16.186 Milbok Suyuk (Globe Puffer Stew)

Cycle 16 – Item 186

Post 5,665

10 (Thu) July 2024

Milbok Suyuk (Globe Puffer Stew)

3.5

at Geumsu Bokguk

-Sinsa, Gangnam, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and IZ

Les Crâniés Aquatique Culinaire à la Corée (FISH IN KOREA)

This restaurant was introduced in Cycle 1 (see generally 1.185 Bok Jiritang), then featured again in Cycle 6 (see generally 6.018 Bok Jeongsik), mentioned briefly once thereafter (see generally 6.346 Trinity/Trilogy), then nothing.

Happened to be in the neighborhood at dinnertime, so we dropped by for a bite.

If accurate – no reason to believe otherwise, except that Korean-English translations of certain food items, especially types of fish, tend to be iffy – this would be an extremely useful guide.

According to the menu, the restaurant offers 4 variations of bokeo (puffer/blowfish), in descending order of quality/price:

    1. Chambok (참복) (ocellate puffer): best of the best, firm flesh
    2. Ggachibok (까치복) (yellowfin puffer): most tender flesh
    3. Milbok (밀복) (globe puffer): chewy flesh, makes excellent broth
    4. Eunbok (은복) (browned back puffer): texture similar to chicken breast

The menu seems to have diversified significantly, offering a wider range of dishes, as well as different types of fish.  Also eliminated the multi-course sets (good riddance).  If we’d been hungrier, and DJ had been with us, I would’ve been happy to try more items.

Banchan (3.0): W had 3 plates of the myeolchi bokkeum; my favorite was the dubu (as it was 9 years ago).
Geumsu Moju (1.0): unfiltered rice wine, nice nutty flavor but way too sweet for my palate.
Fried Yellowfin Puffer (3.0): the tenderness of the yellowfin worked very nicely for deep-frying.

The milbok suyuk was excellent.  More hotpot than stew (as described in on the menu English), the dish offered large chunks of fish, gently simmered in water (“su + yuk = water + meat”), along with bean sprouts and garlic chives.  The flesh was pleasantly chewy, clean flavor.  At the end, the remaining broth was absolutely delicious in its delicate subtlety – would’ve been great with rice, if we’d had room.  Looking back over prior posts, I was surprised by the lackluster reviews – perhaps that’s why we’d stopped going back then.

Light and healthy.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See HANSIK)

(See BOOZE)

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