[Taste of Hansik] Every bite has it all in this homemade hoemuchim

Sliced chunks of seafood, called hoe, is one dish enjoyed by Koreans all year long.

Different from Japanese-style sashimi that is aged for a day or two, or even up to a week after it’s cut, Korean style hoe is eaten right away, making the texture of raw fish served Korean-style chewier in general.

Many people visit the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market in western Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District for fresh-cut raw fish.

Those who eat at the market can expect a plate full of hoe, alongside banchan, assorted side dishes, as well as sliced garlic and lots of fresh leafy greens like lettuce or perilla leaves.

The leaves are used to hold a piece of hoe, a dab of spicy gochujang sauce and a slice or two of garlic, rolled up into one tasty bite.

Hoe can be eaten directly within a restaurant in the market, or packaged to take home and eat.

Hoemuchim can be made at home for anyone who wants to try hoe with some different sauces. Adding muchim in Korean means sauces were added to the main food item, so mixing hoe with some sauce is called hoemuchim, and mixing acorn jelly muk with sauce is called mukmuchim, for example.

If putting together the leaves, garlic and gochujang sauce for each bite of hoe is too much of a hassle, hoemuchim basically takes away the mess and puts everything conveniently together in a bowl.

Try this recipe by chef Im Saet-byeol of Onyva Seoul to make your own meal of hoemuchim at home.

Ingredients

250 grams of raw fish, 1/2 onion, 1/2 stem of green onion, 1/4 head of red cabbage, 3 leaves of green lettuce, 2 red beet leaves
Sauce ingredients: 1 spoon of minced garlic, 1 spoon of sesame seeds, 1 spoon of gochujang, 2 spoons of gochugaru (hot pepper flakes), 5 spoons of vinegar, 3 spoons of starch syrup, 3 spoons of sesame oil, 1/2 spoon of minced pepper

Directions

Chop the onion, green onion, red cabbage, lettuce and red beet leaves.

Mix together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Add the sauce to the chopped vegetables and sliced raw fish and mix together.

Move them on to a bowl and serve.

BY LEE SUN-MIN [lee.sunmin@joongang.co.kr]