Korean Fish Cake Soup (Odeng Guk)

Korean fish cake soup (odeng guk) served on skewers is ideal for cold weather. This easy recipe, with its dashi and radish broth, brings Korean street vendor flavors to your table. Don’t forget the dipping sauce!

When the weather gets cold, you’ll find food stalls all over Korea selling fish cake, known as odeng or eomuk. These fish cakes are skewered on long wooden sticks and simmered in a hot, flavorful broth. They are a favorite snack during the chilly winter months.

You can easily turn them into Korean fish cake soup, like odeng guk, at home. It’s simple to make and offers a comforting experience with its hot, umami-rich broth. This odeng soup is perfect to serve as a side dish or as a main course for dinner.

This fish cake soup is known by a few names in Korean. Traditionally, we called it odeng guk, but many people now refer to it as eomuk guk since odeng is of Japanese origin. I still call it odeng guk because that’s what I grew up with.

Some also call it odeng tang (or eomuk tang) when you serve directly from the pot to the table. The different names can be confusing, but whether you call it odeng guk, eomuk guk, or odeng tang, it’s essentially the same delicious fish cake soup.

What is Korean fish cake made of?

Korean fish cake, called eomuk or odeng, is mainly made from ground white fish and flour or starch. They also have salt, sugar, and different seasonings. Sometimes, these odeng fish cakes include chopped vegetables like carrots or green onions.

The fish meat and other ingredients are mixed into a paste, shaped into various forms, and then cooked by frying, boiling, or steaming. You will find fish cakes used in tteokbokki (spicy Korean rice cakes) or eomuk bokkeum (fish cake stir-fry), a common Korean banchan.

Ingredient Highlights

• Pre-packaged Fish Cake Skewers: These skewered fish cakes are ready to cook and you can find them in various shapes and types in the freezer section of Korean grocery stores. I usually opt for flat fish cake sheets rolled up on wooden skewers and round fish cake varieties.
  • They often come with a soup broth seasoning packet, but making the broth from scratch usually yields better taste.
  • If you can’t find the pre-packaged skewered fish cakes, you can always buy fish cakes separately and skewer them yourself.
• Rice Cakes (optional): Long rice cakes, known as ‘garae tteok’, add a nice chewy texture to the dish and are great for dipping in the sauce.
• Korean Radish: Radish slices enhance the broth’s flavor when simmered together, so I recommend not to skip this ingredient.
• Anchovy Soup Stock Pack: This is a convenient dashi pack that combines all necessary ingredients. You can find it at any Korean or Asian grocery store, or online.
  • Alternatively, you can make anchovy stock from scratch easily. See my how to make anchovy stock.
• Stock Seasoning: This includes Korean soup soy sauce, Korean tuna sauce, garlic, salt, and black pepper.
  • If you can’t find Korean tuna sauce, substitute with tsuyu (Japanes soup base sauce)
• Skewers (kkochi): Using skewers is optional when making eomuk guk with cut fish cakes. Skewers offer a convenient way to eat the fish cakes without utensils, similar to how Korean street vendors serve. This skewered version is what we call, eomuk tang.
  • If opting for skewers, ensure they are sturdy enough to support the fish cakes. You can use wooden skewers specifically designed for this, or alternatively, repurpose wooden chopsticks.

For the Dipping Sauce:

• The sauce uses Korean pantry essentials like soy sauce, water, Korean chili flakes (gochugaru), vinegar, green onion, and optionally green chili.

How to make Korean fish cake soup

Optional Rice Cake Preparation

• Heat rice cakes in boiling water until they are soft and tender, then rinse them with cold water.
• When cool to the touch, thread them onto long skewers. Soak the skewers in water to keep them moist.

Soup Preparation

• Simmer water, an anchovy stock dashi packet, sliced Korean radish, and Asian leek in a soup pot.
• Discard the stock packet and leek, but keep the radish in the stock.

• Flavor the stock with Korean soup soy sauce, tuna sauce (or tsuyu), salt, garlic, and pepper.
• Add the fish cake and rice cake skewers to the pot. If the skewers aren’t fully submerged, occasionally ladle hot broth over the exposed parts as they simmer.

• When the fish cakes puff up, the soup is ready. Top with green onion and fresh chili for a spicy kick. Enjoy hot with the prepared dipping sauce.

Love this recipe? Rate it and share your experience in the comments below! On Instagram? Tag me to showcase your creation. For more delicious recipes, subscribe to our newsletter!