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Fish and seafood from Korea

Bogeo sikhae복어식해

Bogeo-sikhae is sikhae made with globefish (puffer). In a 2008 study it soured to pH 4.42 and lactic acid bacteria reached about 10^8 per gram by day 10, as they did in flounder sikhae made in the same study. Puffer can carry a deadly nerve poison, so this is not a home ferment.

DocumentedFish and seafood20 daysFamily: Sikhae

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
globefish (puffer)

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: globefish (puffer) for sikhae

Step 1 of 4
Start with globefish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus
Leuconostoc

Puffer liver and ovaries hold a deadly toxin. Japan allows only approved handlers to remove the toxic parts. Do not clean puffer yourself.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Bogeo-sikhae is sikhae made with globefish (puffer). In a 2008 study it soured to pH 4.42 and lactic acid bacteria reached about 10^8 per gram by day 10, as they did in flounder sikhae made in the same study. Puffer can carry a deadly nerve poison, so this is not a home ferment. Made in 4 steps over 20 days. The longest step, ripen in the cold, takes 16 days (Kim Y.S 2008) and runs at 4 °C (Kim Y.S 2008). Lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step16 daysReported[kim2008]Ripen in the cold
Temperature4 °CReported[kim2008]Ripen in the cold
AciditypH 4.4Measured[kim2008]Ripen in the cold

What makes this one different

Puffer instead of flatfish. In the one study it soured to about the same pH as flatfish sikhae made alongside it, and tasters rated it second of the four seafood sikhae.

Lab schedule
Fermented 4 days at 10 °C, then stored at 4 °C and sampled to day 20
pH
pH 4.42 in the stored sikhae (flatfish sikhae made alongside: 4.56)
Lactic acid bacteria
Reached about 10^8 per gram by day 10; Leuconostoc also passed 10^8 by day 10

Related ferments

Safety

Not for home practice. Puffer can carry tetrodotoxin, a nerve poison that can kill by stopping breathing. It builds up most in the liver and ovaries, and how much a fish holds varies by species and body part. Japan's health ministry says rubbing with salt, soaking in water or heating does not remove it, and that untrained people must never prepare puffer. The Korean Food Code limits puffer toxin to 10 MU/g in flesh and in skin, and lists the puffer species that may be eaten as food. We could read only the abstract of the 2008 study. It reports microbial counts, pH, acidity and taste scores and mentions no toxin test, so nothing we read shows that this fermentation makes puffer safe.

Hazards the sources name: Tetrodotoxin, the puffer toxin and a nerve poison; the Korean Food Code limits it to 10 MU/g in flesh and in skin.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [kim2008] Kim Y.S., Oh S.H., Kim S.D. 2008, Effect of preparation method and fermentation conditions on microbiological characteristics of sikhae, Food Science and Preservation 15(6):909-914 (abstract)paper
  2. [nfm-sikhae] Yun D.I. (윤덕인), Sikhae (식해), National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전)book
  3. [mfds-common] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean Food Code (식품공전), 2. Common standards, 3. general standards, 16) fishery products (puffer toxin)spec
  4. [mhlw-safe-fugu] Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, 安全なフグを提供しましょう (Serving safe fugu)gov
  5. [mhlw-fugu-profile] Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, 自然毒のリスクプロファイル:魚類:フグ毒 (Natural toxin risk profile, fish, puffer toxin)gov