Hoedeopbap is one of my all-time favorite dishes, so I’m happy to show you how to make it. It’s made with raw fish, rice, and a spicy seasoning sauce – it’s cool and soft and melting in your mouth, and fresh and spicy.

The key to this dish is to make sure the fish is served cold cold.

You might have guessed already that I love fish, and especially raw fish. So when I went to Mexico and stayed at the beach, I could meet the fishermen as they brought their catch in, early in the morning. No middleman, I could buy the fish as fresh as possible.

When I got the freshest fish in my hand, hoedeopbap was a good choice. It’s refreshing and easy to eat: you mix it all together in a big bowl, like a raw fish bibimbap. Unlike bibimbap, the vegetables are uncooked, so it’s a lot simpler to prepare.

Hoedeopbap with a bowl of doenjangguk (soybean paste soup) simply can’t be beat. You can make a quick vegetarian version of this by substituting the fish with fried tofu.  Also, if you like mint or perilla leaves, add them to the dish.

This is another video that I remade as the original was done in 2008. One of the reasons I’m redoing these older recipes is because they are blocked in some countries due to music copyright laws. In those days, I just used whatever music I liked in my videos, which is causing some problems now. Nowadays I create all my own music.

So for some people, this is their first chance to watch my hoedeopbap video!

Ingredients: Serves 2-3

  • ½ pound of fresh sashimi grade fish: sail fish, tuna, salmon, snapper, or flounder
  • 2 tablespoons roasted toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons roasted toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 sheet of kim (seaweed paper), roasted, and cut into thin strips, keep in a plastic bag
  • 2-3 bowls of freshly made cooked rice

Vegetables:

  • 2 cups worth lettuce, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup worth cucumber, sliced thinly
  • ¼ cup worth carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
  • 2 or 3 tablespoons onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 small tomato, sliced thinly
  • 1 or 2 red chili peppers, chopped
    vegetables

Seasoning sauce (Yangnyeomchojang):

Directions

  1. Shave the fish thinly. Keep in the refrigerator.
    hoedeopbap_fish
  2. Combine the soy sauce, hot pepper paste, green onion, garlic, green chili pepper, sugar, and vinegar or limes in a bowl with a spoon. Keep in the refrigerator.
    yangnyeomchojang

Arrange hoedeopbap:

  1. Put lettuce on the bottom of a plate or large shallow bowl. Add the cucumber, onion, carrot, and tomato and arrange them nicely.
  2. Place the rice in the center of the vegetables.
    steamed rice
  3. Add the fish, shredded gim, and red chili pepper on top.
  4. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and drizzle the sesame oil.
    hoedeopbap_plate

Serve:

  1. Serve with doenjangguk.
  2. Add the seasoning sauce over top of the fish, and gently mix all the ingredients together with your spoon.

How to prepare the tofu for a vegetarian version:

  1. Heat up a pan and add a little vegetable oil.
  2. Dice tofu into 1.5 cm cubes. Put them into the pan and cook until golden brown.
  3. Turn off the heat and add 1 ts of soy sauce and 1 ts of sugar. Stir until the tofu is coated.

Quick Tofu Doenjangguk recipe:

  1. Put 5 cups of water and 8-10 dried anchovies (with the heads and guts removed) in a pot and boil for 20 minutes over medium high heat.
  2. Remove the anchovies from the pot and add 1½ tbs doenjang (soybean paste). Lower the heat and simmer for 10 more minutes.
  3. Dice 1 cup of tofu into small cubes and add them to the pot. Boil 2 to 3 minutes, then turn the heat off.
  4. Chop up 1 green onion. Sprinkle some over each bowl of soup just before you serve them.

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61 Comments:

  1. Geaux504 Washington joined 5/19 & has 1 comment

    Thank you for this recipe; it came out as good as can be. Hoedeopbap Is one of the best things I’ve ever made. I purchased Maangchi’s cook book and it’s on my top 2 cook books list. Growing up in Louisiana I adhere to my traditional cooking methods (everything from scratch and old school). It’s pretty awesome to make something so fresh and without having to cook it; no pots to scrub LOL.

