I sometimes feel like eating a small morsel of fermented seafood with rice. That’s Korean jeotgal, salty preserved seafood. It tastes salty, chewy, garlicky, gingery, and sweet with a deep, fermented, almost nutty flavor. Today I’m again introducing you to one of my favorite mitbanchan (preserved side dishes that can be refrigerated for a long time). It’s spicy fermented squid jeotgal called ojingeojeot.
Korea is surrounded by ocean on 3 sides, so you can imagine that a variety of fresh fish and seafood dishes are available all year round. My Korean ancestors wanted to enjoy their fresh fish for a long time so they developed a way to preserve them in salt. This jeotgal can be eaten later with rice and other side dishes, or it could be used in kimchi making, too. It’s mostly made with seafood such as anchovies, shrimp, small yellow corvina, or pollock’s intestine, etc.
Among all the different kinds of jeotgal, this ojingeojeot made with squid is my favorite because it’s very easy to make and squid is available pretty much everywhere, fresh or frozen. I use frozen here in New York City because fresh squid is hard to find.
Ingredients
Makes 1 pound of ojngeojeot
- 1 pound cleaned squid (See the video for how to clean squid)
- 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
for the seasoning paste:
- ⅓ cup gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- ⅓ cup rice syrup (or corn syrup)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon peeled ginger, minced
- 2 green chili peppers, stems removed, deseeded, and chopped
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Directions
Ferment squid:
- In a bowl, mix the squid and the salt, then put it into a glass jar or an airtight container.
- Cover and refrigerate. Let it ferment for 1 month. Mix it up every week or two by turning the jar upside down, so the salty water mixes with the squid. Put it back into the fridge right side up.
(1 month old fermented squid on the left, fresh salted squid on the right) - After 1 month take the squid out of the jar and rinse it in cold running water to remove any excess salt. Drain and dry it out with paper towels.
- Peel the skin off. It can be slippery so I usually use paper towels to get a grip.
- Cut into strips, chop the squid into small pieces, and then gently pound with your knife to soften it. Set aside.
Make seasoning paste:
- Combine hot pepper flakes, rice syrup, fish sauce, green onion, garlic, ginger, and green chili pepper in a large bowl.
- Mix well with a spoon.
Put it together:
- Add the chopped squid to the bowl of seasoning paste. Mix well and add sesame seeds and sesame oil.
- Mix all together with a spoon and transfer to a glass jar or an airtight container.
- Keep it in the refrigerator and serve just a little as a side dish, until it runs out.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
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Hi Maangchi I live in the High Desert in California and there is pretty much no where I can get squid, can I do this with octopus instead?
Hi, Octopus should work too! But just to let you know, there is a Chinese market Corona called, 99 Ranch market. Also, I think I saw a small Korean market in Hisperia I believe(or Victorville). They might have frozen ones.
This is such an amazing looking recipe, I found the name through another forum and am so grateful for you to have posted it here! I am French, and the French haven’t any tradition of fermenting foods at home (except for making parma ham like, and dry saucisson) and I am so looking forward to trying it! I have already started other fermented foods (fermented beet, cabbage, kefir) but not tried anything with fresh fish or fresh meat yet, I will have a look at your site to see if there are any other ideas of fermented foods! It looks SO HEAVENLY
“French haven’t any tradition of fermenting foods at home” I know what you mean but France has awesome fermented food, cheese! The pungent flavor reminds me of Korean fermented fish. : )
Also, could you please show us how to make the salted fermented shimp at home? I know I could buy it at the market but would prefer to try with our fresh local shrimp.
Hey! Thank you for this very inteesting recipe! can I do this using other seafood such as fresh shrimp?
Yes, shrimp, oysters, or clams will work well, too.
HI dear Maangchi <3
If i made fermented shrimp for making kimchi after 1 month, i should wash, rinse, and strain the fermented shrimp and add to the kimchi or no fermented shrimp+shrimp juice add to my kimchi?
can i fermented anchovi like squid and after 1 month make kimchi and add anchovi fish in to the kimchi? i love eat kimchi with fish and shrimp
Thank you my dear <3 <3
Fermented salty shrimp or fermented anchovies needs several months to ferment.
Hey Maangchi!
Yesterday I bought 3.49 pounds of squid, cleaned and washed them and just placed it into my container. I wasn’t sure whether your recipe meant 5 tbs of salt for every 1 lb 10 oz of squid before cleaning or after cleaning them, so i just used a total of 1 cup of salt. I was wondering if I used too little and should take it out, rewash, and resalt, or if it is good as it is. Also, if it turns out too salty after a month, would rinsing it more take away some of that saltiness? Thanks! Love you 😘😘😘
-merumi
Hi Maangchi. i made this finally!! i stay in singapore so we hardly get any authentic korean food around here and your recipes are great. But staying in such a humid country, i am very afraid that the ojingeo jeot will go faster than in the states. so may i know how to see or know that it is spoilt ? THANKS!
