Korean dried fish is something my mom would have made when I was a kid. Using some smaller vermillion snapper I caught offshore of Destin I made my version of the Korean fish dish Gulbi. Gulbi traditionally is a salted and dried Yellow Croaker – Jogi (조기). Considered a delicacy in Korean culture it is one of the most popular species of food fish in Korea. The salting and drying of the yellow croaker was a way of concentrating the delicious flavor of the fish as well as preservation. After which the gulbi would be fried, roasted, grilled, steamed, or stewed and served with some rice and soup.
So while the vermillion snapper I had aren’t in the same family as a yellow croaker, they both are smaller tasty white-fleshed fish. So in theory this should work pretty much the same as long as you follow these steps. Additionally, if you have another species of small white-fleshed saltwater fish I bet this would work just as well with that. Also, I want to tell you this is a process and will take about a week to finish, so be prepared to deal with fish chilling in your fish for days if you want to make this.
Korean Dried Fish Ingredients
- 4 Whole Small Vermillion Snapper – Scaled, Gutted, and Fins Clipped
- 1 Cup Sea Salt
- 1 Gallon Jar
- 1 Gallon Water
- 1 Lime or Lemon for Garnish
Instructions for Korean Dried Fish
First, you need to clean your vermillion snapper. Leaving their heads on, gut the fish and scale them. Make sure to scrub the inside thoroughly to get all the bloodline out of the body cavity. After which take some kitchen shears and clip off all the fins. Once that’s done it’s time to prep your brine.
1. Put a cup of sea salt into your jar
2. Fill the jar halfway with filtered water and then stir to dissolve the sea salt.
3. Add your vermillion snapper into the jar then fill up the rest of the jar with filtered water till the vermillion snapper are completely covered.
4. Close the lid on the jar and give it a gentle shake to help mix the bring evenly, then put the jar in your fridge to bring for the next 24 hours.
5. Once 24 hours of brining has passed, pull your vermillion snapper out of the brine and place onto a wire rack with none of the fish touching. You want air to be able to flow around the fish so they dry properly.
6. Leave the rack of vermillion snapper in the fridge for at least 4 days and up to 6 days to dry out. The snapper will be semi-hard after this drying period. At this point, the Vermillion Snapper Gulbi is done. You can freeze whatever you aren’t going to eat right away and it would be fine for a year in your freezer.
Grilling the Gulbi
Get your coals going first till they are all white and glowing red. While that’s going on get your fish grilling basket.
Take your prepared vermillion snapper gulbi and place it into the grill basket. You don’t have to do anything to it, fat in the fish itself will keep it from really sticking to the basket and it is already fully seasoned.
Grill your vermillion snapper gulbi over the coals. Flipping regularly as you grill to keep the cook even.
As the vermillion snapper cooks the skin will bubble up and char some as cook it over the coals. The char is good, you want a bit of char for a smokier flavor.
You can use a cooking probe to tell you when the fish is fully cooked through. You want the temp probe to read 145f when stuck near the spine of the thickest part of the fish.
Once the vermillion snapper gulbi reaches temp you want to serve it immediately hot. Cut a lemon or lime wedge if you want. I prefer lime as I feel it goes better with the salty and smokey flavor better. Then serve with some white rice, kimchi, and maybe some doenjang-jjigae(soybean paste stew) if have some.
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