2.246

8 (Thu) September 2011

Deep-Fried Blowfish

2.0

at Dokdo

-Suwon, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with KHJ, PHY

Dokdo (독도) is a Korean restaurant.  Specializes in bok (blowfish), many dishes Japanese-ish in style (e.g., sashimi).

Which is somewhat ironic, in light of the name.

The freshness of fish is important, of course, but especially so in fish like blowfish because of its taste and texture.  Ideally, blowfish shouldn’t taste like anything at all, the purer the better.  If it’s not eaten immediately, the off-flavors soon become apparent. This forces restaurants to freeze leftover fish to preserve purity.  The texture of its white flesh, which is both pleasantly fluffy and slightly chewy at the same time, is also delicate and breaks down once the fish is frozen, leaving it flaky or crumbly.  Thus, unless the fish is just-out-of-the-water fresh, it’ll lack either the proper taste or texture.

The sashimi, which allowed the freshness to come through without distraction, was the best part of the meal.  The fish was about as fresh as I’ve ever had.  High customer turnover probably had a lot to do with it.  Having a tank of live blowfish on site also helped.

However, their finished dishes weren’t all that spectacular.  The deep-fried blowfish – which is the featured item of this post simply because it’s unlikely to be repeated again this cycle – was edible, but the batter was too thick and lacked crisp and overwhelmed the fish within.  25,000 won.  The stir-fry was okay but had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall, the restaurant is worth a repeat visit.

(See also FOODS.)

(See also PLACES.)