Maeuntang (Spicy Fish Stew)

Maeuntang starts at the fish counter, not at the spice shelf. Ask what came in clean that morning, and the stew is already half-decided: rockfish from the coast, cod when winter has weight, pollock when the table needs economy and comfort. Cook the month you're standing in, because fish tells the truth faster than vegetables do.

At a hoe (회, raw sliced fish) restaurant, maeuntang often arrives after the sashimi platter, built from the head and bones left from the fish you just ate. That isn't a poor second course. It is the table refusing waste, and it may be the part people remember. At home, buy the fish bone-in and let the radish do its quiet work; it sweetens the broth and gives the spice somewhere to rest.

The mistake is thinking red means heavy. Maeuntang needs gochugaru for heat and color, a little gochujang for body, and no more. Clean the blood from the backbone, remove the gills, skim the foam, and add the crown daisy at the end so it stays green and lightly bitter. Notebook 44 says 900 grams fish to 6 cups broth, 3 tablespoons gochugaru, 1 tablespoon gochujang. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, because one extra spoon can make the fish disappear.