Korean cuisine #5 Chueotang (loach in hot bean paste soup)

  Chueotang  

This dish is a soup prepared by purging sand out of live loach by boiling in salted water. The boiled and cleaned loach is then ground in a blender and brought to a boil again with various ingredients, such as chive, dried radish greens, and gochujang. It is a popular health food in Korea.

 

It is another one of the traditional stamina inducing healthy soups made by boiling loach that has been finely ground, with various vegetables.

 

  Early autumn food to revitalize  

Chueotang, which tastes good from early autumn when the cold wind starts to blow, is rich in excellent protein, calcium, and minerals, so eating it in the early autumn restores the energy lost in the summer heat. There is no loss of nutrients because the bones and intestines are not discarded and boiled whole, and dried in the broth and boiled.

 

There are two methods of making chueotang by boiling the loach completely and crushing it so that it is not visible, and boiling the whole loach. In the book "Ojuyeonmunjangjeonsango" by Lee Gyu-gyeong, a scholar during the Joseon Dynasty, "dubuchu-tang" appears. In this book, it is said that if raw tofu and live loach are boiled together, the loach becomes hot and crawls into the cold tofu and dies with medicine rising. In particular, it was introduced as a spiritual object among butchers near Sungkyunkwan. However, in 『Joseon Musangshinsik Cooking Method』, it was said that if you boil it, it is already dead in hot water and you cannot dig into the tofu.

 

 

In the literature, the first chueotang appeared in 『Koryodokyung』, written by Seogeung, an envoy of the Song Dynasty at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, but loach is common in rivers and rice fields.

 

In rural areas, when the autumnal equinox passes and a cold wind begins to blow, water is drained from the rice fields and a ditch is dug around the rice fields. If you hit the tool, you can catch a bunch of fat loaches that have dug into the paddy field to hibernate in the mud. With this, soup is boiled and a local feast is held. This is called'returned jaw' or'sangchi (尙齒)madang'. It is to treat the loach soup as a token of gratitude to the villagers. “Sangchi” means to revere the elderly.

 

Not only in rural areas and mountain villages, but also in Hanyang, there was also a specialty called ‘Cooked Chueotang. In the past, the organization of beggars approved by the Podo Office in Hanyang was called “tap”, but it was divided into a regional system and named the bridges that were collected, such as the Cheonggyecheon tap, the Bokcheonggyo tap, the Seosomun tap, and the Yeomcheonkyo tap. The head of the tab is called “Kokjitan,” and he has great power. They had superiority to beggars without an organization, so they tried to maintain their dignity, and one of them was to adhere to the philosophical rule of praying only for rice and not for begging when begging.

 

So, it is said that if some of the organizations caught the loach and boiled the chueotang, the remaining members of the group could eat the rice without asking for it. This chueotang is Hanyang's reputed specialty, “kkogjittan Haejangguk.” They mobilized their troops at the court's gilchungsa or ceremonies, or even prevented the tyranny of other beggars at the gilchongsa of a prestigious master, and enjoyed the privilege. First, frogs, toads, and centipedes used in the court house were caught and delivered exclusively, and the other was said to have monopolized the goodwill to boil and sell chueotang in Hanyang.

 

 

Loach is known as boyangsik or gangjangsik. In particular, it has been a valuable source of animal protein for rural people who have been exhausted from the heat and work in summer, and is rich in minerals and vitamins. It contains about half of the essential amino acids among proteins and is rich in lysine, which is very important to children and the elderly in the growing season. It also contains taurine, which protects the liver, lowers blood pressure, and protects eyesight. The fat contained in loach has a high percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, so it has been found that it helps prevent adult diseases.

 

In particular, it contains unsaturated fatty acids that are highly effective against arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and diabetes, such as DHA and EPA. It is also very important as an intake source of calcium, a component of bones and teeth, because it is often eaten. Among the vitamins, vitamin A is high, but it also has anti-cancer properties, and strengthens the skin and mucous membranes to increase resistance to disease. In 『Boncho Gangmok』, he said, "It is good for yanggi, turns white hair into black hair, and cooked in the sirloin of a lantern (燈心) is the most delicious, and it is good for Yangsa." It is said that Korea also used it as a energetic agent.

 

  Chueotang that varies from region to region  

The method of boiling chueotang differs slightly depending on the region. Gyeongsangdo-sik boiled loach loach, crushed and boiled green cabbage, bracken, taro, bean sprouts, green onions, and garlic. In Jeolla-do, loach is boiled and boiled like Gyeongsang-do, but it is boiled thick with miso and perilla juice, and then chopit powder is added to give it a spicy taste. In Seoul, the pre-boil and put the tofu in broth boil embellish the intestines or bone, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, garlic and red pepper and cook Loosen the place to put Loach boiled whole.

 

To boil the soup with loach, first you need to get rid of the greasy appearance. Put the live loach in a bowl or colander, put salt and pumpkin leaves together, cover with a lid, and leave for about 3 minutes to peel off and die. Rub it two or three times with salted pumpkin leaves, rinse with water, and boil. To thoroughly grind, put sesame oil in a cauldron or ogi pot, fry for a while, then pour the prepared beef bone broth and cook for about an hour. When the loach is well cooked to the bones, grind it finely in a blender, pour it into a pan, pour more beef bone broth, add taro, Chinese cabbage, green onions, sesame leaves, bracken, and other vegetables, boil and season.

 

When eating, chop whole or green peppers and sprinkle with chopit powder to eat. In the Jeolla Province region, there is no separate preparation of gom-guk, but the loach is thick, and the Jin-guk chutang is boiled. Each house contains up to life in the dojo najimakhan doljeolgu called 'hwakdok' grind bones crushed by hand into a pot and boil into a road eolgalyi cabbage. It is also fun to stick to the tongue as it is, and sometimes the bones are chewed.

 

 Preparing and cooking ingredients  

Loach 600g, water 15 cups, green cabbage (or shiraegi) 400g, bracken 200g, taro (soaked) 150g, green pepper 2ea, red red pepper 1ea, green onion 1root, some chopit powder
(A) 3 tablespoons of soybean paste, 2 tablespoons of glutinous rice powder, 2 tablespoons of perilla powder, 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder, 4 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of ginger
(B) 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger, a little black pepper

※ Unit of measurement 1 teaspoon-5ml(cc) / 1 tbsp-15ml(cc) / 1 cup-200ml(cc) / 1 doe-5 cups (1,000ml)

 

1. If you put a lid on the mountain loach with salt, it will be mixed with each other to remove the damage from the skin. When it dies, put it in a colander, rinse thoroughly, pour water into a pot, and cook enough over low heat for about 2 hours.

 

2. When it is completely simmered, crush it through a thick sieve with a wooden spatula and filter, discard the remaining in the sieve, and put the strained in a pot.

 

3. Boil green cabbage, shiraegi, bracken, and taro and chop them finely. Slice the green onions diagonally, and finely chop the green peppers and dahong peppers.

 

4. Mix boiled cabbage with the seasoning of (A), and put it in a broth filtered soup to boil.

 

5. Mix the bracken and taro with the seasoning of (B), add green onions and chili, boil more, and season with salt or soy sauce (jin soy sauce).

 

6. Divide the soup into a bowl, sprinkle chopit powder, and add chopped green pepper or garlic depending on the diet.