Shrimp (saeu)

Saeu is the general Korean word for shrimp and prawns. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture counts about 90 species in Korean waters. Temperate species dominate the West and South Seas, among them the large daeha (fleshy prawn), the smaller jungha and the tiny jeotsaeu used for salting. Cold-water shrimp such as the dohwa-saeu live only in the East Sea, while warm-water kinds such as the kuruma prawn (bori-saeu) are found around Jeju and the south coast.

The West Sea has always been shrimp country. The 16th-century gazetteer Dongguk yeoji seungnam lists daeha as a local product of sixteen districts, from Jeolla up to Pyeongan, and a 19th-century fisheries text records that the East Sea had neither shrimp nor salted shrimp, while West Sea fishermen set nets for small shrimp every year from the fifth to the eighth lunar month and salted the catch for sale across the country. The household manual Gyuhap chongseo gives recipes for skewered fresh shrimp and for drying shrimp so they keep their red color, and names daeha as an ingredient of the elaborate hot pot yeolgujatang. Kuruma prawns have been farmed profitably for decades.

Much of the small catch becomes saeujeot, the salted shrimp that seasons kimchi, stews and boiled pork. Larger shrimp are cooked fresh in many dishes, and the Korean Food Composition Table lists steamed, breaded and deep-fried, and soy-braised shrimp; small shrimp are boiled and dried, then stir-fried as a side dish.

• Lean protein: Daeha supplies about 18 g of protein per 100 g with well under 1 g of fat.
• Crustacean allergy: Crustacean shellfish such as shrimp are one of the nine major food allergens under U.S. law. Shrimp also hides in less obvious foods, from saeujeot in kimchi to seafood pancakes and broths.
• Low in mercury: Shrimp is on the FDA/EPA "Best Choices" list.
• Salted and dried forms: Saeujeot and seasoned dried shrimp are concentrated sources of sodium and are best used sparingly.