Fish cake soup is one of my favorite street food as a child. It is a light, hearty soup that warms you up on cold winter nights!
One of my fondest memories as a child is my aunts and uncles buying me Tteokbokki at street food stalls in Korea. Usually, these spicy rice cakes would come with a free fish cake soup to wash it down.
I remember the ahjummas would hand me small paper cups of the very hot broth and it would warm up my fingertips and my body on a cold winter night.
Fish cake soup or eomuk guk is one of those foods that I enjoy not only because it is delicious, but also brings back a lot of good memories of my childhood. Man, I miss Korea, my uncles, and aunts who all loved and took care of me when I was a kid.
This is a widely popular street food, and if you’ve ever seen this in Korean dramas, I know you want to try it for yourself as well! I think you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make this refreshing and comforting soup!
What is Fish Cake Soup made of?
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Fish Cake
Fish Cake is a processed food item popular in Korea. It is made from blended fish, vegetables, and seasonings with flour as a binder. It comes in flat sheets, balls, or cylindrical shapes. You will often see this in Korean BBQ as a stir-fried side dish!
Since this is processed food, fish cakes are deemed unhealthy but many people still eat them because they are the perfect addition to stir-fries and soups.
You can commonly find them at Hmart or frozen sections of Asian grocery stores. Any shapes are okay to use for this recipe, but I was able to find one skewered already. You have the option to skewer them or not. If you wish to do so, fold the flat sheets in half and skewer them by bending them layer by layer.
Broth
The broth is very simple and there are two ways to go about it. One is using soup bags that contain dried anchovy, dried kelp, and dried radish. This will save you a lot of preparation time.
Another route would be to use fresh Korean radish and dried kelp which will fill the soup with a refreshing taste and umami flavors.
Seasonings
For the seasonings, we will use soy sauce, fish sauce, hondashi, and garlic. We will use minimal soy sauce and fish sauce to keep the soup light in color. Because of this, adjust the taste further by using salt and pepper. Hondashi will also be a boost in umami.
To make it taste more like street food in Korea, you can use a little bit of MSG.
How to make Fish Cake Soup at home?
One of the most important things in making this at home is the pot you will use. A deep pot can be used so the skewers are upright, or a big shallow pot can be used so the skewers are lying flat. Either way, it is best if they are submerged well.
Now on to the soup! We will first make the broth before adding the fish cakes.
First, peel and chop the radish into four big chunks. In a pot of pan, place the water, radish, and a big chunk of dried kelp, and let it come to a boil.
Note: If you are using a dashi packet, all you need to do is boil it for 20-30 minutes to extract all its flavor. Dashi packets can be found in Korean markets and they can be conveniently used in other soup dishes like Rice Cake Soup or Soybean Sprout Soup!
Boil the radish until it is soft and a bit mushy and the kelp has turned a bit slimy. At this point, they have extracted a lot of flavors and will make the soup tasty.
Add soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, hondashi, and MSG. Taste the soup and adjust it with salt and pepper. If you find that the soup is almost there but still lacks something, just wait because once you add the fish cakes, they will release flavor that will make the soup taste better.
Add the fish cakes to the soup. Allow it to cook until tender which is just about 3-5 minutes. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper, it should be light but savory! Serve piping hot, and enjoy!
Serving Fish Cake Soup
This is great as a snack or an additional viand during meal times. Make it a complete meal by adding udon and vegetables to the soup. While the soup is great as it is, you can dip the fish cake in some soy sauce.
Other delicious recipes that can warm you up:
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Korean Fish Cake Soup (Eomuk Guk)
Equipment
- Deep Pot or Big Shallow Pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups Water
- 1 whole Korean Radish Cut into big chunks
- 1 big chunk Dried Kelp
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1/4 tbsp Hondashi
- Salt and Pepper To taste
- Pinch of MSG
Instructions
- Skewer the fish cakes. If you are using flat sheets, fold them in half bend them, and skewer them layer by layer.
- Peel the radish and chop it into four big chunks. Set aside.
- In a pot or pan, put water, radish, and dried kelp and bring it to a boil. Allow it to boil for 15-20 minutes or until the radish and kelp have turned soft.
- Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, hondashi, and MSG. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
- Add the fish cake to the soup and allow it to boil for 3-5 minutes or until they are tender. Splash some soup over the fish cake as needed.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
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