The winter on the Korean Peninsula is harsh. The warm weather often continues in winter recently due to climate change and it is has been heard that winter is getting shorter. But still, the winter on the Korean peninsula is cold and dry, and shrinking all growing lives.

Winter has also had a significant impact on our food life. Now, the development of various technologies have brought the abundant food, so people have no special concern, but in the past, it was necessary to prepare many things for this harsh winter. One of them is to "dry" fish from the sea.

Dried fish, Geoneo

Fish dried in various ways to prevent fish from decaying are called Geoneo(dried fish). Geoneo originates from various drying methods designed to store sea foods for a long times when refrigeration or freezing techniques were not developed.

According to the old literature, <Namhaeakbo> "Kelp is produced by Silla, which has yellowish color and has fine leaves. There is a record people there harvest kelp, tie it with straw rope, dry it in the shade, put it on a boat, and come to China." Also, if you look at <Sejongsilrokjiriji>, you can find the names of dried marine products such as mullet, carp, octopus, shell, abalone, cod.

It has been quite a long time since fish was dried as food. During the Joseon Dynasty, the Geoneo, which was in good condition, is said to have been presented to the king or given to his subjects on a special occasion. It was recognized as an essential sacrifice during the ritual and was one of the most important trade items in foreign trade with China. It was also selected as an important item for the Chinese emperor. According to the <Seongjongsilrok>, Chinese people liked geoneo, especially octopus, salmon, cod, abalone, sea cucumbers, and mussels, so they constantly demanded tribute for these items.

How to dry fish

There are many ways to dry fish. First, there is Sogeon method 素乾法 which trims and dries fish as it is. Big fish must go through the long dry process, which may have the risk of decaying, so small and thin sea foods are appropriate for Sogeon method. This method is mainly used when drying octopus or squid.

Donggeon method 凍乾法 is a process that repeats freezing and thawing, that is, drying under cold wind. The representative donggeon method product is dried pollack, it is evaluated to be excellent in quality because it has less deterioration in flesh rather than drying with solar heat only.

There is also a yeomgeon method that dries by salting moderately. The representative examples of drying after salting include cod, mackerel, hairtail, corvina, sea bream. There is a way of drying after blanching once. This method of steaming and drying is called Jageon method 煮乾法, it has a strength of low cholesterol because it kills bacteria and remove remaining fat by blanching in a boiled water. This includes anchovy, sea cucumber, abalone, shrimp, and shellfish.

Geoneo in which the nutrition as well as the taste is added

The principle of dried fish is make the condition in which microorganism can't live any longer by evaporating water, which is the main reason of food decaying. The dried fish made in this way has the strength in taste and nutrition as well as long storage.

The smelly substances disappear during the process to dry fresh fish, and the self-enzymes of flesh decompose the protein into amino acid, making the taste better. In addition, the water is removed to make the flesh more firm and the deep flavor of fish revives. For example, the gwamegi(half-dried saury), which is the special delicacy in winter season, gets rich in nucleic acid, which is effective in preventing aging and stamina decrease. In addition, the corvina is rich in Vitamin A and D, which is effective in fatigue restoration and rich in calcium and iron, is good for growing children.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that geoneo have a higher nutrient content than before it is dried because the water decreases by 20~50% during the drying process, making the weight of ingredient itself decrease.

[Reference]
wikisilrok
National Knowledge Portal North Korea Regional Information Net

Editorial Dept.