''Jeotgal'' () or ''jeot'' (), translated as salted seafood, is a category of salted preserved dishes made with seafood such as

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not a ...

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two sh ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

, and roe. Depending on the ingredients, ''jeotgal'' can range from flabby, solid pieces to clear, broth-like liquid. Solid ''jeotgal'' are usually eaten as ''

banchan ''Banchan'' (, from Korean: ) or bansang are small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. As the Korean language does not distinguish between singular and plural grammatically, the word is used for both one such dish ...

'' (side dishes). Liquid ''jeotgal'', called ''aekjeot'' () or fish sauce, is popularly used in

kimchi ''Kimchi'' (; ko, 김치, gimchi, ), is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

seasoning, as well as in various soups and stews ('' guk'', '' jijimi'', '' jjigae''). As a

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

, jeotgal with smaller bits of solid ingredients such as '' saeu-jeot'' (shrimp ''jeotgal'') is commonly served as a dipping sauce with pork dishes ('' bossam'', '' jokbal'', '' samgyeopsal''), ''

sundae A sundae () is an ice cream dessert of American origin that typically consists of one or more scoops of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup and in some cases other toppings such as: sprinkles, whipped cream, marshmallows, peanuts, mara ...

'' (Korean sausage), ''

hoe Hoe or HOE may refer to: * Hoe (food), a Korean dish of raw fish * Hoe (letter), a Georgian letter * Hoe (tool), a hand tool used in gardening and farming ** Hoe-farming, a term for primitive forms of agriculture * Backhoe, a piece of excavati ...

'' (raw fish), and a number of soups and stews.

History

Fermented foods were widely available in

Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...

, as '' Sānguózhì'', a

Jin Chinese Jin (; ) is a proposed group of varieties of Chinese spoken by roughly 63 million people in northern China, including most of Shanxi province, much of central Inner Mongolia, and adjoining areas in Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces. The stat ...

historical text published in 289, mentions that the Goguryeo Koreans are skilled in making fermented foods such as wine, soybean paste and salted and fermented fish in the section titled ''

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula, and Ja ...

'' in the ''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...

''. The first Korean record of ''jeotgal'' appeared in ''

Samguk Sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Kore ...

'', with a reference that King Sinmun offered rice, wine, jerky, and ''jeotgal'' as wedding presents in 683. In 1124, a Song Chinese envoy wrote that ''jeotgal'' was enjoyed by high and low alike in

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unifica ...

. Twenty-four types of ''jeotgal'' appear in '' Miam ilgi'', a 16th-century diary written by a Joseon literatus, and over 180 types of ''jeotgal'' can be found in the coeval books '' Gosa chwaryo'' and '' Swaemirok'', and in 17‒18th century books '' Eumsik dimibang'', '' Sallim gyeongje'', and ''

Jeungbo sallim gyeongje ''Jeungbo sallim gyeongje'' is a Korean book on agriculture compiled by Yu Jung-rim (柳重臨) as revised and enlarged from the '' Sallim gyeongje'' written by Hong Man-seon (洪萬選 1643∼1715). Yu Jung-rim was a physician during the reig ...

''.

Types

The types of ''jeotgal'' vary depending on main ingredients, regions, and family and personal preferences. In past times, due to the limited availability of transportation, regions near seas had more types of ''jeot'' compared to the inland areas.

Fish (fish innards and roe)

Shellfish and other marine animals

Gallery

Changnan-jeot (salted pollock innards).jpg, ''changnan-jeot'' (salted pollock innards) Ganjanggejang (marinated crab).jpg, '' ganjang-gejang'' (marinated crab) Guljeot (oyster jeotgal).jpg, '' guljeot'' (salted oyster) Myeongnanjeot (pollock roe).jpg, '' myeongnan-jeot'' (salted pollock roe) Ojingeojeot (squid jeotgal).jpg, '' ojingeo-jeot'' (salted

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting ...

) Saeujeot (fermented shrimp) jeotgal (Caridea) 3.jpg, '' saeu-jeot'' (salted shrimp) Myeolchijeot (fermented anchovies).jpg, '' myeolchi-jeot'' (salted anchovy) Korean sea food-Hwangsaegi jeot-01.jpg, '' jogi-jeot'' (salted yellow croaker)

References