Kodari-jjim: Why Korea Dries Its Fish Halfway Before Braising It

Saturday lunch was kodari-jjim.

kodari-jjim

Kodari is pollock, dried about halfway. But pollock — this one fish — goes by more than a dozen different names in Korean, depending on how it's processed. Some Koreans don't even realize they're all the same fish. That story is interesting enough that it deserves its own post. Today I'm sticking to just one piece of it: kodari.

Quick Answer

• Kodari refers to pollock that's been dried to about the halfway point — not fresh, not fully dried. It's drier than fresh pollock (saengtae) and much moister than the fully dried versions, hwangtae or bugeo.
• The name's origin is usually explained as "strung through the nose (ko) and hung to dry." That's the most widely repeated explanation — but it's not a settled fact. Other sources point to the mouth or the underside of the jaw as the actual piercing point, so the real etymology is still genuinely unresolved.
• Kodari-jjim braises kodari and radish together in a spicy sauce built with scallion and cheongyang chili.
• Pollock — kodari included — is a textbook high-protein, low-fat fish. But that claim applies to the fish itself. Once it's braised, the sodium comes from the sauce, so calling the finished dish a "diet food" only holds up if you don't eat all the sauce with it.
• Radish shows up in the braise for reasons beyond flavor: it absorbs the fish's odor and keeps the kodari from scorching against the bottom of the pot.

1. What Kodari Actually Is: Pollock, Half-Dried

Kodari is pollock dried to roughly the halfway point.

• Saengtae: fresh pollock, not dried at all.
• Kodari: gutted and de-gilled, with about half its moisture removed by drying. Today's subject.
• Hwangtae / bugeo: dried completely — and repeatedly frozen and thawed over a long stretch of time.

In other words, kodari sits in the exact middle: not fresh, not bone-dry. That middle ground is what gives it its texture. It isn't dense and dry like a fully dried fish, and it doesn't fall apart like fresh fish either. It's chewy, and the sauce works its way deep into the flesh — a texture unique to the half-dried stage.

2. The Name's Origin: The "Strung Through the Nose" Theory — Is It Even True?

Look up why kodari is called kodari, and one explanation dominates: pollock were strung up by a rope through the ko (nose/nostril) to dry.

It sounds plausible enough. But dig a little further, and the story gets messier. Other sources describe the actual piercing point as the mouth or the underside of the jaw, not the nose at all. Even fisheries-industry outlets admit as much: "We can't pin down the exact etymology, but pulling together various sources, 'strung through the nose and half-dried' is the explanation that's become widely accepted."

So here's where that leaves things: "strung through the nose" is the most widely repeated explanation — not a settled fact. I actually find that ambiguity kind of great. This is a fish Koreans eat constantly, and even the origin of its name hasn't been fully nailed down.

3. Kodari-jjim Basics: Ingredients and Method

Kodari-jjim braises kodari and radish together in a spicy sauce.

• Main ingredients: kodari, radish.
• Supporting ingredients: scallion, cheongyang chili (a hotter Korean green chili).
• Sauce: built on chili flakes, soy sauce, and garlic.

The radish gets cut into thick pieces and laid down on the bottom of the pot first, with the kodari placed on top and the sauce poured over. As it braises, you keep spooning the sauce back over the top — that's what drives the seasoning deep into the kodari.

4. "High-Protein, Low-Fat" — How Far Should You Trust That?

Pollock is a textbook high-protein, low-fat fish. As a white fish, it's high in protein and low in fat — which is exactly why it gets mentioned so often as a food for energy recovery or weight management.

But there's a distinction worth making here. That "high-protein, low-fat" claim is about the fish on its own. Once it's braised in a sauce built from soy sauce, chili flakes, and sugar — like kodari-jjim is — the picture changes. Braising, as a cooking method, is fundamentally a sodium-heavy process.

So if you want to enjoy kodari-jjim as part of a diet-conscious meal, focus on the fish and go easy on scraping up every last bit of sauce. The ingredient itself is a genuinely good choice — it's the cooking method you also have to account for to get the full, accurate picture.

5. Why Radish Is Actually In There

Radish shows up in nearly every Korean braised or steamed fish dish, kodari-jjim included. And it's not just there for flavor — it's doing real work.

• Absorbing odor: radish absorbs the distinctive smell fish gives off. Alongside rice-rinse water, it's one of the most common tools in Korean cooking for taming fishy odor.
• Preventing scorching: laying radish across the bottom of the pot keeps the kodari from sitting directly against the metal, which prevents it from sticking or burning. The radish's high water content also naturally helps regulate how thick the sauce gets as it reduces.
• Balancing flavor: radish's natural sweetness and clean, cooling taste soften a sauce that could otherwise land too salty and heavy. As it braises, the radish absorbs the sauce itself and becomes every bit as satisfying to eat as the fish.

