Jeoneo-hoe (Sliced Raw Gizzard Shad)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Long sharp sashimi knife or very sharp chef's knife
• •Cold cutting board reserved for raw fish
• •Fish scaler or back of a knife
• •Tweezers for trimming bones if needed
• •Chilled wide plate
• •Small sauce bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Buy and inspect

   Buy jeoneo the day you will eat it, from a fishmonger who knows you are serving it raw. The eyes should be clear, the skin bright silver, the belly firm, and the smell clean. Keep it packed over ice on the way home, but do not let it sit in melted water. If the fish is not excellent, stop here and grill it instead.

   The safest shortcut is asking the fishmonger to scale, gut, and fillet the fish for hoe. The unsafe shortcut is buying ordinary fish and pretending vinegar will make it safe. It will not.
2. 2

   Make the sauce

   Stir together the gochujang, rice vinegar, maesil-cheong or sugar, water, soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, and crushed sesame seeds. Taste it. It should be sharp first, then lightly sweet, with enough salt to wake the fish but not bury it. If it tastes heavy, add 1 more teaspoon vinegar, not more sugar.

3. 3

   Prepare the table

   Arrange the perilla leaves, lettuce or cabbage leaves, cucumber, drained onion, sliced chilies, sliced garlic, and sesame seeds before cutting the fish. Hoe waits for no one. Once sliced, it should go straight to the plate and then to the table while still cold.

4. 4

   Clean the fish

   If your fishmonger has not cleaned the jeoneo, scale the fish with the back of a knife, rinse briefly, then gut it with a shallow belly cut. Rub the fish with 1 teaspoon fine salt, rinse in ice water, and pat completely dry inside and out. Water left on the flesh makes the slices slippery and dulls the flavor.

5. 5

   Fillet cold

   Set one fish on a cold board. Cut off the head just behind the gill plate, then run a sharp sashimi knife along the backbone from head end to tail, lifting off the first fillet. Turn the fish and repeat. Trim away any dark bloodline and belly membrane. Work one fish at a time and keep the rest in the refrigerator over ice.

6. 6

   Slice sekkoshi

   Lay each fillet skin-side down and slice on a slight diagonal into 2 to 3 millimeter pieces, cutting through the fine bones cleanly. This is the dish's spine. Thick slices make the bones rude; thin slices make them part of the chew. Wipe the knife after every few cuts so the flesh stays neat.

7. 7

   Plate at once

   Line a chilled plate with a few perilla leaves and lay the jeoneo slices in loose overlapping rows, not a tight pile. Scatter 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds over the fish. Put the cho-gochujang on the side, not over the top, because each person should season the bite they are eating.

8. 8

   Serve as ssam

   Eat a slice in a perilla leaf with a little cucumber, onion, chili, garlic, and a small dab of sauce. One dab means about 1/4 teaspoon. More than that and you are eating sauce, not jeoneo. Serve with rice and cold banchan, and finish the plate within 30 minutes.

Chef Tips

• •Jeoneo-hoe is best in early to mid autumn, when the fish is fatty. Out of season, the same fish can taste lean and bony in the wrong way. Cook the month you're standing in: if it is spring or high summer, choose a different hoe fish from the market, or make grilled jeoneo only if the fish is good.
• •Use a long, sharp knife and draw it through in one motion. Sawing crushes the tiny bones and tears the flesh, which is why dull knives make this dish taste harsher than it should.
• •Keep everything cold, but dry. Ice water is for brief rinsing and chilling, not soaking. Fish left in water loses the clean oil that makes autumn jeoneo worth waiting for.
• •For guests who dislike bones, ask the fishmonger for larger fillets and remove the pin bones, then slice thinner than ordinary sashimi. It will be gentler, but it will not be sekkoshi. Name the change honestly.
• •Do not store leftovers. Raw sliced fish belongs to the hour it is cut. If the table does not finish it, discard it.

Advance Preparation

• •The cho-gochujang can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Let it stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving so it loosens.
• •Wash and dry the perilla, lettuce, cucumber, chilies, and garlic up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator so the fish can be sliced and served without delay.
• •Do not slice the jeoneo ahead. Cleaned whole fish or fillets may be held over ice in the refrigerator for a short time the same day, but the final slicing should happen just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 295g)