Dear Maangchi, i just go back from Seoul a week’s ago. And feel miss Korean food, so i just go to your website and found some recipes. I bought many kind of spice in Seoul. Thanks Maangchi, happy weekend 😉
Now you are ready to cook delicious Korean dishes that you tried in Korea! : )
Hi! Maangchi.
I just back from Korea yesterday, I love the food esp squid kimchi. I found yr recipe here i like to make it. Can I subtitute corn syrup/ rice syrup? What ingredient should I replace with it.
You can use sugar if rice or corn syrup is not available. Good luck!
Hello Maangchi~
My boyfriend is korean, I had this dish at his home.
And it was wonderful~~~
So I started to make this dish 5 days ago.
and it’s now in the fridge fermenting. .
YAY!!!
Thank you for your lovely recipes,
They are all nice and delicious.
But I have 1 question about this 오징어젓’s fermentation time.
I understand it needs to be fermented for 1 month.
but I also saw some people just fermented it for 2 hours and they start to eat it with the seasonings.
is that normal for them to eat it that way?
Thank you for reading~~
yes, you can season fresh squid strips and use it as a side dish right after it’s made. It’s delicious but it’s different from ojingeojeot. Ojingeojeot is fermented, so it has a much deeper flavor.
Hi Maangchi
Are there any other dishes that can be made from the fermented squid?
Not that I know of. Ojingeojeot is a traditional Korean side dish. You can eat it with rice. However, you can always experiment with other main dishes.
Hi Maangchi,
Can i use this recipe for octopus, too? and can you do a video to how to make sannakji. because i just love it. thank you!
haha! You love live octopus? You don’t need the recipe because you are not going to cook it and eat it live! Actually I love live octopus. Chop up the live octopus and put some garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and chopped green onion. Oh add lots of roasted sesame seeds.
Problem is that I can’t find real fresh octopus here.
“Can i use this recipe for octopus, too?”, yes you can. Good luck with making delicious fermented octopus!
Fermented squid is one of my fav side dishes. I absolutely LOVE the chewy texture of it and how salty it is.
Question…. can you substitute something else for the corn or rice syrup? Maybe honey? Or leave that ingredient out?
Woops…. looks like I’ve already asked this question a while ago LOL.
If I ever get my butt to the market, I’ll buy some squid and make my own. See if honey works :)
Hi maangchi,
I wonder if it is possible to make ojingojeot using blanched squid instead of the salted one? Also, is it possible to use blanched squid to make kimchi?
Raw squid should be used.
I tried to make ojingojeot bokkumbap today and it turned out delicious! seems like i would alternate making kimchi bokkumbap and ojingojeot bokkumbap. :-)
Great! Happy cooking! : )
I just finished mixing with the paste. It tastes great, but its very chewy. Is this normal?
It sounds like your ojingeojeot turned out great! It should be chewy rather than mushy. Enjoy it! : )
I was so scared to try this and I’m loving this by now already. I’m going to start fermenting my next batch so ill never be out! Haha! Thank you Maangchi for a (scary) and great recipe. My bf thinks I’m crazy :)
im confused with the container.
is it okay to do it with the tupperware (kind of plastic ware) ?
it seems like urs turn out great. After a couple of hours, does the salt seems left at the bottom.of the container cos my salt tht ive mixed is just staying at the bottom of the container after.i left it for couple of hours…
thank you
Hi maangchi ! After a month of waiting , I finally made it yesterday ! I made two batch, one with squid and another with cuttlefish. Both taste great. It is a good combination of saltiness and spiciness with a little sweetness. Will be looking forward to making more batches soon !
Reading your post makes me feel like having rice and ojingeojeot now! Congratulations! ^^
Hi Maangchi,
I tried this dish but found the squid too fishy to eat as side dish so I put it into my kimchi. I use the same process for anchovies. Should I take off the head or leave it on. It’s been fermenting for 2 weeks now and when I checked on it, it still smell fresh not fishy at all. Can I season it with the same paste for the squid?
After one month of fermentation, is it safe to rinse the squid repeatedly until most of the saltiness is gone before I season it? Thank you
Hi,
I bought raw frozen squid 3 months ago and it’s still in my freezer. Is it still safe to defrost today to make ojingeojeot? Thank you so much for the advice. I love u!
HI Maangchi,, Thank you for sharing this recipe, loved this dish.i have a question,After one month , then mix the salted squid with the paste and transfer it into a container and keep it in the refrigerator, how long i can keep in the refrigerator? Thank you so much for this recipe.
