The spot where the stem of Seolak mountain encounters the sea is Yeonggeumjeong.
The sun rises in the background of Yeonggeumjeong where I visited to report dorumuk.
ⓒ Hong Wonmun

Whenever I listen to Sokcho, the biggest tourism city on the eastern coast, I feel a thrill. Without Covid-19, winter delicacy dorumuk(sailfin sandfish) and yangmiri(sand eel) festival would have been held in Sokcho port around this time. When the cold wind blows, the fish market in Sokcho port is full of dorumuk. The dorumuk full of eggs which is grilled on the spot is the best taste which is unrivalled with anything else in the world.

Beautiful port embracing Seolak, Sokcho port

Seolak mountain is Korea's most beautiful mountain with the magnificent scenery all year round, it is the best among great mountains. The autumn colors and the news for first snow which informs winter start from Seolak mountain. It is the third highest mountain(elevation of 1,708m) followed by Halla mountain and Jiri mountain. The city embracing Seolak mountain is Sokcho, Gangwon-do. It is full of magnificent sceneries such as mountains, sea and Youngrangho. In the city of sea, Sokcho, beautiful ports such as Sokcho port, Dongmyung port and Daepo port are located with many famous sea food restaurants.

Dongmyung port has Younggeumjeong, which is the famous attraction for sun rise, and Dongmyung fresh fish center which handles only natural fresh raw fish only are crowded with tourists all year round. Famous restaurants are lined up in Daepo port which is famous for the tourism fishery market and represents Sokcho port. Sokcho port is the main port of Sokcho, it is full of smell of grilling dorumuk and yangmiri in winter. The movable bars lined up in the quayside are full of dorumuk, and the sound of yellowish briquette-grilled dorumuk is overflowing.

You mean 'Maljjang dorumuk'?
Try it once.

A woman who detaches the dorumuk caught in the net is smiling broadly ⓒHong Wonmun

In the early morning, I visited the quayside of Sokcho port where a dorumuk ship entered. When the fishery ship full of net with silver shining dorumuk make the sound of foghorn informing full load of fish, the women around the camp fire gathered to the ship. That's because of the work to detach dorumuk, silver jewelry which are caught in the net.

The weather was chilly in the morning when the breath was white, but the forehead of fishermen unloading dorumuk was covered with drops of sweat. Heavy nets are quickly piled up at the pier, and women who unloaded the net detached silver jewelry dorumuk out of the net without a break. It is to work as fast as possible to maintain freshness. They classify with the skillful hand movements so that the dorumuk does not go bad, and put them in a basket.

During the net classification work, the dorumuk with burst eggs are put on the fire. It is full of the tasty smell of roasting. The moment of taking a bite of the well-grilled dorumuk, it has the perfect taste. If autumn gizzard brings back the daughter-in-law who left home, winter dorumuk brings the gourmets to Sokcho. The dorumuk conquering the taste of East Sea Coast in winter became the devoted son that supports a frozen economy around East Coast region including Sokcho. When pollack was a good harvest, the dorumuk used to be a nuisance that had been neglected.

The dorumuk which had been neglected by King Seonjo became the lotto.

When I think of dorumuk, the word that reminds first is 'Maljjang dorumuk'. 'Maljjang dorumuk' is used to mean 'the effort became useless.' This can be found from the origin of dorumuk. The oldest record about dorumuk in the wiki encyclopedia is 'Dolmok' recorded in Cheongju Suncheon Kim's Tomb, it was marked 'Doromok' afterward, there is a folk etymology which recorded it as 'sweet fish' in the early of Joseon Dynasty. It is also recorded in Hoegyun's <Domundaejak>, Lee Sik's poem 'Whanmokeo', Lee Uibong's <Gogeumseokrim> and <Nanhoeomokji>.

The most common tale dramatized by descendents is the story about King Seonjo in Joseon Dynasty, he ate the fish(mukeo) during the refugee, and named it 'sweet fish' because of its excellent taste. After coming back to the palace, he remembered the taste and ate it again but the taste was different, so he ordered to name it 'doro muk(again muk)', afterward the name of the fish became 'dorumuk'. It is a just a tale.

Since then, the dorumuk which had been neglected by fishermen, became the fish species representing the winter season on the east cost along with the yangmiri when the major fish species pollack disappeared. Han Jaejung(67 years old) a captain of Dowonho who has been involved in the dorumuk fishing after anchoring the ship in Cheonghodong pier, said "it has been over 40 years since I became the crew and fished, in the past, people neither bought nor caught the dorumuk. When I was young, I ate a lot of dorumuk. The dorumuk was salted for preservation and was made into the stew and braised, and it has been about 10 years since I started to catch dorumuk, before that, I used to catch squid, in case of big harvest, the net was laid and hauled twice for all day long" and in this year, the harvest in November, a peak season was poor, when dorumuk enters below 100m depth in mid-December, the dorumuk harvest is over.

