Korean fish cake soup – Eomuk Guk

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 300 g fish (fish cake – Eomuk from the Korean supermarket, frozen)
• 150 g radish(s)
• 10 large anchovies, dried or 2 tbsp anchovy broth, instant
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• ½ leaf of seaweed (dried seaweed)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• some salt
• 750 ml water
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 7 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• some spring onion(s) or chives
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, roasted
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Soak the seaweed in cold water for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and eighth the onion, cut the radish into slices about 1 cm thick, and let the fish cake thaw. For the dip, press the garlic, finely chop the spring onion, and mix with the other dip ingredients. Remove the heads from the dried anchovies and set them aside. Now open the belly by slightly pressing the anchovies and scooping out the innards (the black stuff), as these give the soup a bitter taste. Microwave the heads and bodies for about 30 seconds or fry them in a pan without oil. Leave the window open, as it can smell quite unpleasant! Add the onion and radish to the water, bring to a boil, and cook with the lid on for about 20 minutes over high heat. Be careful, as it can foam quite a bit, so use a large pot. Then add the anchovies (or the anchovy broth) and let it simmer with the lid on for another 20 minutes. This will remove the fishy smell. Place the fish cakes in hot water for 5 minutes to drain the oil. If desired, place them on wooden sticks. Strain the broth through a sieve and collect it. If you like it, you can also serve the cooked ingredients as a side dish. Serve the dip with the soup. Season to taste with soy sauce, fish sauce, and salt, add the fish cakes, and continue cooking. If you have thick, round fish cakes, cook for about 10 minutes. For thin sheets, no longer than 5 minutes. I personally recommend the round fish cakes, as they don’t get soft as quickly. Note: The fish cakes are very difficult to find if you live in a smaller town. I have never personally found them in a regular Asian store. If you can’t find any, you can easily make them yourself. To do this, puree 200g of lean fish (preferably less than 1g of fat per 100g) such as cod or pollock (also delicious with squid) with a little rice wine and salt in a blender. Mix with an egg, about 4 heaped tablespoons of cornstarch, 30ml of water, and a little pureed ginger. Finely chop 70g of onion and 15g of carrots and mix everything together. Form into balls and fry in oil until crispy brown on the outside. Then serve as store-bought fish cakes.