Soybean paste based dipping sauce for raw fish

Hi everybody! Today I have a short and simple – but fun – video recipe for doenjangbanga. When I was in the island of Roatan in Honduras, I chartered a boat and a few men for snorkeling and fishing. We started at about 11:00 am and came back about 4:00 pm. It was an awesome experience for me and I was happy to film this video so that I can share it with my readers.

As you can see in the video, I didn’t have a proper knife to fillet the fish, or a spoon to mix the dipping sauce! No kitchen tools! I used the flat bench on the boat as my cutting board. To be honest I didn’t expect that they would catch any fish. After negotiating the charter I quickly put some Korean ingredients and a plastic bowl into a plastic bag, and rushed on board the boat.

I was thrilled when I saw they caught snapper, lobsters, and a huge conch! I was so excited that I told them I would give them a $40 tip! Ow ow ow, then what happened? The captain Ronin immediately went to work to break open the conch so we could eat it!

When I was young, my father used to charter a fishing boat when he visited his hometown island of Namhae. He always asked me to follow him on his excursion and told me he would make delicious hoe (raw fish) on the boat. Even though I loved the idea of following him, I always refused because I have a problem with seasickness. I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy a trip in a bumpy small boat. My father came home with lots of fish he caught and he would fillet them for us.

He didn’t forget to say, “Oh, you missed the delicious hoe on the boat. The taste of raw fish eaten on the boat right after being caught can’t be compared to anything!”

I took a pill for motion sickness before going on this trip. No problem! OMG it was so fun! My late father would be proud of me if he saw me what I did!

“Father, I made it, but too late! You would have been very happy if I had followed you when you went fishing. How come you didn’t think to give me a motion sickness pill btw?” lol

This dipping sauce’s main ingredient is soy bean paste. Dipping sauce recipes for raw fish depend on what kind of fish you have. This sauce goes well with snapper, flounder, or permit.

Jovani caught conch!

… and snapper

… and lobster

Samuel caught lion fish

I had never known conch has eyes! eepy!

Ingredients:
Soybean paste, hot pepper paste, vinegar, garlic, green onions, sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds, honey (or sugar)

Directions:
Mix these ingredients on a bowl with a spoon:

• 1/4 cup soybean paste,
• 1tbs hot pepper paste,
• 1 ts of honey (or sugar),
• 1-2 ts vinegar,
• 2 cloves of minced garlic,
• 2 stalks of chopped green onions,
• 1 tbs of sesame oil,

*tip: If you want some vegetables to wrap the fish in, prepare lettuce, perilla leaves, and green chili pepper. Put a piece of raw fish into the lettuce or perilla leaf, add some dipping sauce and a green chili pepper, wrap it and eat.

doenjangbangah (dipping sauce) and snapper

doenjangbangah, snapper, and conch