Sorry ,I mean ,After mix the salted squid with the paste , how long i can keep it in the refrigerator? Thank you so much for this recipe.
You can keep it in the fridge for up to about 2 months.
Maangchi Eonni, my Ojingeojeot is fermenting today and I will have 1 month to open it again. Found the recipe this morning, went out to A&P and got them prepared before dinner time and prepared some dubujangajji for tomorrow’s lunch. And I also made myself a kimchijeon for dinner ^__^
고맙슴니다 언니!
Your 1 month fermentation date will be coming soon. It’s time for you to season. Yum!
Hello! I am so happy to have found this recipe!! I went out and purchased squid today to start. Question: I rinsed several time – maybe more – and it bubbled like crazy. And after I believed I got rid of all bubbles it bubbled again when I mixed with salt… Will my squid be ok or should I start all over again tomorrow? I didn’t see any bubbles in your video and I am freaking out about it… I really don’t want to wait a month only to find out that it is no good because I didn’t get the bubbles out…
Yes, it will be ok. Keep it in the fridge for 1 month and take it out and rinse it again. “1 month later, wash, rinse, and strain the fermented squid.”
It will turn out delicious.
Hi Maangchi, do you think I could replace the pepper flakes with hot pepper paste instead?
Yes, you can.
I envy everyone who already made this recipe, I gotta go to market tomorrow morning to buy SMALL SQUIDS, my husband love it very much so do I…
But, I still have to wait for one month to surprise him.
OMG can’t wait to start :’)
I always wanted this recipe a long time ago, and this is the reason why I enrolled at Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (Hansik) unfortunately they don’t include this in menu
now I know co’z it took a month to finish it…hehe
Thanks for posting this recipe Maangchi <3 <3 <3
I owe you a lot in every recipe I learned from u without any cost :')
“I still have to wait for one month to surprise him.”
haha I can’t wait to hear about your husband’s reaction!
Wow! I’ve been cooking Korean recipes for almost 20 years. Your ojingeojeot recipe has shot up to onㄷ of my top 5 recipes. This is great stuff. I have to ration it to my international students (community college) because they love it so much. I used to buy ojingeojeot from a popular Korean market but it’s nothing like this.
I’ve been buying two 3 pound boxes of California squid. I may have to make bigger batches and share with my students’ Korean friends. I’m already sharing kimchi.
감사합니다
“I’ve been buying two 3 pound boxes of California squid” : )
I’m so surprised at the amount! It will take some time to clean all of them.The small squid is the best for making ojingeojeot! Good luck with your Korean cooking.
One of my students likes to work in the kitchen so we clean the squid together. It goes pretty fast once we get going. We set up right next to the sink and scrape everything direclty into the garbage disposal.
PS. I didn’t take offense but I’m a guy. ;)
oh, sorry! : ) What made me think you are a lady. I should make my own ojingeojeot soon. yummy!
I’m still so thankful for your 오징어젓 Ojingeojeot recipe. My Hong Kong student and I cleaned and salted 12 pounds of squid today. We ended up with 7 pounds. We still have a quart of the finished recipe in the fridge but I’ve given out samples and our friends want more. I’ve always liked recipes from Jeollado. Is this typical of that region? Thank you for sharing this wonderful dish.
I was in Gwangju last year in October. The food was amazing. Even when I was eating at the bus station the banchan were more plentiful than in Seoul. I hope to get back there during my next trip to South Korea.
Can I use shrimp for this dish? Thank you!
Hi Maangchi, my college roommate was Korean, so I became spoiled eating homecooked Korean dishes that her mom would bring to us all the time. So glad I found your website so I can make all those yummy dishes myself!
I started the ojingeojeot nearly a month ago. It will be finished fermenting this week, and I can’t wait to try it! I have a question regarding the peppers. I went to my local Asian market today to pick up the chili peppers needed, but they only had the green peppers. I bought the long, hot chili peppers that the store manager told me were Korean hot peppers. They did not have any red peppers, though. Is it okay to use green chili peppers in place of the red (so use all green chili peppers), or would that change the taste significantly? I am going to save some of the seeds from my peppers so that I can grow them myself next time! Thanks again for such a great site and well done videos! I make your recipes all the time!
awesome, your ojingeojeot is being fermented in your fridge! You must be very excited about it. The red chili pepper is not important in this recipe. I used it for color. But hot pepper flakes are not optional. Good luck with your Korean cooking! Let me know when your ojingoejeot is done.
