbohydrate, 273 mg sodium, 11.2 µg selenium, 1.18 µg vitamin B12), to the database's 200 g serving. A full bowl of this recipe is closer to 450 g, so multiply by about 2.25 — which brings sodium to roughly 1,230 mg. The source reports 1.8 g fiber per 100 g, which looks high for a fish stew with radish, so fiber is shown as not reported. Actual values vary with ingredients, portion size and preparation.
Health Benefits
- Pollock is a lean white fish: by the MFDS analysis the stew is high in protein and low in fat, and a good source of selenium and vitamin B12.
- Radish, tofu, water dropwort and crown daisy round it out with vegetables and plant protein.
- Pollock is on the US FDA's "best choices" list of fish lowest in mercury; see seafood, omega-3s and mercury.
Regional Variations
- Seoul and Gyeonggi: the folk encyclopedia notes that cooks here traditionally stir-fried finely cut seasoned beef and added water to make the base.
- Gangwon and North Gyeongsang: along the east coast where pollock was landed, the base is rice-rinsing water or anchovy broth.
- Clear version: most pots are red with chili, but the folk encyclopedia also describes a clear pollock stew with bean sprouts, seasoned only with salt and salted-fish sauce, for a cleaner taste.
- Roe and innards: the folk encyclopedia lists pollock-roe and pollock-innards stews among the winter favorites; roe is often added to an ordinary pot as well.
Pairings
Gyeran Mari (Rolled Omelet)계란말이Beaten egg cooked in thin layers and rolled into a soft, striped log, then sliced — a gentle, everyday banchan and a lunchbox classic.
Myeolchi Bokkeum멸치볶음Small dried anchovies stir-fried until crisp, then glazed in a sweet soy and garlic syrup — a keeping banchan found in refrigerators across Korea.
Napa Cabbage Kimchi배추김치Salted napa cabbage layered with a red paste of chili, garlic, ginger and fermented seafood, then left to ripen: the kimchi most people picture first.
Sources
- 01동태찌개 (Dongtae-jjigae) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (한국의식주생활사전)
- 02명태 (Myeongtae) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (한국의식주생활사전)
- 03매운탕 (Maeuntang) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (한국의식주생활사전)
- 04동태찌개 (Dongtae-jjigae, home-style, analyzed) — MFDS K-FIND food composition database
- 05[Weekender] A fish with a dozen names — The Korea Herald (Yoon Min-sik, 29 July 2023)
- 06Advice about Eating Fish — U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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