Songpa seafood restaurant for salmon and sashimi recipes: Yeongjae Susan

Have you been craving sashimi so badly lately? 🐟 Slicing it up and eating it plain is great, of course, but scrolling through social media and blogs lately, I keep seeing people bring home one pack of sashimi and turn it into all sorts of different things—and it looks so good.

So this time, I picked up sashimi from Yeongjae Susan at Garak Market and put together a proper spread at home. I bought three things: a mini assorted platter of sea bass, flatfish, and red sea bream; a salmon fillet; and raw shrimp sashimi. I’ll cover everything at once, from flatfish perilla-leaf salad—aka gwanggatmu—to salmon cubes and how to prep raw shrimp. 🤍

Yeongjae Susan location and parking

It is at Unit C-10 on the first floor of the Garak Mall Sales Building, 932 Yangjae-daero, Songpa-gu, Seoul, and is said to operate daily from 07:00 to 22:00. Reviews say it is easiest to enter Garak Mall near Exit 2 of Garak Market Station and use Entrance 6 of the seafood sales building.

If you drive, use the Garak Mall parking lot; three hours of free parking are listed. When I visited, it felt less hectic than a typical fish market, and the shop seemed quite neatly maintained.

The tanks were maintained without looking noticeably dirty, too. What I especially liked was the packaging. Rather than being tossed roughly into a plastic bag, it was neat and fairly upscale, so it felt nice even when I unpacked it at home. Sashimi tastes great either way, but tidy packaging somehow makes the food itself look more appetizing.

The sashimi and raw shrimp I ordered

I ordered three items in total.

• Mini assorted sea bass, flatfish, and red sea bream sashimi: ₩40,000
• Salmon fillet: ₩36,000 → ₩35,000 after a ₩1,000 discount
• Raw shrimp sashimi, 1 kg: ₩35,000
• Total: ₩105,000

The owner said they added an extra 100 g of raw shrimp. And when I asked for plenty of soy sauce, they packed no fewer than three containers. I asked for lots of soy sauce and they really gave me lots, haha. 😂 At this point, there was no need to worry about running out.

A package with fish-stew ingredients too

There was one more thing I loved about packing up my order at Yeongjae Susan.

They did not just send me off with sashimi—they included ingredients for maeuntang (spicy fish stew), too! After eating sashimi at home, there are surprisingly many times when you think, “Now I want fish stew, but I have no ingredients?” This time, I could use the leftovers to make a warming spicy fish stew as well.

What surprised me a little when I opened it was that there were three fish heads, plus clams. Three heads were plenty for making a rich broth. The clams added seafood umami too, so having sashimi and then making maeuntang felt like completing a proper Garak Market seafood spread. 😋 Personally, I loved that they included these extras. When you pick up sashimi, be sure to ask, “Do you have ingredients for maeuntang too?” It would be great as a drinking snack or a final meal. 🍲

Super-easy salmon cube recipe

You can slice salmon into sashimi-style pieces, but this time I cut it into chunky cubes, just like kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi).

• Salmon fillet
• 3 tablespoons Sriracha
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• A little wasabi
• Flying fish roe

It is honestly nothing complicated. Cut the salmon into bite-size cubes, then add 3 tablespoons of Sriracha, 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, and a little wasabi. Mix everything evenly, and you are done!

Finally, I added flying fish roe. I heard that soaking it in mirim or cooking wine removes any fishiness, but even though I skipped that step, there was no fishy taste at all!

🌶️ Spicy, 🥚 rich, 🐟 soft salmon, and ✨ popping flying fish roe. This combination works so much better than I expected. It feels completely different from simply dipping salmon in soy sauce or another sauce! It is so easy that it is worth making at least once when you bring home a salmon fillet.

Making flatfish perilla-leaf salad, gwanggatmu

This is the dish I most want to recommend this time. Flatfish + perilla leaves = gwanggatmu. It is a combination I have been seeing all over social media lately, and after making it at home, I understood why it is trending, haha.

I made it with the mini assorted sashimi platter containing sea bass, flatfish, and red sea bream.

• Assorted sashimi containing flatfish
• 1 pack perilla leaves
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Sesame seeds

How should you slice the perilla leaves?

Wash a pack of perilla leaves thoroughly, then roll them up. Slice them into thin strips while rolled up, and they will be fine and pretty—perfect for mixing with sashimi.

