Galchi-jorim (Braised Hairtail)

At the market, good galchi announces itself without shouting: bright silver skin, clear eyes, flesh that holds firm when the fishmonger cuts it into thick pieces. Cook the month you're standing in. Hairtail is best when the fish is fat from late summer into autumn, but a careful frozen galchi will still make a proper jorim on a winter weeknight if it was handled well.

This dish lives or dies by the order of the pot. The radish goes down first, because mu (Korean radish) needs time to soften and sweeten before the fish arrives. The fish goes on top and is not stirred. You baste it with the sauce instead, spoon by spoon, because galchi is delicate and a careless chopstick will break the pieces before dinner reaches the table.

People think the red sauce should do all the work. It shouldn't. Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and a small spoon of gochujang (fermented chili paste) are enough; too much paste turns every bite the same. Let the fish taste clean and the radish taste deep. Notebook 42 says the radish is the first thing to disappear when this pot is right, and that one does it properly too.