If you love seafood and spicy stews, I’m sure you’ll absolutely love this one, called maeuntang in Korean and spicy fish stew (or soup) in English. It can be made with pretty much any type of fish but most importantly the fish should be fresh! In this recipe and video I use black sea bass, or nongeo in Korean, so this dish would specifically be called nongeo-maeuntang.
On a recent trip to Montauk, Long Island I was lucky to get fresh-caught black sea bass right off the dock, as soon as the fisherman brought it in. I know a lot of you won’t be able to find fish that fresh, so in your local fish market choose a fish with clear eyes and a firm body. Make sure it isn’t smelly at all and has red gills on the inside. You may have to open the fish head a bit to check the color of the gills. If they’re brownish, don’t pick that fish. White fleshed fish is best for making maeuntang, so flounder, fluke, yellow corvina, and red snapper will all work well, but any kind of fish will be good, as long as it’s fresh.
Maeuntang is one of Koreans’ most-loved seafood dishes. Most Korean households have all these seasonings on hand, so it’s a great way to share a delicious, fresh fish with friends and family. It’s easy to make and the savory, spicy stew sits in the middle of the table and everyone can enjoy it together.
Ingredients (serves 3 to 4)
- 2½ pounds cleaned whole fish (black sea bass, cod, pollock, flounder, fluke), cut into 2 inch pieces
- 8 cups water
- 1 pound Korean radish (or daikon) sliced into ⅛ inch thin bite sized pieces
- 7-8 large dried anchovies, with heads and guts removed and placed in a stock pouch (or soup strainer, or tied up in cheesecloth)
- 1 dae-pa (or 4 to 5 green onions), sliced diagonally
- 1 large green chili pepper, sliced
- 1 red chili pepper, optional but if you use, sliced diagonally
- 4-5 sprigs of chrysanthemum greens (substitute with a few basil sprigs)
For the seasoning paste:
- ½ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons Korean fermented bean paste (doenjang)
- 1 tablespoon Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons mirim (or soju)
Directions
Make seasoning paste:
- Combine the seasoning paste ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix it well with a spoon. Set aside.
Make maeuntang:
- Combine the radish, dried anchovies, and 8 cups of water in a large pot.
- Cover and cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat until the radish turns a little soft.
- Add the fish and about half of the seasoning paste.
- Cover and cook for another 20 minutes over medium high heat until the fish is fully cooked.
- Remove the anchovy pouch and add green chili pepper and green onion. Taste the soup and add more paste if you want it spicier and saltier.
- Gently stir the stew a few times with a wooden spoon and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the chrysanthemum greens and red chili peppers.
Serve:
- Serve with rice, kimchi, and a few other side dishes, if you have them.
- You can put the stew in the middle of the table, with a ladle. Provide bowls for each person and ladle some of the stew into each bowl.
- Provide an empty bowl for bones. As people eat the fish they can discard the bones there.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
I made this last Wednesday, and it was banging…will def make this delicious dish again …Thanks so much (I cooked without kelp so dont know what it tastes like with it ^^)
Without kelp, it would be tasty, too. When you boil the fish for longer, you will get the nutrients from the fish bones and the broth will be tastier.
hi Maangchi unni,
i live in the caribbean so i doubt i can find ssukgat and minari…can i sub those items with something else? maybe with celery and parsley? i don’t know…i really want to make this dish but i’m not sure if its possible without those herbs?
Yes, it will still be delicious without using ssukgat and minari. Use more green onions. Parsley or celery sounds good to me.
