[talk] 'Pyeon Restaurant' Lee Chan-won reveals fish soup recipe

Fish soup ingredients include 1-2 catfish (500g), 1 crucian carp (3-400g), 9 sea squirts (1kg), 6 nuchi (600g), 13 pirames (400g), 2-3T (handful) of freshwater shrimp, salt, brewed vinegar, a handful of blanched burdock, a handful of blanched shiitake mushrooms, 1 bottle of soju (330ml), water, 2 ginseng roots, 1 green chili pepper, 1 red chili pepper, sesame leaves, perilla leaves, and 1/2T of zephyr powder.

The seasoning sauce ingredients require 4T red pepper powder, 2T soy sauce, 1T tuna liquid, 3T minced garlic, 5T traditional soybean paste, and 3T red pepper paste.

Here’s how to make it: First, wash the fish cleanly and cut off the fins and tail with scissors. Add salt and vinegar to lukewarm water and soak the fish for 10 minutes to defrost. For the vegetables, cut 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper into thin strips. Chop the perilla leaves.

Boil 3L of water with freshwater fish (catfish, crucian carp, croaker, nuchi, piranha, freshwater shrimp), 1 bottle of soju, and ginseng on high heat for 2 hours. Boil with the lid open so that the fishy smell disappears along with the alcohol. Ginseng absorbs the fishy smell of freshwater fish.

Make a seasoning sauce by mixing 4T of red pepper powder, 2T of soy sauce, 1T of tuna liquid, 3T of minced garlic, 5T of traditional soybean paste, and 3T of red pepper paste.

Mix the seasoning sauce with a handful of mugwort and a handful of shiitake mushrooms and let sit for at least 20 minutes. After 2 hours, strain the boiled freshwater fish through a strainer to separate the broth from the fish meat. Discard the ginseng when straining.

Put the fish meat in a sieve and mash it with a mallet to squeeze out the broth. It will be easier if you pour the broth little by little over the fish and mash it. Put the fish with only the bones left in the blender without any moisture. It will be easier if you pour the broth little by little over the fish and grind it.

Mix the fish bones with the clear broth, add seasoned burdock, shiitake mushrooms, green chili peppers, red chili peppers, perilla leaves, sesame leaves, and 1/2 T of zephyr powder, and boil for a while. Add perilla leaves, zephyr leaves, and zephyr powder to your taste.