Korean Set Menu with Salted Seafood
Korean Set Menu with Salted SeafoodThis photo shows a set menu of Gomso salted seafood dishes, Buan’s representative local dishes.
Salted Seafood Dishes of Korean Set MenuThis photo shows the salted seafood s of Gomso Korean Set Menu, Buan’s representative local dishes.
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LocationBuan-gun, Jeollabuk-do
- CategoryFolk Food ∙ Local Specialties
- Korean곰소 젓갈 백반
- Chinese-白飯
- FieldLifestyle & Folklore / Lifestyle
- Contents TypeFood
- Definition
- A set menu comprising a bowl of rice and various side dishes, principally Gomso fermented seafood dishes served in Buan-gun, Jeollabuk-do.
- Summary
- Korean Set Menu with Salted Seafood is a special set menu of Buan comprising a bowl of rice and fourteen to sixteen side dishes of Gomso fermented seafood (jeotgal). The side dishes are made with sun-dried salt from Gomso Salt Field, and include fermented clams, beltfish, large-eyed herrings, squid, baby octopus, octopus, pollack intestines, oysters, scallops, herring roe, and pollack roe.
- 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 profoundplain and heavy flavour 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, 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.
- Recipe
- 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 valley wind that blows across the Byeonsan Peninsula from the West Sea.
- Matters related to Lifestyle and Folklore
- Among the most well-known restaurants specializing in Korean Set Menu with Salted Seafood are the Gomsogung Hoetjip, Gomsogung Samdae Jeotgal, and Gomso Pogu restaurants. Gomso fermented seafood has a savory taste and is rich in protein and calcium in particular. As Gomso’s diverse fermented seafood products are tasty, high quality, and relatively cheap, they satisfy many customers.