Sokcho salted seafood shop for low-salt pollock roe: Hwangbuja Jeotgal

While visiting Sokcho Central Market, I picked up low-salt broken-grade white pollock roe at Hwangbuja Jeotgal, a great Sokcho jeotgal (salted seafood) shop. I always keep white pollock roe stocked in the freezer, but after eating it so often, I suddenly ran completely out. I could order it online, but I have a Sokcho jeotgal shop I visit regularly, so whenever I go to Sokcho, I stop by and buy it in person.

Choosing jeotgal at Hwangbuja Jeotgal

At Hwangbuja Jeotgal, all kinds of jeotgal are laid out, and you can sample them, too—just remember in advance that tasting them may lead to an impulse buy.

Personally, I highly recommend this shop’s galchi sokjeot (fermented hairtail fish innards) and octopus jeotgal. They’re such delicious jeotgal that you end up buying them the moment you taste them—and they’re in our fridge, too.

From pollock roe to squid, octopus, scallop, and changran-jeot (fermented cod innards), there are so many varieties, so taste them and choose as much as you want. It’s surprisingly fun—that’s one of the little pleasures of coming to buy jeotgal.

Why I chose broken-grade white pollock roe instead of premium

This time, I went with broken-grade white pollock roe. To be honest, I had always bought the premium-grade white pollock roe. I tended to choose the neat, pretty-looking ones, after all. But this time, the owner said that if it was for eating at home, there was no need to buy the premium product and that broken-grade pieces would be fine. Thinking about it, that was absolutely true.

At our house, we use white pollock roe in steamed egg custard or make a seasoned sauce to mix with rice far more often than we slice it nicely and eat it as is. So I thought, what does it matter if the shape is a little uneven? That’s why I chose the low-salt broken-grade white pollock roe this time.

Being broken-grade doesn’t mean it is all crushed up. When I looked at what they packed for me, there were plenty of plump roe sacs, and the flesh was nice and thick, too. The shapes just varied a little, so it didn’t look bad at all for cooking at home. If your household eats pollock roe often like ours does, getting good value matters more than having perfect shapes, so I recommend broken-grade roe.

Compared with premium-grade white pollock roe

This is the premium-grade white pollock roe. You can really see the difference, right? If you’re going to fry it in butter and eat it just like that, these pretty white pollock roe sacs would be better.

They put it on a scale and weigh it precisely. Rather than just filling it by eye, they check the weight on the scale, which makes me trust them even more...

Cool-packed pollock roe and portioning it at home

Here’s the broken-grade white pollock roe I brought home. They included insulated packaging and even an ice pack, so I didn’t have to worry about it spoiling on the trip from Sokcho to home. There were more plump roe sacs than I expected, so I liked it even more when I opened it at home. We go through it quickly anyway, using it for steamed egg custard and mixed rice, so I tried broken-grade instead of premium this time—and it feels much more practical for home eating.

As soon as I got home, I portioned it out. I divided it into single-serving amounts and carefully wrapped each one in plastic wrap. This is so convenient because I can take out exactly one whenever I need it. One for steamed egg custard, one when I want mixed rice, and one for avocado pollock roe bibimbap (mixed rice). Having portioned white pollock roe in the freezer makes me feel well stocked, too. It was my first time buying broken-grade pieces, but for eating at home, I don’t think I need to insist on pretty premium-grade products.

If, like our household, you eat pollock roe often and cook with it, broken-grade white pollock roe is more than a good enough choice. Above all, I chose the low-salt version, so I’m planning to enjoy it in steamed egg custard and mixed rice as usual. If you’re looking for jeotgal to take home from Sokcho, have a look at broken-grade white pollock roe at this great Sokcho jeotgal shop. Pretty roe for gifts, and broken-grade roe for easy eating at home—I made a practical purchase this time.