Hot Spicy Fish Soup

MAE-UN-TANG

매운탕

Maeuntang is a hot spicy fish soup boiled with gochujang (red chili pepper paste), gochugaru(red chili pepper flakes) and various vegetables. As its main ingredient, fresh or sea-water fish is cut into several pieces and boiled with ground beef and green vegetables such as watercress and garland chrysanthemum.  In addition, onion, radish, chilies, crown daisy, garlic and sometimes, pumpkin and bean curds are added to the mixture to absorb the gochujang which is the base flavor of this dish. It is then seasoned with gochugaru, garlic, soy sauce and potentially more gochujang to meet everyone's taste buds.

Restaurants that offer this dish often allow you to select your fish from an aquarium. Many specialty seafood restaurants have several aquariums from which you may select. Popular fish for this dish may include red snapper, sea bass, yellow corvina, codfish, croaker, pollack, and even fresh water fish like carp and trout. In addition, other shell fish such as crabs, clams and oysters can be added to this soup to complement and enhance its spiciness but refreshing flavors. This soup is one of Korean's most popular dishes while drinking soju. If you order sushi or sashimi, the soup is made from the left-over parts of the fish.