Tuna Hoedoep-bap | Korean Sashimi Salad over Rice
Image by Emily Miller.
This is one of my favorite summer dishes because it’s light, refreshing, and involves little actual cooking, just chopping! It’s also incredibly nutritious, being mostly fish and fresh veggies. Bite-sized pieces of raw fish (any species will do) top a variety of luscious raw vegetables, julienned and arranged over a bed of short-grain rice.
Hoedoep-bap is distinguished from other raw fish salads by the overlying sauce, a blend of the Korean pepper paste gochujang, which is thoroughly mixed into the bowl before the first bites are taken. The gochujang sauce is spicy, a little sweet, and bold in flavor, making it an excellent option for diverse cuts of fish with characteristics like sinew, or irregular shape, or oxidization.
In just the same way that you shouldn’t chop up filet mignon for carne asada, perfect fish loins or fillets don’t make much sense diced in a seasoning-heavy dish. Use the fish equivalent of skirt steak - an economical cut with unique characteristics! Excellent options for hoedoep-bap are belly cuts, spoon meat, tail cuts, abductor muscles, cheeks, or any other trim meat you can get your hands on!
Ingredients (Serves 2)
½ lb sushi-grade Bigeye Tuna (or fish of your preference)
Short-grain or sushi rice (white or brown according to preference)
2 small Cucumbers (Persian/cocktail), julienned finely
½ Asian Pear, julienned finely
1 cup daikon radish, julienned finely
1 carrot, julienned
Red Leaf Lettuce or Romaine Lettuce, 3-4 leaves, chopped finely
Toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)
Green onions (for garnish)
Optional Additions:
Bean sprouts
Microgreens
Perilla leaves, chopped finely
For Sauce:
3 tablespoons gochujang
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
2 sheaves green onion, minced
How to Prepare
Prepare the fish by dicing into bite-size pieces. Return to the fridge to keep firm and chilled until serving.
Belly: Mince into bite-size pieces. Bones are easily removed here, just keep an eye out for them! Remove any chewy pieces of membrane, according to preference.
Spoon Meat: Drag a spoon along the ribs and backbone of a fish carcass to lift bits of meat off the bones. A good volume can be raised from enthusiastic scraping of a large fish!
Tail meat or Cheeks: Remove skin, dice into bite-size pieces.
Mix together the ingredients for the sauce until blended.
Place 1-2 scoops of freshly-cooked rice in a deep bowl. Deep bowls are best to accommodate the sliced vegetables and allow for vigorous mixing of your hoedeopbap.
Arrange equal portions of the vegetables around the rice. Top with a few scoops of chilled fish.
Place a spoonful or two of the sauce over the fish. Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
Before eating, stir contents of the bowl together to blend the sauce evenly throughout the dish! Enjoy with chopsticks or a spoon.
