Korean Eating: The Summer Staple Called Jangeo

Jangeo (장어), or eel, is one of the top three dishes to eat in Korea on the hottest of days in the summer, but it’s just as good any other day of the year as well. While you should definitely eat jangeo this summer in Korea, whenever you go, make sure you try this healthy and delicious Korean meal. I never tried eel until I lived in South Korea, but I can thankfully say it is now one of my favorite meals. If you’ve never eaten jangeo, now is the time to try it.

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Eel vocabulary to know in Korea

Pungcheon Jangeo: Pung means wind and cheon means river in Korean so puncheon indicates the windy area around the mouth of the Incheongang River where the freshwater meets the sea and this is where pungcheon jangeo is usually caught.

Baem Jangeo: These eel live in freshwater for 5 to 12 years and travel to the ocean to spawn eggs between August and October. Once they get out to the deep ocean, t hey lay their eggs and their lives end. Baby eels then embark on a journey to the river. When they reach the river, they’re then called silbaem jangeo and are caught to be used for farming.

What’s interesting about farming eel is that spawning happens thousands of meters below sea level so it’s still unclear what baby eels eat so artificially spawning eels is still difficult. Because of this, the only way to farm jangeo is to catch the silbaem jangeo flowing back into the river from the ocean.

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What to expect at an eel grill

Here in Seoul, jangeo-gui (장어구이), is most often served after it has been de-boned and sliced down the center and marinated in a mixture of sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce and sugar. Another option is to have the eel served without any marinade and just add a dash of salt while it’s cooking on the grill in the center of the table. I personally like the salted version, but the marinade eel does offer a very savory option. If you head to a coastal town, it is even possible to get the eel while it’s fresh and moving.

The restaurants with fresh eel will be noisy with the sounds of nails being hammered through the eels’ head so that the cook can slice the eel open down the center before it is brought over to be grilled in the center of the table. The grill on the table is a bit more lively with moving eel bits to add a little excitement to the meal and then it’s best eaten with just a dash of salt and a dip in the provided soy sauce.

The table is usually set with lettuce leaves to wrap the eel in and ginger to top it off before eating with a bit of soy sauce to taste. Other side dishes will be provided as they usually are in Korea and rice can be ordered separately, but the eel, the staple of the meal, should not be overloaded too much. With just a bit of salt and ginger, the eel is perfect for any meal… though Koreans most often associate this squiggly jiggly sea creature with summer.

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Is eel healthy?

Jangeo, or eel, is considered one of the top health foods in Korea that boosts energy. Because eels swim for thousands of miles without eating and have unusually good physical endurance, they are believed to provide vigor.

Eel is rich in vitamin A and E and stimulates blood circulation and prevents aging and wrinkling. It is most popular with men in Korea as it is believed to be an aphrodisiac and good for stamina, but here everyone eats it. 

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