Agwi-jjim

Taste and texture

Agu-jjim, also spelled agwi-jjim, cooks pieces of monkfish with bean sprouts and minari in spicy seasoning. Chili powder and minced garlic coat fish and vegetables together. It is a plate of substantial ingredients rather than a soup with abundant broth, and seasoned sprouts make up a significant part alongside the fish.

There are fresh- and dried-monkfish versions. A firsthand report from Masan describes soaking dried monkfish before braising it with mideodeok sea squirts, sprouts, minari and seasoning. It describes blanching fresh fish before cooking it again with sauce. The preparation differs from the outset, with dried fish retaining a firmer, chewy bite.

One home method first blanches fresh monkfish in water boiled with radish and kelp. The fish, mideodeok and blanched clam meat then cook in stock with sauce and vegetables. A prepared, pre-blanched product starts after the preliminary fish preparation. Radish used in blanching liquid is distinct from radish retained as a component of another braise.

Thick-stemmed soybean sprouts are a main vegetable. Some recipes remove their heads, and minari is cut to convenient lengths. One method places sprouts and scallions over the fish before adding seasoning and kelp stock. The stems remain among the fish after cooking, with thickened sauce coating them.

One sauce combines chili powder and garlic with soup soy sauce, fish sauce and cooking wine, loosened with kelp stock. Another uses gochujang, onion juice, oyster sauce, chili oil and sugar. Hot chili powder or Cheongyang chili may add more heat. The red seasoning therefore carries saltiness from soy or fermented seafood as well as heat and sweetness.

Another home version includes sliced radish and small sea squirts called omandungi, seasoned with salted shrimp. These cook with blanched fish, minced scallion, garlic and chili powder, followed by sprouts and starch slurry. Some combinations use mideodeok and clam meat, while others use omandungi, adding different small seafood components alongside the monkfish.

One method adds minari and chili near the end, after fish and sprouts cook in sauce, then adjusts the sauce with starch mixed in water. Sesame oil, sesame and pepper finish the dish. Adding aromatic vegetables and oil after the earlier cooking stages brings minari and sesame aromas among the chili seasoning.

Starch slurry thickens the sauce so that liquid stock becomes a coating on the fish and vegetables. Some recipes add a little oligosaccharide syrup at the end as well as sugar. Optional perilla-seed powder or sliced perilla leaves bring nuttiness or leafy aroma; they are variations rather than required ingredients.

The fish is mild and springy, with the spicy surface sauce leading the flavor. Bone-in, skin-on servings offer white flesh and soft, elastic skin. Bones need to be separated from attached meat. Boneless menus can be checked for which parts they use; the dish is not limited to uniform cubes of flesh.

Sprouts provide a contrasting crunch. Minari stems and leaves have their own aroma and become spicy with the sauce. Dried-monkfish versions combine crunchy sprouts with firmer, chewy fish. Sauce also coats vegetables and smaller seafood, bringing several textures to one plate.

Fish and sprouts can accompany rice. The Masan report describes wrapping the dish in lettuce or mixing seasoned sprouts into plain rice. The sauced vegetables function as a side dish, with mild fish, rice and spicy vegetables eaten together.

How to order it in Korea

1. Ask whether the dish uses fresh or dried monkfish to help choose the texture you prefer.
2. Menus use both “agujjim” and “agwijjim,” so look for either spelling.
3. It arrives as one plate meant for sharing, so ask which size fits your group.