  2. leinunge Winton, Queensland, Australia joined 9/17 & has 3 comments

    Hi everybody, I am starting to sound like Maangchi!
    Love the energy, I will have to beg someone for fresh fish, I live in central west Queensland, far away from the sea, but some lucky people have a boat and go fishing!
    Always excited to view your clips.
    regards, Erika

  3. pieter Amsterdam, Netherlands joined 7/17 & has 4 comments

    Hi Maangchi, We already loved dolsot bibimbap. Even bought the pots some years ago. Then I discovered your hoedeopbap on the website over a year ago. We have been eating this raw fish salad once a week ever since. It is just perfect! I usually make a double batch of the sauce so I have some for another salad(s) in the day(s) that follow. I have no idea if cilantro is used in Korean cuisine, but I love to add some to my hoedeopbap. Thanks for your inspiring videos and recipes!

  4. bridgetsoares87 Washington joined 8/16 & has 1 comment

    Thank you for your recipes. Unfortunately, I can’t cook rice well, thats why I want to buy rice cooker. Do you use rice cookers? What do you think about this one http://cooker.guru/zojirushi-ns-tsc10-review?

  5. ghostinrags Mishawaka joined 10/13 & has 1 comment

    Great site, sunshine! My love enjoys her sushi. She loved sashimi. I gave her chirashi and she was hooked. I told her of this holy deliciousness and she scoffed, as did I the first time. Fellow gives me a gorgeous plate of raw fish, then my guy smashed it to a pulp with sesame oil and hot sauce! Hell no! Then I tasted it…. Heaven. I made my love this dish tonite, and she balked at the smashing. Then. She said. Oh. Ohhhh…. OH! Ohhhhh! Wow! Now she understands! More sauce! More! More!!! Lol. Thanks a ton!

  6. llonline joined 5/11 & has 2 comments

    Hi Maangchi!

    I’d never had hwedupbap before but now I love it! I’m looking forward to trying it with tofu next time. I’m cooking from your site for the next few weeks and writing about it in my blog. Here’s the link to my attempt at making your recipe: http://pantryshopper.blogspot.com/2011/06/maangchi-2.html.

    Thanks so much for all the work you put into these fabulous recipes!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments

      yes, I read your blog! It looks very delicious! “I spent $10 on the sashimi, which was enough for two people… ” The other day I had hwedupbap at a restaurant. It cost about $20.00! It was good but I still preferred my homemade hwedupbap with more ingredients. Good luck with making vegetarian hwedupbap with tofu!

  7. tae108 joined 2/11 & has 2 comments

    I was wondering, I just had a similar dish at a japanese restaurant and thought I gave this a try. Do I just use normal rice or do I use sushi (w/ sushi seasoning) rice?

  8. Azngurlish The Netherlands, Enschede joined 9/10 & has 2 comments

    Hi Maangchi!

    I LOVE your site!
    I love korean food and I’m so glad I found your site.
    I have a few questions. Do I really have to use Perilla Leaves? Cause I can’t find it anywhere!

    Thank you very much for your responds.

    Greets

  9. laniekay Richmond, Virginia, USA joined 9/09 & has 15 comments

    I really want to make this recipe, but do not have access to perilla/sesame leaves in any form. (I go to college in a very small mountain town, with a tiny little Asian/Latino grocery. The woman that runs it says she has never heard of them!)

    Does anyone know what perilla/sesame leaves taste like? Would dandelion greens or arugula work? I will just skip this ingredient if no one knows, and I’m sure it will taste wonderful, but I would like to follow the recipe as closely as I can :)

    • wenstar Sierra Vista, AZ joined 5/10 & has 1 comment

      Hi Lanie,
      If you have ever eaten ume (japanese sour salty plum) that is what flavors it. If the lady who runs the store is familiar with Japanese ingredients she may know perilla leaves as shiso leaves. I live in a very small town and they are not available in the two oriental stores that we have but we did have a gardener at the farmers market that was selling shiso plants both the red and the green so you may want to check your local farmers market as “exotic” greens are hip now days. Good luck in your search and Happy eating.

      • joyoon joined 8/10 & has 9 comments

        I agree, shiso leaves is as close as you can get to a replacement for perilla leaves. I live in Japan, and although they look similar, the ones that Japanese people typically eat taste very different from the Korean perilla leaves, they’re not the same type, though it may be the same Genus. But you can use that as a substitute just fine.

  10. Amber727 New Jersey joined 7/09 & has 36 comments

    Hi!

    I think I am going to try this recipe soon! It looks so healthy. I think I will try it without the rice though…. Do you think it will still be tasty?

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