Next, put the mini assorted sashimi in a bowl and add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Add the shredded perilla leaves and gently toss it all together, and your flatfish perilla-leaf salad is ready.

Personally, this was much more fun than eating the sashimi plain. The fragrance of perilla leaves comes through strongly, followed by the nutty aroma of sesame oil, so there is no chance for the fish to feel rich or cloying. The springy texture of flatfish goes so well with the crisp, fragrant leaves that you take one bite and immediately want another. 🩷 It is good with rice, and needless to say, perfect with drinks too. 🍶

I also made salted gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) with rice seasoned with sesame oil and salt, and ate it alongside the salad. Sometimes I wrapped baek kimchi (white kimchi) in roasted seaweed too! The baek kimchi kept my palate fresh, while the gimbap made it filling enough to feel like a full meal. Haha.

How to prep and chill raw shrimp sashimi

I’ll also tell you how to prep raw shrimp sashimi.

The dish I was most excited about when buying everything was the raw shrimp sashimi! If you prep it properly, you can enjoy raw shrimp as sashimi at home. The shrimp cost ₩35,000 per kilogram, and the owner said they added another 200 g. So it was about 1.2 kg altogether! Pretty generous, right? 🦐

How do you prep raw shrimp sashimi?

First, bend the shrimp head toward its back, then pull so the innards come out with it. This removes both the head and the innards. For the body, peel the shell from the tail end all the way toward the head. Once the shell is cleanly removed, the prep is done! It might feel a little intimidating at first, but after doing a few, you get the hang of it quickly.

How to make raw shrimp sashimi even better

My recommended method is ice + bottled water + soju + lemon juice.

Prepare ice, add a little bottled water, then add soju and lemon juice. Put in the cleaned raw shrimp and chill them briefly. After I finished prepping everything and arranged them nicely on a plate, I put them in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Not for too long—just enough to make them lightly chilled!

Then take them out and eat them—wow… the bouncy + chewy texture was honestly insane. 🦐 The shrimp’s naturally sweet flavor came through so clearly, and eating them cold made them feel even firmer. If you love shrimp, I really hope you try this once.

Butter-fried leftover shrimp heads

I did not just throw away the shrimp heads left over from the raw shrimp sashimi! 🦐

They are a surprisingly good treat, so I collected the heads and made butter-fried shrimp heads. I melted butter in a pan, added the heads, then sprinkled on just parsley, salt, and pepper before cooking them until golden. Even without complicated seasoning, the nutty buttery flavor soaked into the shrimp, and the smell alone was totally my thing. 🤤

Especially once the shrimp heads were fried crisp, they were nutty and salty—the perfect snack with beer or soju. Using the leftover heads meant nothing went to waste, and it felt like I really got the most out of one purchase, from sashimi to butter-fried heads! Haha. I recommend this raw shrimp sashimi → butter-fried shrimp-head course too. 🦐🧈

A sashimi home party served straight from the package

As I mentioned earlier, I really liked the packaging itself. Each kind of sashimi was neatly packed, and it was easy to take them out one by one at home.

The packaging looked clean and upscale overall, so it would not feel out of place at all to serve it as-is for a home party. These days, delivery and takeaway food are not only about taste—the packaging and first impression matter a lot too. In that respect, I was satisfied.

Final thoughts on the three sashimi home-party dishes

I bought a mini assorted platter of sea bass, flatfish, and red sea bream sashimi for ₩40,000, a salmon fillet for ₩35,000, and raw shrimp sashimi for ₩35,000, for a total of ₩105,000. The salmon had a ₩1,000 discount, and they said they added 200 g of raw shrimp. They also gave me three containers of soy sauce.

Instead of stopping at buying sashimi to eat as-is, making flatfish perilla-leaf salad, salmon cubes, and raw shrimp sashimi made the spread feel so much more abundant. Of the three, I especially loved the gwanggatmu and raw shrimp sashimi. Gwanggatmu is incredibly simple, but it keeps the fish from becoming boring, while the raw shrimp really delivered that bouncy, chewy texture—recommended for shrimp lovers! The salmon cubes were delicious, but I got tired of them quickly, haha. I think the most fun part was trying one pack of sashimi in so many different ways. 🐟🦐🍣