Han Jaejung a captain of Dowonho working on laying and hauling the net of dorumuk fishing after anchoring the ship in Cheonghodong pier has been on a fishing boat for 40 years. ⓒ Han Heeseok

In the pier of East Sea port in Gangwon-do during winter season, the silver shining dorumuk is everywhere, it became the national fish in charge the table in winter. 'Maljjang dorumuk' now became the wrong words. Therefore, now it is time to get rid of that stigma. The taste has been proven to the extent the king named it "sweet fish" because of its excellent taste, it also captured the taste of modern people, so it is no longer a tasteless fish. If the fall gizzard is highly evaluated, the dorumuk also deserves it in winter. Everybody knows that seasonal foods are good for health. According to Cooking Encyclopedia Cook Cook TV, it is effective for diet because of its low calorie content. Dorumuk is a food that must be served in the table in winter because it is effective in preventing brain development of growing children and adult diseases because it adequately contains unsaturated fats rich in EPA and DHA.

Perfect taste when it is cold
Dorumuk is now in season

The dorumuk fishing this year is now in season which starts from the early of November to the early of December. Dorumuk, which used to live in the deep sea, gradually come out to the coast for spawning, and dorumuk operations begin at 300m depth. The fishing is carried out until the early of December when the dorumuk filled with eggs come out at 100m depth. Dorumuk is the most delicious time now. In order to catch dorumuk that flock on the coast, about 20 fishing boats from Cheongho Port all go out to sea, lay nets, and haul nets from the early morning of the next day.

From the early morning when the sun shines on the East Sea, when a fishing boat filled with nets enters the port, the work detaching shining silver dorumuk from the net is carried out. They are busy in detaching dorumuk while breathing on their frozen hands. Fast work is to supply fresher dorumuk to consumers, so skilled fishermen remove the fish without any scratches and put in baskets.

On days when many dorumuk are caught, the hard work of laying and hauling nets all day long and picking dorumuk from the wharf continues all day. The detaching work under the shade are parallel with the screening process. Males and females are distinguished and only the products without scratch are hauled for the sales in auction operated by Sokcho Fisheries Cooperatives every day. The auction price, which began in early November at the port of Cheongho in Sokcho, was 20,000 won to 27,000 won per 20 females, but it falls below 10,000 won in December when the catch increased. Dorumuk sold to brokers at auction are sold and delivered nationwide on the same day, and fresh dorumuk can be bought at a good price at auction sites, but delivery orders are also available in the village fishing community.

Dorumuk which is free from worries if you eat to the full.

Dorumuk which is the most tasty in winter, is now in season when the female is full of eggs. It is also the most delicious time for dorumuk, when it is so full of eggs to the extent 'eggs are half and fleshes are half. Sleek mucus in dorumuk flows, and you can enjoy the taste of smooth mucus and the crunchy egg taste in any manners of boiling or roasting. The soft flesh of dorumuk is maintained in any manners of boiling or roasting, and it feels smooth when swallowing it as if it melted in the mouth. However, after mid-December, when the spawning period over, the eggs are tough to eat.

More and more people are on a diet and enjoying Cheating Day, which means eating what they want to eat. One of the foods that help you lose weight even if you eat as much as you want is dorumuk with low calorie. Moist dorumuk has soft flesh and rich in protein, unsaturated fatty acids and minerals, is good for pregnant, lactating women and growing children, and beneficial to bone and tooth health and help in supplementing amino acids due to lots of phosphorus.

Fall in love with the taste of dorumuksikhae

We met Kim Hasik representative(62 years old) of Sokcho Bokjip who has made special Hamgyeongdo-style dorumuksikhae(salted and fermented sailfin sandfish) and serves them as side dishes. Kim, who was born in Sokcho and have lived in Sokcho life long, said he has eaten the food from the childhood because his mother, who was born in Hamgyeong-do, made sikhae, It is said that he opened a restaurant specializing in blowfish more than 20 years ago and served dorumuksikhae as side dish which has been established itself as side dish loved by many guests, in every winter when the dorumuk is produced, he made the dorumuksikhae to serve it as side dish for customers. It is addictive with a special taste as much as myeongtaesikhae(salted and fermented pollack). Dorumuksikhae, a special dish that can only be tasted in Sokcho, is made by washing the salted male dorumuk in running water, removing the saltiness, putting it in a pot, marinating it with ginger, garlic, and red pepper powder, and then fermenting it for about 3 days. Dorumukjjigae(spicy sailfin sandfish stew) which is made of leftover after making the dorumuksikhae is a rice thief. Softly chewed flesh, crunchy eggs, and spicy but fresh soup stimulate your appetite.

“Dorumuk shows the perfect taste when it is grilled.” If you go to Sokcho port, you can taste it. There is a movable bar village lined with Sokcho port pier. In Sokcho port, fishing boat owners run their own movable bar, here which named after the fishing boat is unique, you can taste fresh raw fish caught in Sokcho, winter delicacies grilled and stewed dorumuk, yangmiri.

Kim Ha Sik representative (62 years old)of Sokcho Bokjip said he has eaten the food since childhood because his mother, who was born in Hamgyeong-do, made sikhye. he opened a restaurant specializing in blowfish 20 years ago and served sandfish sikhye as side dish. ⓒ Hong Won Moon

Edited by Hong Wonmun Photo by Han heeseok, Hong Wonmun Published by Korean Food Promotion Institute

Hong Wonmun
Former reporter of travel sketch, former reporter of Presian Gangwon headquarter, operating Agong's photo travel blog