Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Fish and seafood from South Korea

Hwangseogeojeot황석어젓

Hwangseogeojeot is croaker, scaled and gutted, then salted and ripened for months. The fish are cleaned, their gills and mouths packed with salt, layered with about 20 % salt in a jar, covered with boiled and cooled 10 % brine and weighted down. It is eaten chopped and seasoned or steamed, and minced into kimchi seasoning.

Fully documentedFish and seafood3 months – 2 yearsFamily: Jeotgal (Korean salted fermented seafood)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe household method in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture. It gives proportions only, not a batch size.
Fresh hwangseogeo, scaled and guttedCaught on the south-west coast in May and June[ency-hwangseogeo]
SaltAbout 20 % of the fish weightPacked into the gills and mouth, then layered with the fish[ency-hwangseogeo]
10 % salt brine, boiled and cooledPoured over the packed fish[ency-hwangseogeo]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 2 years

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Fresh croaker are scaled, gutted and washed in salt water

Step 1 of 5
Scale, gut and wash the fish
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Fish caught in May and June are used. The encyclopedia's jeotgal calendar lists hwangseogeojeot among the jeot made in the fourth month. Output: cleaned whole fish.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

none

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

Hwangseogeojeot is croaker, scaled and gutted, then salted and ripened for months. The fish are cleaned, their gills and mouths packed with salt, layered with about 20 % salt in a jar, covered with boiled and cooled 10 % brine and weighted down. It is eaten chopped and seasoned or steamed, and minced into kimchi seasoning. Made in 5 steps over 3 months – 2 years. The longest step, ripen in a cool, dark place, takes 3 months – 2 years (Han B.J. 2010 (revised 2023)) and runs at 10 °C (Lim J.Y 2024). Salt is 20–25 % (Han B.J. 2010 (revised 2023)). Chromohalobacter canadensis does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 months – 2 yearsReported[ency-hwangseogeo][lim2024]Ripen in a cool, dark place
Temperature10 °CReported[lim2024]Ripen in a cool, dark place
Salt20–25 %Reported[ency-hwangseogeo][lim2024]Pack with salt and layer in a jar
AciditypH 5.8Measured[lim2024]Ripen in a cool, dark place

What makes this one different

Hwangseogeojeot keeps the gutted fish whole and adds a cover of boiled, cooled brine over the dry salt. In a 24-month study it was the least acidic of three jeotgal and was dominated by Chromohalobacter, while anchovy jeot was dominated by Tetragenococcus.

Related ferments

Safety

Keep the fish under brine and weighted in a cool, dark place. Korea's Food Code forbids adding water to jeotgal to bulk it up, allows sorbic acid only in jeotgal with 8 % salt or less, and sets an E. coli limit (n=5, c=1, m=0, M=10).

History and sources

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

The encyclopedia's recipe cites Joseon Musang Sinsik Yori Jebeop (Yi Yong-gi, 1924). Its jeotgal overview lists hwangseogeojeot among the jeot of Jeolla-do.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [ency-hwangseogeo] Han B.J. 2010 (revised 2023), Hwangseogeojeot (황석어젓), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Academy of Korean Studiesbook
  2. [ency-jeotgal] Suh H.K. 1995 (revised 2022), Jeotgal (젓갈), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Academy of Korean Studiesbook
  3. [lim2024] Lim J.Y., Choi Y.J., Choi J.Y. et al. 2024, Microbial dynamics and metabolite profiles in different types of salted seafood (jeotgal) during fermentation, ACS Omega 9(33):35798–35808, doi:10.1021/acsomega.4c04410paper
  4. [mfds-code] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean Food Code (식품공전), 5. Standards by food, 20. processed fishery products, 20-2 jeotgal (젓갈류)spec