Chef Jeong-sun
Agwi-jjigae (Monkfish Stew)
A Masan coast monkfish stew with firm white meat, gelatin at the bones, soybean sprouts for crunch, and a red broth seasoned to carry the fish, not bury it.
Culinary Explorer
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Kodari-jjigae (Half-Dried Pollock Stew)
Created by
Half-dried pollock and thick radish simmered in a restrained gochugaru sauce, a weeknight stew with the chew of dried fish and the comfort of rice.
Soups & Stews
Korean
Weeknight
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
35 min cook•55 min total
Yield4 servings
Kodari asks you to understand the fish before you touch the seasoning. Fresh pollock falls apart if you scold it with the spoon. Fully dried pollock wants long soaking and patience. Half-dried pollock stands between them, firm enough to hold in a pot, tender enough to drink the sauce tonight.
At the winter market, the good pieces are not pretty in a restaurant way. They are matte, firm, and a little leathery at the edges, with no sour smell and no wet shine. My teacher, Master Seong-nyeo, would press one piece with her thumb and say nothing if it passed. That was praise enough. In Notebook 31, I wrote the number beside her silence: 700 grams kodari, 500 grams radish, 2 cups broth. Too much liquid and you get fish soup. Too little and the radish burns before it sweetens.
This dish lives or dies by layering. Radish goes under the fish because it protects the pot and gives its sweetness upward. The sauce is spooned over, not dumped and forgotten, because the pollock needs to absorb it without breaking. Do not bury it under gochujang or sugar. Let it taste like itself: deep fish, sweet radish, clean heat, and a broth just strong enough to stain the rice.
손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on. Tonight this stew will ask you to cut the radish thick, simmer without fussing, and baste the fish like you mean to feed someone tired.
Alaska pollock, called myeongtae (명태) in Korean, has long been one of the most named fish on the Korean table, with different names for fresh, frozen, dried, freeze-dried, young, and half-dried forms. Kodari (코다리) refers to pollock that has been partially dried, traditionally hung in cold air so the flesh firms without becoming fully dry like bugeo or hwangtae. Spicy kodari braises and stews became especially common home and market foods in the late twentieth century, when processed pollock made an inexpensive, sturdy fish available year-round.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
kodari (half-dried pollock)
Quantity
700g
thawed if frozen, fins trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
Korean radish (mu)
Quantity
500g
peeled and cut into 3/4-inch thick half-moons
onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
sliced 1/2 inch thick
scallions
Quantity
2
cut into 2-inch lengths
green chili
Quantity
1
sliced on the diagonal
red chili (optional)
Quantity
1
sliced on the diagonal
anchovy-kelp broth or water
Quantity
2 cups
gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
soy sauce
Quantity
3 tablespoons
soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
or 1 additional tablespoon soy sauce
gochujang (Korean chili paste)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
rice syrup or corn syrup
Quantity
1 tablespoon
sugar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
mirin or rice wine
Quantity
1 tablespoon
garlic
Quantity
5 cloves
minced
ginger
Quantity
1 teaspoon
finely grated
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| kodari (half-dried pollock)thawed if frozen, fins trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces | 700g |
| Korean radish (mu)peeled and cut into 3/4-inch thick half-moons | 500g |
| onionsliced 1/2 inch thick | 1/2 medium |
| scallionscut into 2-inch lengths | 2 |
| green chilisliced on the diagonal | 1 |
| red chili (optional)sliced on the diagonal | 1 |
| anchovy-kelp broth or water | 2 cups |
| gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) | 3 tablespoons |
| soy sauce | 3 tablespoons |
| soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)or 1 additional tablespoon soy sauce | 1 tablespoon |
| gochujang (Korean chili paste) | 1 tablespoon |
| rice syrup or corn syrup | 1 tablespoon |
| sugar | 1 teaspoon |
| mirin or rice wine | 1 tablespoon |
| garlicminced | 5 cloves |
| gingerfinely grated | 1 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame oil | 1 tablespoon |
| ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame seedsfor finishing | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot or shallow jeongol pan, 10 to 12 inches
- •Sharp kitchen shears for trimming fins
- •Small bowl for mixing sauce
- •Ladle for basting
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the fish
Rinse the kodari quickly under cold running water, rubbing away any loose scales or dark bits near the belly. Pat it dry well. Do not soak it like fully dried pollock; half-dried fish only needs cleaning, and too much water steals the chew that makes kodari worth cooking.
If the fish smells sour, ammonia-sharp, or feels slimy, choose another dinner. Good kodari smells clean and lightly dried, not spoiled. - 2
Mix the sauce
In a bowl, stir together the gochugaru, soy sauce, soup soy sauce, gochujang, rice syrup, sugar, mirin, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and black pepper. This is a restrained sauce, not a red blanket. The gochujang gives body, but the gochugaru gives cleaner heat, so keep the paste to one tablespoon.
- 3
Layer the radish
Lay the radish half-moons across the bottom of a wide heavy pot, then scatter the onion over them. Pour in the broth. The radish goes underneath because it protects the fish from direct heat and sweetens the liquid as it softens.
- 4
Start the simmer
Bring the pot to a steady simmer over medium heat, cover, and cook 10 minutes, until the radish edges begin to turn translucent but the centers are still firm. Starting the radish first matters. If the fish goes in too early, it gives everything it has before the radish is ready.
- 5
Add fish and sauce
Set the kodari pieces over the radish in one layer as much as the pot allows. Spoon the sauce over the fish, then ladle some of the hot broth up from the edge and over the top to loosen it. Do not stir from the bottom. Shake the pot gently instead, because the fish is firm but not made of stone.
- 6
Braise uncovered
Simmer uncovered 18 to 22 minutes, spooning sauce over the fish every 5 minutes. The liquid should reduce by about one third and turn glossy around the edges. Taste a piece of radish: it should be sweet all the way through and stained red. If the pot dries too fast, add 1/4 cup broth around the side, not over the fish.
- 7
Finish gently
Add the scallions and chilies for the last 3 minutes, just until they soften and perfume the pot. Turn off the heat and let the stew sit 5 minutes before serving. That short rest lets the fish drink the sauce instead of dropping it back into the pot.
- 8
Serve with rice
Scatter toasted sesame seeds over the top and carry the pot to the table with hot rice and a mild banchan beside it. Spoon radish, fish, and sauce together over rice. The sauce should be strong enough to season the rice, but not so salty that you stop tasting the pollock.
Chef Tips
- •Buy kodari pieces that are firm, pale beige to light brown, and dry on the surface without looking brittle. If they are rock-hard, you bought something closer to dried pollock and they need soaking. If they are wet and limp, they will fall apart.
- •Anchovy-kelp broth gives the stew a cleaner spine than water. Pull the kelp from the broth as soon as it simmers, then boil the anchovies another 8 minutes. Kelp left too long turns the broth slick and bitter.
- •The safe shortcut is using frozen cut kodari from a Korean market. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and dry it well. The corner you cannot cut is the radish thickness; thin radish collapses before the fish takes the sauce.
- •Leftovers keep well because kodari is sturdy. Refrigerate up to 2 days, then reheat gently with 2 to 3 tablespoons water in the pot. Hard boiling makes the fish tough.
Advance Preparation
- •The sauce can be mixed up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before using so it loosens enough to spoon over the fish.
- •The kodari can be rinsed, trimmed, patted dry, and refrigerated uncovered on a rack for up to 8 hours. A drier surface helps the fish hold its texture in the stew.
- •Anchovy-kelp broth can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 410g)
Calories
335 calories
Total Fat
6 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
1550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
11 g
Protein
48 g
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