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Fermentation Atlas

Fish and seafood from Korea

Saeu-jeot새우젓

pink-grey shrimp in brine; essential kimchi seasoning. Made in 4 steps over 40 days – 5.6 months. The longest step, main fermentation, takes 10 days – 2.6 months (Lee S.H. et al 2014). Salinivibrio, then Staphylococcus and Halomonas do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10 days – 2.6 monthsMeasured[s1]Main fermentation
Temperature15 °CMeasured[s1]Early phase (days 0-10)
AciditypH 6.7Measured[s1]Main fermentation
DocumentedFish and seafood40 days – 5.6 monthsMore fish and seafoodMore from Korea

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
tiny shrimp Acetes japonicus (4-6 cm)
solar salt
Starter: spontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 40 days – 5.6 months

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a fish

What changes: Solar salt draws water out of the fresh shrimp

Step 1 of 4
Salt fresh shrimp
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
traditional 35-40% of shrimp weight; lab optimum 24-28%
Unconfirmed
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Halomonas
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

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ojeot (오젓)made from shrimp caught in May (5th lunar month); the 1987 survey records it in Jungbu as a separate kind.
  • Yukjeot (육젓)June shrimp, the most prized, largest and fattiest; used for kimchi; the 1987 survey records it in Jungbu as a separate kind.
  • Chujeot (추젓)autumn shrimp, smaller; cheaper, used for kimchi; the 1987 survey records it in Jungbu as a separate kind.
  • Dongbaekha-jeot (동백하젓)winter shrimp (typical).
  • Jajeot (자젓)Tiny shrimp; recorded in Nambu by the 1987 survey.

Safety

32% salt let potential pathogen genera survive; 20% gave off-flavours. Stop low-salt batches within 30-80 days.

Hazards the sources name: Vibrio (early).

History and sources

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

First Korean jeotgal record is Samguk sagi, 683 (King Sinmun's wedding gift).

  1. [s1] Lee S.H. et al., Microbial successions and metabolite changes during fermentation of salted shrimp (saeu-jeot) with different salt concentrations, PLoS ONE 2014, PMC3938600paper
  2. [s2] Changes in quality and nontargeted metabolites of saeu-jeot by fermentation time, Fermentation 9(10):889, 2023, https://www2.mdpi.com/2311-5637/9/10/889paper
  3. [suh1987] Suh H.K. and Yoon S.S. 1987, A study on the regional characteristics of Korean chotkal (1): kinds and materials, J. Korean Soc. Food Culture 2(1):45-54 (145-kind survey, Tables 1-2)paper