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Dried pollock soup

Bugeoguk 북어국

Bugeoguk is a delicious, savory, satisfying soup made with dried pollock. The best dried pollock is dried by the wind from the sea, which is called Hwangtae (황태). The fish are caught in the cold wintertime and hung out to dry. The fish dries out in the brisk ocean breeze and as the temperatures change from daytime to nighttime they freeze and thaw out the fish over and over. When it’s finally fully dried it has a unique texture that’s both flaky and spongy.

We use this fish in many dishes, but among all the recipes made with dried pollock, this soup is the most common and eaten in Koreans’ everyday meals. It’s considered to be a soup with a lot of health benefits that can boost your energy, is anti-toxic, anti-diabetes, anti-cancer, can beat high cholesterol and cure your hangover.

If you make this soup early in the morning for your husband or wife who is suffering from a severe hangover, you will get lots of credit.

“Hey, here’s some soup for you! Have some and be yourself again, for God’s sake!”

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

Directions

  1. Tear each strip of pollock into thin pieces about 2½ inches long, by hand.
  2. Heat up a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Add the pollock and toasted sesame oil and stir 2 to 3 minutes with a wooden spoon until the pollock turns light brown and fragrant.bugeoguk (Korean dried pollock soup: 북어국)
  3. Add 6 cups water, radish, and garlic. Cover and cook for 15 to 17 minutes over medium high heat until the radish turns translucent.bugeoguk (Korean dried pollock soup: 북어국)
  4. Stir in fish sauce and taste the soup. Add a little bit salt to your taste if you like. Add the tofu and green onion and gently pour the beaten egg into the boiling soup. Pour the egg all over the soup but don’t mix in in. Let it cook on top so we get strands and chunks of cooked egg.bugeoguk (Korean dried pollock soup: 북어국)
  5. Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until the egg is cooked.bugeoguk (Korean dried pollock soup: 북어국)
  6. Remove from the heat and stir. Ladle soup into serving bowls and serve right away with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes if you desire.bugeoguk (Korean dried pollock soup: 북어국)

Posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 2:36 pm. Last updated on August 10, 2021.
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53 Comments:

  1. stella07 malaysia joined 5/19 & has 1 comment
    Posted May 27th, 2019 at 6:31 pm | or create a profile.

    Its nice to meet you Maangchi!

    I got an asthma, do you have any suggestion which korean soups that suitable to cure asthma? or do you have tips to cure asthma?

  2. heather24 USA joined 5/19 & has 1 comment
    Posted May 20th, 2019 at 11:13 am | or create a profile.

    I want to make 4 servings of this soup. Do I just double all of the ingredients and water amount? Thank you!

  3. ladyd Canada ! joined 5/19 & has 1 comment
    Posted May 19th, 2019 at 8:53 pm | or create a profile.

    Hello Maangchi !

    I thought at the beginning of the video I heard you say you were going to add the dried fish pieces when you make anchovy kelp stock. Dried anchovies with water and radish, and boil with dried kelp. Then add fish and make the broth really tasty. Where can I find this stock that you make? Thank you !

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted May 20th, 2019 at 9:18 am | or create a profile.

      I didn’t make an individual recipe for anchovy kelp stock. It will be in my cookbook coming this October. Check out my soup recipes, then you will be able to find how I make anchovy kelp stock in some recipes. For example, I am showing how to to make anchovy kelp stock in fish cake soup (eomukguk). https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/eomukguk It’s delicious by itself but if you add dried pollock’s skin and head stuff to it, it will be more delicious.

  4. greatstoneface Fairfax County, Virginia joined 4/17 & has 4 comments
    Posted May 18th, 2019 at 10:39 pm | or create a profile.

    Does leftover dried pollock soup reheat well?

  5. stonefly Olympia WA joined 11/11 & has 61 comments
    Posted May 18th, 2019 at 2:43 pm | or create a profile.

    Now I have a reason to go to H-Mart or Paldo World, to get dried pollack! Yum! Thank you Maangchi!

  6. Estar Singapore joined 7/14 & has 7 comments
    Posted September 14th, 2016 at 8:18 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi! I tried making this recipe, but the soup was rather bland for me. Is there a spicy version of this soup?

  7. sophiaPward joined 5/15 & has 2 comments
    Posted May 31st, 2015 at 4:24 pm | or create a profile.

    Aslo if you could include the calories from fat (not the calorie count, just the calories from fat) I would appreciate that! Love this site!!!

  8. sophiaPward joined 5/15 & has 2 comments
    Posted May 31st, 2015 at 4:17 pm | or create a profile.

    How much does this dish cost to make? I would really appreciate the prices being included in the information :)

  9. dancingwithkoreanfoodinmymouth sedatedbykoreanfood joined 1/14 & has 2 comments
    Posted January 27th, 2014 at 6:10 pm | or create a profile.

    Aloha 이모,

    If I substituted dried pollock with raw instead how would the soup differ?

  10. dancingwithkoreanfoodinmymouth sedatedbykoreanfood joined 1/14 & has 2 comments
    Posted January 27th, 2014 at 6:14 am | or create a profile.

    Aloha 이모,

    If I don’t have dried pollock but raw instead, how would the taste of the soup differ if I cooked it the the same way?

  11. Dianasip Jakarta joined 12/13 & has 1 comment
    Posted December 7th, 2013 at 9:14 am | or create a profile.

    Thank you maangchi! i love all your recipe!

    Already done make this recipe!
    it turns out really well!
    i want to show you the picture if i can! LOL

    I amazed with the taste of the dried pollock after taste this soup…what a chewy and tasty dried fish! i love it, only 1 problem that i have…i make the portion too much for one person!
    :( so i can’t finish it all…although i already reduce the amout of the water

    and i also i used salt instead the fist sauce, but it turns out kinda plain :(

    but after all i kinda satisfied with the result and the taste! also practice makes perfect, right? ;)

  12. Mr. Kimchi Las Vegas joined 10/12 & has 1 comment
    Posted October 8th, 2012 at 4:42 pm | or create a profile.

    Just got all of the ingredients, going to make it tonight!
    I will take pictures for sure!

  13. Soygirl379 Sacramento, CA joined 2/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted May 22nd, 2011 at 10:13 pm | or create a profile.

    Someone added jalapeños and tofu to this soup and it was sooo good! Also one recipe from a Korean cook book coats the pollack strips with flour. Have you heard of this Maangchi?

  14. lyou4299 seoul, south korea joined 2/11 & has 2 comments
    Posted May 18th, 2011 at 6:28 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi! Thanks so much for this recipe. It’s one of my favorites since I moved to Korea. I just bought a bag of dried pollock to make it and I was wondering how to store the rest of the dried pollock once the bag has been opened. Would it keep fresher in the freezer?

  15. Lovekoreancooking batam island joined 3/11 & has 13 comments
    Posted April 29th, 2011 at 9:53 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi!!
    I am so super wonder wif the taste of bugeoguk! Just seeing ur video, I can feel the smell of soup is so good! (drolling until now,lol). Cant wait to make it :)!!
    What I wanna ask is will it work perfect too if we use carrot instead of radish?
    Just bcoz our country is a tropical place, we dun hv four seasons, so most of the people here dun hv to drink soju or wine. Im just curious that too often eating radish, does it affect for our healthy? Seems radish is a cold vegetable.

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