Dried Pollock Beansprout Soup is a Korean hangover soup that will help you recover quickly after a good night out!
What is Dried Pollock?
Dried Pollock is made with Alaska Pollock and it can be packaged in different ways; fresh, frozen, dried, fully dried, semi-dried, and freeze-dried. In today’s recipe, I used “Hwang-tae” or the freeze-dried version of Pollock. This means that it was frozen and thawed multiple times in cold temperatures. During this process, the color turns deep yellow and develops a complex flavor while not being fishy. Check out our trip in Jeju Island to see how it’s made!
Ingredients of Dried Pollock Soup & How to Make It
Dried Pollock
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To prepare the pollock, take about 30 grams and soak it in warm water for 10 minutes. This will hydrate the fish so it becomes flaky. Once hydrated, you can cut this into 1-inch pieces. This is now ready to be used.
For the leftover hwangtae, you can grill it and dip it in a gochujang sauce or you can stir fry it like this Spicy Dried Squid Banchan. The rest of the pollock keeps well in the freezer for a long time.
Vegetables
- Garlic and Scallions – The aromatics we will use to make the soup fragrant.
- Korean Radish – We’ll be using a small amount to add a refreshing taste to the soup.
- Soybean Sprouts – These are great for hangovers so we’ll be adding them too!
- Zucchini and Tofu – These are additional veggies and protein to make the soup filling.
- Jalapeño – This is optional if you want a spicy kick to your soup.
Soup and Seasonings
- Sesame Oil – We’ll be using this to sauté the garlic, hwangtae, and radish. The flavors of all these together will make up the base of the soup!
- Dashima or Dried Kelp – Once water is added to the sautéed pollock, we will need two small pieces of kelp to add umami to the base of the soup. About 10 minutes in, remove the kelp from the soup as this gets very slimy.
- Soy Sauce for Soup – This type of soy sauce is common in Korean cuisine. It is specific for soups because it has intense flavor so you can add a small amount without darkening the soup’s color.
- Fish Sauce – We’ll be using a small amount of this seasoning to complement the soy sauce. The savor this will create is what you need to cure that hangover!
- Salted Shrimp – This is optional, but if you want more umami in your soup, I highly recommend adding this!
- Egg – Scramble one egg and add to the soup to make it a bit thick and for a quick additional protein.
- Salt and Pepper
Make the soup base by sautéing garlic, pollock, and radish. Afterward, add water and infuse it with dried kelp. In doing this, scum will come up, so make sure to remove them to keep the soup clear. After this, you can now season it with soy sauce, fish sauce, salted shrimp, and salt and pepper as needed.
Once the soup is tasty, add the vegetables one by one. Add the soybean sprouts, zucchini, scallions, and tofu. Once cooked, add the scrambled egg, leave to cook, and enjoy!
For a spicy alternative, use this broke boyz hangover soup recipe!
Why is it called Hangover Soup?
Koreans like to drink. It is common for us to have soju or beer over some Korean BBQ. Sometimes when we have too much fun, we even mix the two drinks up. Kakaka~
In light of that, we love a savory and hearty soup to cure hangovers. The dried pollock has an abundance of amino acids that help with the process of eliminating toxins in the liver and help facilitate its normal functions. The soybean sprouts, on the other hand, also help in calming the stomach after a night of drinking. 2 in 1 cure! The ingredients in this soup just hit the spot every time!
I’m not encouraging getting drunk, but if you decide to outdo yourself this weekend, try this recipe and put it to the test! You’ll never go back to anything else. See how fast your body recovers!
Other Korean soup dishes you might like:
- Kalguksu (Handcut Noodles)
- Gomtang (Oxtail Broth)
- Soybean Sprout Soup
- Beef and Radish Soup
- Gochujang Jjigae
- Rice Cake Soup
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Dried Pollack Beansprout Soup
Ingredients
Dried Pollack
- 30 grams Dried Pollock
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Garlic Minced
Vegetables
- 1 tbsp Garlic Minced
- 50 grams Zucchini Sliced to moonshape
- 1 stalk Scallion Cut to 3-inch pieces
- 50 grams Radish Sliced
- 150 grams Soybean Sprouts Washed and drained
- 50 grams Tofu Cut into cubes
- 1 pc Jalapeño (Optional) Sliced
Soup Seasonings
- 5 cups Water
- 2 small pcs Dashima or Dried Kelp
- 1 tbsp Soup Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Salted Shrimp Optional
- Salt To taste
- Pepper To taste
- 1 pc Egg Scrambled
Instructions
- Soak the dried pollack in warm water for 10 minutes. Drain and chop it into 1-inch pieces.
- In a pot on high heat, saute sesame oil, garlic, dried pollack, and radish for 2-3 minutes.
- Into the same pot, add the water and dried kelp. During this process, scum will float so remove them.
- After 10 minutes, remove the dried kelp and season the soup with soy sauce, fish sauce, salted shrimp, salt, and pepper.
- Once the soup is tasty, add the bean sprouts, zucchini, scallions, and tofu.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, add the scrambled egg and mix.
- Boil the soup for another 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
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