"National Side Dish Eomuk Evolves into Gourmet Cuisine" Samjin Food's Eomuk Recipe Contest Heats Up

'Omeokjakgwa', 'Omeok Croissant', 'Rol Twigim' ... No Need to Envy Michelin Guide Stars

Daesang Lee Young-sil's 'Eomukjakgwa'.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Isn’t this a Michelin Guide star rating?

The nation's favorite side dish, Eomuk (fish cake), is evolving into cuisine. The excitement over the cooking contest that upgraded Eomuk, made from fish meat, into gourmet dishes was intense.

Samjin Food (CEO Hwang Chang-hwan) announced the winners of the ‘Samjin Eomuk Strict Eomuk Cooking Recipe Contest’ on the 4th.

The contest was organized to expand the use of Eomuk and to aim for the premiumization of Eomuk dishes through creative and fresh recipe ideas.

The recipe contest was held from April 19 to May 24. A fierce battle for the throne unfolded with a total of 302 recipes submitted.

The recipes were filtered according to pre-announced judging criteria such as theme relevance, usability, and originality, resulting in the final selection of 24 winning entries.

The grand prize went to Lee Young-sil’s ‘Eomukjakgwa.’ The excellence award was given to Elena Lee’s ‘Three-flavor Eomuk Croissant,’ and the merit awards went to Kim Do-hyun’s ‘Seaweed Noodles’ and Hwang Hee-sun’s ‘Eomuk Beef Roll Fry.’ Twenty other entries, including Yong Hee-sook’s ‘Eomuk Battleship Roll Skewers,’ were selected as honorable mentions.

Grand Prize winner Elena Lee's 'Three-flavor Fish Cake Croissant'.

The grand prize winner Lee Young-sil’s ‘Eomukjakgwa’ was created as a simple snack Eomuk dish using all components of ‘Our Family’s Strict Cooking Eomuk.’ It scored highly across the judging criteria of theme relevance, usability, and originality, earning the top spot.

Other dishes included ‘Cream Eomuk Gnocchi,’ which uses Eomuk as an ingredient for the Italian representative dish gnocchi, as well as ‘Rose Eomuk Arancini,’ ‘Eomuk Frittata,’ and ‘Deng & Cheese,’ showcasing Eomuk dishes combined with various genres beyond Korean cuisine.

The grand prize carries a cash award of 5 million KRW. The excellence award receives 2 million KRW, and two merit awards receive 500,000 KRW each. In total, 24 winners will receive prizes and awards worth approximately 9 million KRW.

Samjin Food CEO Hwang Chang-hwan said, “As the contest continues, the quality of submissions has improved, reaffirming the infinite possibilities of Eomuk cuisine,” adding, “We will strive to present more diverse and healthy Eomuk to the public.”

Recently, Samjin Eomuk released three cooking recipe videos developed by Chef Oh Se-deuk on their official YouTube channel and online mall.

Samjin Eomuk’s product launched in April, ‘Our Family’s Strict Cooking Eomuk,’ is composed of Eomuk and sauces optimized for cooking.

Samjin Food explained, “It consists of Eomuk with customized thickness, sauces, and flakes to make the three most representative Eomuk dishes?Eomuk stir-fry, Eomuk soup (skewers), and Tteokbokki?more delicious.”