Gomso Fermented Seafood
Various salted seafood productsThis photo shows the various salted seafood products of the Gomso Salted Seafood Complex in Jinseo-myeon, Buan-gun. The fermented seafood produced in the area of Gomso comes in some 20 kinds including fermented seafood of shrimp, clams, yellow croakers, guts of beltfish, anchovies, Thryssa koreana, large-eyed herrings, and mixed fish.
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LocationGomsohang-gil Jinseo-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryFolk Food ∙ Local Specialties
- Korean곰소 젓갈
- FieldPolitics, Economy and Society / Economy & Industry
- Contents TypeSpecialty
- Area of ProductionJinseo-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Experience Center / Exhibition16, Gomso 7-gil Jinseo-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- Definition
- Dishes of fermented seafood produced in the area around Gomso, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do.
- Summary
- Gomso fermented seafood (jeotgal) is made by mixing Gomso sun-dried salt with selected fresh seafood from the clean tideland of Gomso Bay and naturally maturing it in the sun and the breeze that blows across the Byeonsan Peninsula from the West Sea western sea.
- Origins and Development
- It is not known exactly when the inhabitants of Gomso in Jinseo-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do began to make fermented seafood, but it is assumed that the tradition started during the Goryeo period judging by the records contained in various ancient documents. Indeed, ever since the Goryeo period, Gomso has been known for its yellow corbina fishing based on the Chilsan fishery, and for its various yellow corbina products such as dried yellow corbinas, salted and dried yellow corbinas, and salted yellow corbinas. At present, the area produces diverse fermented seafood products appreciated for their profound taste with fresh fish caught in the clean coastal waters around the Byeonsan Peninsula and Gomso Salt Field’s sun-dried salt, which is stored for over one year. After the 1960s, Gomso began to make fermented seafood according to modern production methods, but the local people’s tradition of fishing, making fermented seafood with the by-products of fish, and selling fresh fish has survived to the present day.
The commercialization of fermented seafood in the Gomso area began in the late 1970s and grew rapidly in the 1990s, when fermented seafood manufacturers joined together in the area. According to the 2003 statistics, Gomso was home to seventeen companies producing and selling fermented seafood products, and thirty-eight retailers with their own brands. About twenty types of fermented seafood are produced in the area of Gomso, including fermented shrimps, clams, yellow croakers, beltfish guts, anchovies, thrissa koreana, large-eyed herrings, and mixed fish. Most of the products are purchased by people who come to Gomso to buy fermented seafood directly. Since 1992, the year in which the coastal scenic road around the Byeonsan Peninsula was opened, the area has become a popular fermented seafood attraction among tourists, and consequently many restaurants specializing in a set menu composed of rice and side dishes of fermented seafood have sprung up.
- Production Method and Characteristics
- Gomso fermented seafood is made according to a traditional salting method that consists in keeping freshly-caught fish and seafood caught in the clean seawater around Chilsan (in the West Sea) at a constant temperature of between 10℃ and 15℃ to preserve their nutritional value; mixing them with local sun-dried salt kept for over one year with the brine removed; and naturally maturing them for a long period under the hot sun and the breeze that blows across the Byeonsan Peninsula from the West Sea.
The main products include fermented seafood of pollack roe, octopus, seasoned octopus, oysters, squids, well-being squid, pollack intestines, toha shrimp, baby octopus, herring roe, seasoned yellow croakers, guts of beltfish, cod gills, sea pineapples, large-eyed herrings, spoon worms, gizzard shads, shrimps, yukjeot (salted shrimp for making kimchi), sand lance, and clams.
- Current Status including Relevant Industry
- Currently, about 100 Gomso fermented seafood producers are thriving in the Gomso Fermented Seafood Production Complex in Jinseo-myeon, Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do. The Gomso Fermented Seafood Fermentation Festival was established in 2004 to promote Gomso fermented seafood products, and the 13th Gomso Fermented Seafood Fermentation Festival was held in October 2019. The festival offers a variety of experience programs including making fermented seafood, making salt in three colors, making kimchi with Gomso fermented seafood, and catching eels. Today, customers can easily purchase Gomso fermented seafood products via the Internet shopping mall (which sells Gomso Fermented Seafood, Gomso Clean Sea Jeotgal, Gomso Dahae Jeotgal, Gomso Myeongin Jeotgal, etc.).