Agujjim

Monkfish steamed on a bed of beansprouts and never stirred into the sauce, which is thickened around it at the end.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish, fish sauce.

Ingredients

For the pan

• 1 kg monkfish tail, in large pieces
• 500 g soybean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons rice wine
• 1 piece ginger, 3 cm, sliced
• 200 ml anchovy and kelp stock, as on its own page
• 4 spring onions, in 5 cm lengths
• a handful of crown daisy or watercress

For the sauce

• 4 tablespoons gochugaru
• 2 tablespoons gochujang
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground perilla seeds
• 2 tablespoons potato starch mixed with 4 tablespoons water

Method

1. THE FISH IS STEAMED ON TOP AND NEVER STIRRED INTO THE SAUCE. Beansprouts cover the base, the monkfish sits on them, the sauce goes over, and from that moment nothing is turned or stirred -- the pan is shaken at most. Monkfish is firm but it flakes along its grain the moment it is moved hot, and a stirred agujjim is a pan of red sauce with shreds of fish through it rather than whole pieces you lift out.
2. THE BEANSPROUTS ARE NOT JUST A BED. They give up their water into the pan and that is the cooking liquid: there is only a splash of stock in this, because half a kilo of sprouts provides the rest. Which is also why the sauce has to be thickened at the end rather than made thick at the start.
3. THE SAUCE IS THICKENED LAST, with a starch slurry poured round the edge and the pan shaken rather than stirred. Added early it catches on the base before the fish is cooked.
4. MONKFISH IS RINSED AND PATTED DRY AND THE MEMBRANE PULLED OFF. It carries a grey membrane that tightens and goes tough; it peels away in sheets from the thick end.
5. AND THE RICE WINE AND GINGER GO ON THE FISH FIRST, ten minutes before cooking. Monkfish has a faint ammonia smell when it is not perfectly fresh and this is what deals with it. If it smells strongly of ammonia raw, do not cook it.
6. Monkfish rinsed, the grey membrane pulled off, patted dry, and tossed with the rice wine and sliced ginger. Left 10 minutes.
7. Beansprouts rinsed and the loose husks skimmed off.
8. The sauce ingredients except the starch slurry stirred together.
9. The beansprouts spread over the base of a wide heavy pan.
10. The monkfish laid on top of them in a single layer.
11. The sauce spooned over the fish and the stock poured round the edge.
12. Covered and cooked over a medium-high heat 12 MINUTES WITHOUT STIRRING. The pan may be shaken.
13. The lid off, the spring onions added, and the starch slurry poured round the edge.
14. Cooked 2 MINUTES more, the pan shaken, until the sauce is thick and glossy and clinging.
15. The crown daisy laid on top and the pan covered off the heat 1 minute. Served from the pan with steamed rice as on its own page.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes