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Fish and seafood from Korea, west coast and Gyeonggi

Jogijeot (salted yellow croaker)조기젓

Jogijeot is whole yellow croaker salted as jeot. The fish are washed in salt water, their mouths and gills stuffed with coarse salt, layered with salt in a crock, covered with bamboo slats and boiled, cooled brine, and sealed. It ripens for three months or more; the flesh is dressed as a side dish and the liquid seasons kimchi.

Fully documentedFish and seafood3 monthsFamily: Jeotgal (Korean salted fermented seafood)

Recipe

Jogijeot (salted yellow croaker), a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: by HapaK at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceHousehold method with no fixed amounts; the salt share is the conventional level used as the control in a 1985 study.
Yellow croaker, wholeYeonpyeong croaker salted from early May to mid-June were thought the best[nfm-jogijeot][encykorea-jogijeot]
Coarse saltAbout 20 % in a 1985 study of conventional jogijeotStuffed into the gills and spread between and over the fish[cha1985][nfm-jogijeot]
Boiled and cooled salt waterPoured over to cover[nfm-jogijeot][encykorea-jogijeot]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months

Start
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What changes: The whole croaker are washed in salt water

Step 1 of 6
Wash in salt water
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The croaker are washed in salt water and drained.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Jogijeot is whole yellow croaker salted as jeot. The fish are washed in salt water, their mouths and gills stuffed with coarse salt, layered with salt in a crock, covered with bamboo slats and boiled, cooled brine, and sealed. It ripens for three months or more; the flesh is dressed as a side dish and the liquid seasons kimchi. Made in 6 steps over 3 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 3 months (Choi Y.H. (최영희)). Salt is 20 % (Cha Y.J. and Lee E.H. 1985).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[nfm-jogijeot][cha1985]Ripen
Salt20 %Reported[cha1985][nfm-jogijeot]Layer with salt in the crock

What makes this one different

The croaker stay whole, with salt stuffed into the gills, and are covered with boiled, cooled brine under bamboo slats; most jeotgal is simply mixed with dry salt. Gyeonggi kimchi uses its liquid for a milder taste than anchovy jeot.

Season
Salted from early May to mid-June; eaten from October
Use
Gyeonggi households use much jogijeot in kimjang kimchi; it is milder and less fishy than anchovy jeot

Related ferments

Variants

  • Jogijeot muchimThe ripe flesh torn and dressed with spring onion, garlic, chilli powder and vinegar.

Safety

A 1985 study took about 20 % salt as the conventional level for jeotgal, and used it for its jogijeot controls. The fish are covered with boiled, cooled brine and the crock is sealed. Salt is packed into the gills, and the sources we read do not say the fish are gutted. FDA says Clostridium botulinum spores have been found in fish gills and viscera. It advises gutting any fish preserved by salting or fermenting, because without gutting toxin can form even with strict temperature control. Its exception covers only small fish under 5 inches. FDA separately lists 20 % water-phase salt or more as a control for shelf-stable salted products; the 1985 study does not give its figure as water-phase salt.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Haedong yeoksa lists croaker among fish eaten before Unified Silla. The 19th-century Gyuhap chongseo soaks jogijeot, junchi and banji jeot overnight and uses croaker jeot liquid for seokbakji kimchi, an early record of jogijeot in kimchi.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [nfm-jogijeot] Choi Y.H. (최영희), Jogijeot (조기젓), National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture: Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전)book
  2. [encykorea-jogijeot] Kang I.H. (강인희) 1995 (revised 2023), Jogijeot (조기젓), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Academy of Korean Studiesbook
  3. [cha1985] Cha Y.J. and Lee E.H. 1985, Studies on the processing of low salt fermented sea foods 5. Processing conditions of low salt fermented anchovy and yellow corvenia, Bull. Korean Fish. Soc. 18(3):206-213 (abstract)paper
  4. [lee1986] Lee C.H., Lee E.H., Lim M.H., Kim S.H., Chae S.K., Lee K.W., Koh K.H. 1986, Characteristics of Korean fish fermentation technology, J. Korean Soc. Food Culture 1(3):267-278 (abstract)paper
  5. [fda-fish13] US Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 13, Clostridium botulinum toxin formationgov