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Fish and seafood from South Korea and North Korea

Myeongtae-sikhae and Bugeo-sikhae명태식해

Myeongtae-sikhae is pollock sikhae. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture lists dongtae-sikhae (frozen pollock) for Hamgyeong and bugeo-sikhae (dried pollock) for Gyeongsang. The Gampo standard dried-pollock recipe uses cooked rice, malt and eight times as much radish as fish. In a lab study the pH of the sikhae held at 3.8–4.4 after 10 days, except for the batch kept at 5 °C throughout.

Fully documentedFish and seafood10 daysFamily: Sikhae

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe Gampo "standard sikhae" for Gyeongsang dried-pollock sikhae, chosen by tasters from several towns' versions (Koo et al. 2002). The study abstract gives the amounts but not the steps.
Dried pollock (myeongtae)200 g[koo2002]
Cooked rice230 g[koo2002]
Radish1.6 kg[koo2002]
Red pepper powder92 g[koo2002]
Garlic112 g[koo2002]
Ginger100 g[koo2002]
Malt meal65 g[koo2002]
Salt20 g[koo2002]
StarterNatural fermentation, as Kim et al. 2014 describe Alaska pollock sikhae. The Gampo recipe includes malt meal (yeotgireum) as an ingredient.

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: pollock, cooked rice, radish, malt meal and seasonings

Step 1 of 4
Gather the pollock, rice, radish, malt and seasonings
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus sakei

The Gampo standard uses dried pollock, cooked rice, a large amount of radish, red pepper, garlic, ginger, malt meal and salt.

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

Myeongtae-sikhae is pollock sikhae. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture lists dongtae-sikhae (frozen pollock) for Hamgyeong and bugeo-sikhae (dried pollock) for Gyeongsang. The Gampo standard dried-pollock recipe uses cooked rice, malt and eight times as much radish as fish. In a lab study the pH of the sikhae held at 3.8–4.4 after 10 days, except for the batch kept at 5 °C throughout. Made in 4 steps over 10 days. The longest step, ferment at room-warm temperature, takes 10 days (Cha Y.J 2004) and runs at 20 °C (Cha Y.J 2004). Salt is 0.8 % (Koo T.H 2002). Lactobacillus sakei does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10 daysReported[cha2004]Ferment at room-warm temperature
Temperature20 °CReported[cha2004][kim2014]Ferment at room-warm temperature
Salt0.8 %Reported[koo2002]Mix everything together
AciditypH 3.8–4.4Measured[cha2004]Ferment at room-warm temperature

What makes this one different

Pollock instead of flatfish. The Gyeongsang dried-pollock form uses rice, malt and a lot of radish (1.6 kg to 200 g of fish).

pH
Fell during fermentation and held at pH 3.8–4.4 after 10 days, except in sikhae kept at 5 °C throughout
Total sugar
5.63–13.41 %, falling faster with time and at higher temperature
Lab temperatures
Fermented at 5 °C, 20 °C, or 10 days at 20 °C and then kept at 5 °C; the change to cold slowed the rise in acidity, amino nitrogen and VBN
Taste and aroma
Lactic, citric and malic acids were the key compounds affecting sourness; 65 aroma compounds were found during fermentation at 5 °C, 11 of them sulphur compounds, 9 of which rose during fermentation

Related ferments

Variants

  • Dorumuk-sikhae (도루묵식해)Sandfish sikhae; the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture lists it for Gangwon and Hamgyeong.

Safety

In a pyrosequencing study of Alaska pollock sikhae, bacteria the authors call unpreferred for foods made up over 30 % of reads before fermentation and under 0.2 % afterwards, and the authors read this as fermentation helping food safety.

History and sources

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

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture says pollock was among the most-caught fish of the late Joseon period, dried or made into jeotgal and sold across the country. It lists dongtae-sikhae (frozen pollock) under Hamgyeong, bugeo-sikhae (dried pollock) under Gyeongsang, and bugeo-bap-sikhae under Gangwon. The National Folk Museum describes dongtae-sikhae, made with rice, malt, shredded radish and chilli, as a local food centred on Gangwon and Gyeongsang.

  1. [kim2014] Kim H.J., Kim M.J., Turner T.L., Lee M.K. 2014, Pyrosequencing-based analysis of the bacterial community during fermentation of Alaska pollock sikhae, traditional Korean seafood, J Gen Appl Microbiol 60(6):227-233, doi:10.2323/jgam.60.227 (abstract)paper
  2. [koo2002] Koo T.H., Kim S., Choi H.J., Seung T.S., Choi C. 2002, A study on quality characteristics of traditional Kyungsangdo myungtae (Alaska pollack) sikhae, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture 17(3):267–274 (abstract)paper
  3. [cha2004] Cha Y.J., Kim S.J., Kim E.J., Kim H., Cho W.J., Yoo M.Y. 2004, Studies on taste compounds in Alaska pollack sikhae during fermentation, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 33(9):1515–1521, doi:10.3746/jkfn.2004.33.9.1515 (abstract)paper
  4. [cha2002] Cha Y.J., Jeong E.J., Kim H., Lee Y.M., Cho W.J. 2002, Changes of volatile components in Alaska pollack sik-hae during low-temperature fermentation, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 31(4):566–571, doi:10.3746/jkfn.2002.31.4.566 (abstract)paper
  5. [ek-jeotgal] Seo H.K. (서혜경) 1995, rev. 2022, Jeotgal (젓갈), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Academy of Korean Studies (regional lists of jeotgal and sikhae)book
  6. [nfm-jeotgal] An J.Y. (안정윤), Jeotgal (젓갈), National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전)book