Thank you! I have the Korean red pepper flakes, so I am good to go! My squid finishes fermenting tomorrow. I am so excited! I will take a photo! :)
Well, I found some fresh red chili peppers today, took that as a sign and cheated by making my ojingeojeot a day early! Don’t tell anyone I cheated by a day! ;) It played the starring role with tonight’s dinner, and everyone loved it! I was asked to get started on the next batch because this batch isn’t going to last a month! :)
Thank you so much for the recipe, I am already dreaming about eating ojingeojeot for lunch tomorrow. Here’s a link to the photo I posted on my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79207600@N07/7269548272
omg, your ojingeojeot looks awesome! Delicious! Can you upload the photo directly here? Let’s share with more people. https://www.maangchi.com/photos/upload
Hai Maangchi
I’m going to make this soon! my squid is rest with salt right now until 31/5/2012….{^_^}
I dont have a problem about the ingredients because I’m going to KoreaTown Ampang next week. this will be my first trip there…. wonder what should I buy more but can keep it for a long time because it was so far away from where I live know…(about 8 hour traveling)…
soy sauce, hot pepper paste, hot pepper flakes, fish sauce, soy bean paste, dried seaweed, sesame oil, sesame seeds, glass noodles (for Japchae making), dried anchovies, kim (seaweed paper), … Let us know how your ojingeojeot turns out! Happy cooking!
thank you Maangchi for your reply…. I think I have to make a list before I go…. but still have to check my budget firstly… hehehe…. I’ll let you know how my ojingeojeot turns out….
okie! : )
Hai Maangchi,
I have a problem here…. my fermented squid will done at 31/5/2012, but I had to go out somewhere for about 7 days, can I hold it until 7 days? (total day fermented is 38 day), I’ll mix it with the seasoning after I return home…. sorry for my bad english, hope you’ll understand it… hehehe….
Hello, Maangchi.
I have made ojingeojeot, but I have a question on it. Is it suposed to be very chewy and near improssible to bite through?
It should be chewy but not that much! : ) Remove the skin of your ojingeojeot before mixing with seasonings. Sometimes large squid’s skin is too tough.
I removed skin before fermenting it. May be that was part of the problem. But it still is tasty, I just had to cut it into realy small pieces :)
Hi Maangchi,
Thank you for this delicious recipe. I made one few months ago, It was too salty, but I still love it . This time I put less salt in it. Today is the 15th day. I opened container. It has rotten smell which didn’t have last. Can I stop fermenting it, and start seasoning it. Thanks
Use more salt please! You need enough salt to preserve the squid. If it’s not salty enough, it will go bad. If it turns out too salty for you, eat just little amount.
Hi Maangchi ! I just started the one month fermenting process on the 31/12/2011 ! Last day of 2011 hehe. I just wondering, after some time there will be lots of water oozing out. Should i drain it away or just leave it with the squid? :D kamsahamnida !!!
“..fermenting process on the 31/12/2011 ! Last day of 2011 ” awesome!! : )
Yes, drain the salty water. “1 month later, wash, rinse, and strain the fermented squid.”
Thanks Maangchi ! Oh also if i don’t like too salty can I add more corn syrup? ! :D
Hi maangchi, I had just completed the 1 month project,I’m so happy! thank you so much for the recipe,been craving for this ojingeojeot for quite sometime, before I used to stay under one roof with a Korean,her mom’s home made ojingeojeot was so delicious,been wondering how to make it, now that I have successfully make my own jar of it, so excited yet nervous to try out :p…I will post the pic soon…and FYI, I have fermented it for more than 1.5 month,I hope it still taste great as yours :) cheers ^^
Wonderful! You were waiting for 11/2 months patiently to ferment it. It will be delicious. I can’t wait to see the photo. Take a good photo and upload it on my website. https://www.maangchi.com/photos/upload
Is there anything else that could be substituted for the corn/rice syrup?
Trying to eliminate as much sugar as possible and would appreciate any suggestion :)
you could try honey i know its still bsicly sugar but its healthier !~ though it has antibacterial properties im not sure if its done fermenting byt he time u ad that or not
Hi Maangchi. During the fermentation process, is it okay to leave the the squid outside the refrigerator? The temperature at home is about 30 degrees Celsius, but in my friend’s place, it’s about 23 degrees celsius.
no, you still have to keep it in the fridge.
HI Maangchi,, Surprisingly after leaving the squid mixed with the paste for a couple days, the smell of rotten cheese is completely gone. My hubby and I love this very much. It’s spicy too coz I added some small fiery chillis instead of the green and red chilli. Even my 5 yr old son loves it! Thank you so much for this recipe. Will try out the others soon ;)
It sounds like your ojingeojeot is well fermented! yummy!
omg! I cant take my eyes off from this . loos so yum!
never thought to buy frozen one and try ! Thank you so much Maangchi!
Let me know how yours turns out. Good luck!