In other words, radish is doing three jobs in kodari-jjim at once: taming odor, helping the braise along, and rounding out the flavor.

6. How to Eat It Properly

Here's how to get the most out of kodari-jjim.

1. Taste the fish first. Try the kodari flesh on its own, sauce and all, before anything else.
2. Mix it with bean sprouts. Blanched bean sprouts tossed in the sauce bring out something different from the fish alone.
3. Wrap it in dried seaweed. Rice, kodari flesh, and sauce wrapped in plain dried seaweed (gim) deepens the whole flavor.
4. Don't skip the radish. The radish braised alongside the fish is every bit as much the star of the dish. Soft and faintly sweet, it refreshes a sauce that could otherwise start to feel heavy.

7. Finding Kodari-jjim Near Jongno

I'll be upfront: I couldn't find a kodari-jjim restaurant in Myeongdong I'd actually vouch for. Myeongdong's food reputation runs more toward kalguksu and street food, and when I went looking specifically for kodari-jjim there, the information just wasn't solid. Instead, I found well-sourced options in the Jongno, Seochon, and Insadong area.

• Jongno Myeongtae Deokjang: near Jongno 3-ga Station. Specializes in spicy braised pollock and kodari, with combination dishes like octopus-pollock braise and short-rib-pollock braise on the menu too. Closed Sundays.
• Jeongtong Kodari: near Exit 3 of Gyeongbokgung Station, in Seochon's hanok-lined alleys — a short walk from central Jongno. Its signature dish is siraegi kodari-jjim (braised pollock with dried radish greens), and it's been covered by an actual news outlet, which gives it more credibility than most.
• Myeongdong Boribap-gwa Kodari: despite the name, this one isn't actually in Myeongdong — it's in Insadong, reachable from Anguk or Jongno 3-ga stations. It serves barley-rice set meals alongside a dedicated kodari set. The information on this one is thinner than the other two, so don't go looking for it in Myeongdong based on the name alone.

A note on reliability: the details above reflect information gathered at the time of research. Small restaurants change their hours and menus often, so verify current details before you go.

FAQ

What exactly is kodari? Pollock dried to roughly the halfway point — drier than fresh pollock (saengtae), but far moister than the fully dried versions, hwangtae or bugeo.

Why is it called "kodari"? The most common explanation is that it was strung through the nose and hung to dry — but other sources point to the mouth or the underside of the jaw as the real piercing point, so the exact etymology has never been settled.

Is kodari-jjim a good diet food? The pollock itself is genuinely high-protein and low-fat, so it's a solid choice on that front. But the braising sauce runs sodium-heavy, so it's smarter to focus on the fish and the radish rather than finishing off all the sauce.

Can I get kodari-jjim in Myeongdong? Based on my research, I couldn't find a verified kodari-jjim specialist actually inside Myeongdong. Jongno 3-ga, Seochon, and Insadong are where the well-sourced options are.

What to Do Next

Kodari-jjim turns out to be more interesting than it looks, both as an ingredient and as a name. The fact that pollock carries a dozen-plus names depending on its state, and the fact that "kodari" itself doesn't have a fully settled etymology, both point to the same thing: there's more history packed into this everyday side dish than you'd expect.

Three things to try:

1. Next time you order kodari-jjim, eat it in sequence — the fish first, then bean sprouts mixed in, then a seaweed wrap.
2. Never skip the radish.
3. If you're near Jongno 3-ga or Seochon, stop by one of the kodari-jjim spots above.

TL;DR

1. Kodari is pollock dried to roughly the halfway point, sitting between fresh pollock (saengtae) and the fully dried versions (hwangtae, bugeo).
2. The "strung through the nose" origin story is the most widely repeated explanation for the name — but other sources point to the mouth or jaw instead, so the etymology isn't settled fact.
3. The radish in kodari-jjim isn't just for flavor — it absorbs odor and keeps the fish from scorching — and Jongno and Seochon, not Myeongdong, are where the verified restaurant picks are.

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Related reading: pollock's full naming system (saengtae, dongtae, kodari, hwangtae, bugeo, nogari, and more)(coming soon)

Sources: 코다리 - 우리말샘/국립국어원 표준국어대사전; 코다리? 코가 긴 생선인가? - 어업in수산(수협뉴스); [알쏭語 달쏭思] 코다리와 엮걸이 - 이투데이; 고단백저지방식품의 대표주자 '명태' - 코메디닷컴; 정통코다리 - 이넷뉴스