Korean people love to drink with some dishes or snacks that match alcoholic beverages well. They are called as “Annjoo(안주)” in Korea. “Jee-po(쥐포)” is one of light Annjoo that Korea people enjoy. Jee-po is dried and sweetened version of fish named as ‘Jee-chi(쥐치).’ It tastes sweet and a little salty and so a good match for beer. Jee-po is also a good snack for children and people who travel by bus or train.
We used to eat Jee-po as a side dish in my childhood by stir-frying it with oil and red pepper flakes. However, since fish, ‘Jee-chi’ are rarely caught in the sea near Korea these days, Jee-po of Korean origin is so expensive that we can not enjoy original Korean Jee-po so often as we used to.
The reason I make a posting on Jee-po is that I went on a journey to where Jee-po are mainly made and I bought original Korean Jee-po for my parents and myself. I live in Seoul, a capital city of Korea and went to a city called JinJoo(진주) which is located in the southern part of Korea. Actually I went there to meet my ex-colleague, who is now working in JinJoo and we went to Namhae Island(남해) together.
I took the pictures above from Mountain Keum(금산) on Namhae Island.
This place is Boriam(보리암) which is a famous temple.
The weather was perfect for climbing and beautiful flowers welcomed us as you see in the picture.
Let’s go back to Jee-po. How to cook?
Just bake it in the frying pan. You can add oil when you bake it.
I’m not sure whether people outside of Korea can purchase Jee-po, but if you visit Korea someday, I recommend you to taste it.
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I was stationed in Korea and had the dried fish and squid. I also got to see them being dried. I have been
able to purchase it around military bases here in packs like you get on the train. I had my own car so I got
to see and do a lot of traveling and experience more. I just wished that I had bought a couple more mink
blankets while I was there. Enjoyed my stay.
Thank you so much for your visit to my blog. Many western people do not like dried fish, but once you enjoy the taste, you definitely miss them. ^^
I’ve bought that before in the U.S. [FL] Do you know now where to get it?
What a lovely landscape and what a pity that humans have overfished Jee-po and now it’s so expensive or you have to go far away to get it. I hope you and your parents enjoyed the Jee-po. If ever I visit Korea I must taste Jee-po. Thank you for sharing this interesting story and thank you for liking my posts! Have a wonderful week!!
Thanks for your comment. My parents, my friends and I really enjoyed Jee-po a lot. It’s so expensive, but worth buying it. ^^ I hope you have a happy and pleasant week.
You torture me ……….
I love the pictures~!! Tried ttukbokki yesterday- it was good..but spicy too~ maybe added too much pepper flakes^^;