Namwon Chueo-tang

About the dish

The loach fattens up in autumn before wintering deep in the mud, which is why it tastes best in fall and earned the name chueo, the 'autumn fish.' Its earthy smell and slippery skin make home cooks hesitate, but the secret is to simmer it with plenty of other ingredients that chase the odors away. Small loach can go into the pot whole rather than being strained out, and the true flavor comes from tingling, faintly astringent chopi powder in place of black pepper.

Key ingredient

Loach (mikkuraji) — an autumn stamina food rich in protein and calcium, with unsaturated fatty acids for the blood vessels and vitamins A & D for immunity and bones. In season in autumn, mainly from the streams around Namwon.

Ingredients

Loach 500g, young napa cabbage 300g, mung bean sprouts 200g, taro stems 200g, onion 80g (1/2), whole peppercorns 20g, ginger 10g (2 knobs), water 1.6L (8 cups), doenjang 1 Tbsp, gochujang 1/2 Tbsp, scallion 35g (1 stalk), minced garlic 3 Tbsp, salt 2 Tbsp, gochugaru 1 Tbsp, chopi (prickly ash) powder 1 Tbsp

Simple recipe

1. Put the fresh loach in a pot with a sprinkling of coarse salt, cover until they stop thrashing, then rub them by hand and rinse away the slippery coating in several changes of water.
2. Boil the loach well in a pot of water with the ginger, whole peppercorns and onion, then strain out the bones and solids to leave the broth.
3. Trim the young cabbage, taro stems and bean sprouts and blanch them in boiling water.
4. Dissolve the doenjang and gochujang in the broth, add the blanched vegetables, diagonally sliced scallion and minced garlic, and simmer, seasoning with salt.
5. Serve the soup in bowls with chopi powder and gochugaru alongside.

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