Hi Maangchi! Just wanted to say thanks for your maeuntang recipe – my family really loved the soup although I did adapt your recipe according to availability of some of the ingredients but it still turned out great :) I also featured it on my blog since it was so yummy! (photos of the soup I made at link)
http://tastesofhome.blogspot.com/2010/11/korean-spicy-fish-soup-maeuntang.html
Hope I did your recipe justice!
yay, your maeuntang looks so delicious! “.. Gochujang is essentially made of red chilli powder, glutinous rice powder mixed with powdered fermented soybeans and salt.” It sounds like you know a lot about Korean cuisine! Let me twit about your maeuntang blog! : )
Maangchi, thanks so much for your encouraging words! I just have been doing some research on Korean cuisine (reading/ internet and of of course your blog!) hehe I can’t wait to try out more of your recipes. Thanks again :)
Hello Maangchi. I LOVE your site. I love spicy food but my husband does not like spicy food. So I wanted to know if there is a way I can make this non spicy?? Thank you.
yes, of course you can make delicious non-spicy fish soup. You will have to find very fresh fish though. Skip spicy stuff.
unni, when u get a chance, can you maybe add the recipe for the spicy crab soup (kot-gae-tang)? Do u use a similar sauce as maeuntang? thank u! ^^Y
kotgetang, sure someday! I love it, too!
Hello,
I like your video very much
I’m from Egypt and I want to make this amazing soup
I found (kelp) after deep searching in our supermarkets, but it is Chinese and it’s name: seaweed
It has different shape than kelp, it looks like this: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4780645493_e60f248328_z.jpg
Can I use it instead of kelp.
Thanks
Thank you for your question. The seaweed is different from kelp. Besides you will have to use dried kelp to make delicious stock. To make maeuntang (spicy fish soup), skip dried kelp if it’s not available. As long as your fish is fresh, the soup will be very tasty.
BTW, the seaweed in the photo of the link you gave me is miyuk julgi (seaplant stems). I posted this recipe. Get the ingredient and make miyukjulgi bokkeum. Let me know how it turns out if you make it later
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/miyeok-julgi-bokkeum
Thank you Miss Maangchi for your clearly reply.
And sure I will make miyukjulgi bokkeum and all your Korean recipes if I find the required ingredients.
Thanks
Hi, y’all. Does any one know of or have a recipe for Sungeoguk? Apparently it’s a (nonspicy) trout soup from North Korea (Pyongyang). There was a similar soup made on the K-Drama “Gourmet”. It looked totally DELISH; my mouth just watered. If not, I wouldn’t mind creating my own recipe. Any ideas or suggestions to get me started? Many thanks!
Please leave your question here on the forum. Someone else may know the answer. I hope so!
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Hi Maangchi!
I made this a couple of weeks ago from your recipe – its absolutely delish! kamsahamnida =)
yay! congratulation on your success! You are living in Missisauga! I have a few friends living there! Nice meeting you through my website!
nice to meet you too maangchi, i hope we can be friends too. maybe we can exchange email addresses =)
I was unsure of what cooking wine is, so found this link:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/WineInCooking.htm
It suggests not to use cooking wine, but rather always use a wine you would drink. I’d be interested in your opinion:)
sorry, I don’t know much about wine. : )
I’ve always used drinking wine in cooking. The wines labeled “cooking” wine have always been too dry for my tastes. If I won’t drink it, I don’t want to eat it! lol
Hi I really like your recipes. Their so simple easy to cook. I cook your spicy fish soup for my husband it was good.(little spicy for us)
Thank you very much.
oh, you made maeuntang! I feel like making it for myself. : )
Hi Maangchi, I live 4 blocks from a Korean Market and I made this today because it is my favorite Korean Dish. Your recipe is better than the restaurants. I can’t believe it turned out so good. Love the video. Hope I can meet Mila also, best wishes!!
very nice! I like to taste your maeuntang! : ) oh, I should contact Mila and let her know she has a fan!
There is a soup I always get with my auntie in south Los Angeles that looks like the soft tofu soup, but has some kind of white fish cut crosswise with mussels and clams, is this the same as maeuntang or what seafood soup would it be?
yes, it’s maewoontang made with the white fish (cod or pollack?) and clams.
Hi Maangchi, I was wondering if redsnapper is the traditional fish used in this stew. Is there an alternative to cod and snapper? My wife made this out of rainbow trout and it wasn’t very well received.
