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The addition of spicy chilies and some crown daisy greens adds to the inviting flavor and look of the eomuktang, a fish cake soup brewed in a hot broth with different-shaped fish cakes.
Fish cake, or eomuk, has grown from being one of the most beloved culinary delights for people here at home into an appealing meal for gourmet taste buds around the world.
The processed fish product, first brought home from Japan about a hundred years ago, is often served as a main side dish or on street corners as a snack. It's now making inroads overseas.
Busan, the second largest city in the nation, serves as a national hub for the eomuk business, largely thanks to the city’s abundant fishing industry. Fish cake produced in this port city has become a byword for eomuk of the highest quality and taste. Any fish cake product marked with “Busan Eomuk” is regarded as being some of the best fish snack on the market today.
Among fish cake manufacturers in Busan, Goraesa Eomuk is leading the growth. The brand is now expanding its presence beyond the Korean market, as it opened a new branch office in Shanghai on Jan. 15. It has now become the first Korean producer of fish cake to go abroad.
Goraesa Eomuk can easily be cooked at home as its sanitary fish cake products are packed in single-serving portions.
The Shanghai restaurant opened its doors in the food court at the Parkson-New Core Mall in Changning District, Shanghai. Its flagship items are eoudon, a type of fish cake noodles, as well as fish cake sushi, fish cake burgers and fish cake croquettes made with chilies, mushrooms, potatoes, laver, shrimp and curry powder.
“The fish cake noodles that we ourselves developed can be a game changer in this adventure, as many Chinese people enjoy noodles,” said Kim Hyung-gwang, CEO of Goraesa Eomuk. “Starting with Shanghai, we will open ten more restaurants overseas within the year,” Kim added.
A new Goraesa Eomuk restaurant, its first overseas, opens its doors in the food court at the Parkson-New Core Mall in Changning District, Shanghai, on Jan. 15.
The Shanghai branch of Goraesa Eomuk is crowded with customers waiting to sample and purchase their delicious fish cake products.
After years of fine tuning its menu offerings, Goraesa Eomuk has developed a variety of fish cake items. One of them is eoudon noodles made from fish cake that also come as instant cup noodles.
The history of Goraesa Eomuk dates back to 1963. It has since grown into one of the largest fish cake producers, with a total of 12 stores and restaurants in operation across the nation, including its headquarters in Bujeon Market and in Haeundae District in Busan and in Gangnam District in Seoul.
Over the past decades, it has developed hundreds of fish cake products using a variety of ingredients, such as sweet pumpkins, potatoes, shrimp, beef, abalone and ginseng.
The Haeundae branch saw more than 15,000 non-Korean visitors per month last year. Goraesa Eomuk’s yearly revenue for 2015 surpassed KRW 40 billion.
The company’s evolution continues, as it releases its new line of products. This includes eobokki, fish cake dishes inspired by rice tteokbokki, or rice cake seasoned with a spicy sauce, and eojjambbong, a Chinese-style jjambbong noodles.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Jeon Han, Goraesa Eomuk
jiae5853@korea.kr
