Domimyeon (도미면, Court Sea Bream Noodle Hot Pot)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow jeongol pan or shabu pot, 30 to 32 cm
• •Portable tabletop burner
• •Large 30 cm skillet or fish pan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Fish spatula
• •Small nonstick skillet for jidan

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the fish

   Rinse the sea bream quickly, then dry it very well, including the belly cavity. Score each side with 3 diagonal cuts down to the bone. Rub the fish with 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1 tablespoon rice wine, and the grated ginger, then let it stand 20 minutes. The salt firms the flesh so the fish holds its shape in the pot; the rice wine and ginger clean up the raw smell without covering the fish.

   Ask the fishmonger to scale, gut, and remove the gills. Keep the head and tail for a celebration table, but check the belly yourself. A dark blood line left inside will muddy the broth.
2. 2

   Build the broth

   Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups warm water for 20 minutes. Lift out the mushrooms, strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve, and save both. Put the mushroom liquid, 7 1/2 cups water, anchovies, kelp, radish, and shiitake stems in a pot. Bring it slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Pull the kelp out as soon as the first steady bubbles appear, because kelp left too long turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies 10 minutes more, lift them out, then simmer the radish and mushroom stems another 8 minutes. Strain. Season with soup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice wine, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. You should have about 6 to 7 cups clear broth.

   Do not skip removing the anchovy heads and guts. That small black line is where much of the bitterness sits, and people blame the whole fish for one careless pinch.
3. 3

   Season the beef

   Mix the sliced beef with soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, minced scallion, minced garlic, sugar, and black pepper. Let it sit 20 minutes while you prepare the garnish. The sugar is only 1/2 teaspoon. In this pot the beef supports the broth; it should not turn the whole pan sweet.

4. 4

   Make the jidan

   Beat the egg yolks with a tiny pinch of the egg salt, and beat the whites separately with the remaining salt. Wipe a small skillet with 1 teaspoon oil and cook the yolks and whites separately over low heat into thin sheets, with no browning if your hand can manage it. Cool, then cut into fine strips or small diamonds. This is jidan (egg garnish), and it goes on at the end so it stays clean and bright.

5. 5

   Cook the noodles

   Boil the somyeon in plenty of water 1 minute less than the package says, usually about 2 minutes. Rinse under cold running water, rubbing lightly with your hands until the surface starch is gone, then drain hard and toss with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Cooked noodles thrown straight into the hot pot make the broth cloudy. Rinsing and oiling them keeps each coil separate until the last simmer.

6. 6

   Blanch the octopus

   If using octopus, bring 4 cups water with 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a boil in a small pot. Drop in the octopus pieces and lift them out the moment they curl, usually 20 to 30 seconds. Put them on a plate. They will finish in the hot pot; cook them longer now and they toughen before the table sees them.

7. 7

   Pan-fry the bream

   Pat the seasoned bream dry again, dust it lightly with flour or potato starch, and shake off every excess patch. Heat 2 tablespoons neutral oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the fish 4 to 5 minutes on the first side and 3 to 4 minutes on the second, just until the skin is golden and the flesh is mostly opaque. It should not be cooked dry. The pan-frying sets the skin and bones so the fish can sit in broth without falling apart.

8. 8

   Arrange the pan

   Set a wide jeongol pan on the table burner, still turned off. Spread the onion and a few cooked radish slices from the broth on the bottom to keep the fish from catching. Lay the pan-fried bream in the center. Around it, arrange the seasoned raw beef, soaked shiitake caps, oyster mushrooms, carrot, scallions, chilis, ginkgo nuts, and the blanched octopus if using, keeping each color in its own place. Hold back the noodles, minari, jidan, and pine nuts. The arrangement is not vanity. It lets the table see what is cooking and lets you move quickly when one ingredient is done before another.

9. 9

   Simmer at table

   Pour 5 cups hot broth around the side of the pan, not directly over the fish. Turn the burner to medium and bring the broth to a steady simmer. Spoon broth over the bream a few times, gently, and skim any foam that rises. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the beef is no longer pink, the mushrooms soften, and the thickest part of the fish reaches 63C / 145F or flakes cleanly from the bone. Add more broth from the reserved cup if the pan looks shallow.

10. 10

    Finish and serve

    Slide the cooked noodles into one side of the pan for the last 60 to 90 seconds, just long enough to warm them. Add the minari, jidan, pine nuts, and any reserved chili slices, then turn the heat low. Taste the broth now. If it is flat, add salt 1/4 teaspoon at a time; if it needs depth, add soup soy sauce 1 teaspoon at a time. 손맛 (hand-taste) is real; measure the correction so you can make the same pot again. Serve from the pan with rice and small banchan, warning the table that the fish is bone-in.

Chef Tips

• •Sea bream is best in spring, but a well-raised farmed domi can be good outside that month. Look for clear eyes, red gills, firm flesh, and a clean sea smell. If the fish is tired, buy black sea bass or red snapper instead and keep the technique.
• •Use somyeon (thin wheat noodles), not dangmyeon (glass noodles), for this dish. Glass noodles are welcome in many jeongol pots, but here they make the pot heavier and pull it toward another dish.
• •Soup soy sauce is saltier and lighter than regular soy sauce, which is why it seasons the broth without staining it dark. Start with the measured amount, then adjust in small increments at the table.
• •The safe corner to cut is the vessel. A sinseollo brazier may become a shabu pot, a wide skillet, or a jeongol pan on a portable burner. The unsafe corners are cloudy broth, overcooked noodles, and careless fish handling.
• •Octopus is optional. If your market has beautiful small nakji, use it and lift it the moment it curls. If the octopus looks dull or smells strong, leave it out. Technique first, shopping pride second.

Advance Preparation

• •The broth can be made up to 2 days ahead, chilled, and skimmed before using. Reheat it before pouring it into the jeongol pan so the table cooking stays quick.
• •The jidan can be made 1 day ahead and kept between sheets of parchment in the refrigerator. Cut it after chilling if you want cleaner strips.
• •Vegetables can be cut up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerated in separate covered containers. Keep minari wrapped in a barely damp towel so it stays crisp.
• •The fish can be cleaned and salted up to 2 hours ahead in the refrigerator. Pan-fry it close to serving; if you must do it earlier, keep it no longer than 1 hour at cool room temperature, or refrigerate it and let the hot pot finish warming it through.
• •Boil the noodles no more than 30 minutes ahead. Rinse well, drain hard, toss with sesame oil, and cover. Older noodles swell and lose their clean bite.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 610g)