You could replace red snapper with other kinds of fish except for cod. : ) Cod flesh is so soft that it’s easily broken when you boil it. The recipe for cod maewoontang is different from red snapper maewoontang.
You could use a croaker, flounder,or flatfish instead of red snapper for this recipe. Good luck with making delicious maewoontang!
Thanks very much! I will try to make it as surprise for my wife.
thanks for this website
Welcome!!
annyeong maangchi
i bought this bottle of wine(i think) and it says 백세주
and i was wondering if i could use it here.
and if not wat are other uses for baek se ju
thanks!
cant wait for your future recipes ^o^
Baekseju (백세주)! Sure, you could use it.
Thanks!
Hey Maangchi
I was wondering, when you soaked the clams overnight did you leave it out or put it in the fridge? Also Do you have a substitute for kelp?
Put it in the fridge.
Hi Maangachi unni ^^
I was wondering if the fish could be substituted for a crab (i like your recipe for the broth..!) and would it be close to an authentic ggot gae tang (crab soup)? Or..would that not taste right?
Any suggestions would be great too!
You can use crabs, but authentic ggotgaetang (crab stew) recipe is a little different from fish maewoontang. I will post the recipe later. Thanks!
Hi Maangchi,
I was wondering is tofu the major difference between SoonDubu and Maeun-tang? Thanks, -BenbimBahp
for soondubu jjigae, you will have to use soft tofu called soondubu https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/soon-du-bu
And for maeun tang (spicy fish stew), plain tofu (for stew) is used.
ken,
oh, you are in Singapore. Did you check the forum “where do you get Korean ingredients” section? I’m copying and pasting it here:
I found some Korean grocery stores in Singapore on the internet
1. Korean mart:
20 North Canal Road Tel: 6538-9801
2. Korean trading mart:
163 Tras Street #01-01 (LianHuat Building)
Tel: 6324-5016
or 6324-5017
3. Samjin store:
37 Malan Road Tel: 6777-4988
These all 3 stores say that they can provide delivery service
o thanks for the reply.. i replaced the pepper flakes to paste and it turns out nice.
i got another question for you, i am now in singapore and cant find the vegetable in your recipe here in singapore. if it can be found than where can i find it, if not than do you have any other types of vegetable to substitute that i can find in singapore?
ken,
Yes, you can,
hi if i cant get pepper flakes can i just add extra pepper paste for the sauce?
i love the way you cook easy but very delicious
rona,
yes, you can. Thank you!
hi can i use this recipe and cooking procedure also for hemultang??
hi, i am very fond of korean food, i looked every item of cooking and i enjoy with you. thankyou
Luna,
Yes, you can use prawns instead of shrimp.
Chinese black mushroom? I don’t know what it is. Find shiitake mushrooms! : ) Shiitake mushrooms are used for good stock.
hey maangchi can i use prawns instead of shrimps and
chinese black mushroom instead of shittake?
I made Maeuntang today. I added some Dashi Moto Stock to it. It added some more seafood flavor and turned out great. You can get the Dashi powder in any asian super market. I can highly recommend it. My Korean father-in- law and my husband loved it!! He said ‘chin-cha Maeuntang!’
Luna,
check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeuntang
daikon radish will be good, but don’t use kim for soup.
cindy,
you could use dried anchovy, too
hey can i use dried anchovy fish at place of kelp?
Maangchi
can i use daikon radish instead of korean and can i use Kim(laver) instead of Kelp
Maangchi,
This soup looks so good, I cannot wait to try it! Can you substitute the snapper with any type of fish? Also, your kitchen looks so nice!
Sujin,
Yes, you could replace snapper with cod.
Sylvia,
Yes, a few scallops, why not! : )
Now I am really hungry for spicy seafood soup.
Thank you for another great recipe and fun video.
Is it ok to add a couple of scallops?
Thank you for your wonderful videos!
I was wondering if I could substitute the snapper with cod (daegue).