Korean Grilled Fish by Species, Rockfish vs Mackerel vs Flounder and How to Debone Each

The grilled fish set meal at KRW 15,000 (about USD 11) is not one fixed species. It goes out with whichever fish came in that day and is best for grilling. On Jagalchi Haean-ro the three that come up most often are rockfish (bollak), mackerel and flounder, and depending on the day another white-flesh species gets mixed in. When several fish are grilled and laid on one plate, as in the photo, the color and grain of the flesh differ visibly. The side where the edge lifts up thick and the grain runs coarse is the rockfish family, and the side that is tight under the skin with oil showing through is the mackerel family. Why not fix the species? Because the restaurant sits inside the market. The setup uses whatever fish arriving that morning is in the best condition, so a good rockfish yesterday does not mean rockfish today. For a guest, this actually works in your favor. If you are curious about what will come out, look at the display in front of the restaurant before you walk in. Grilled fish sit there plate by plate, so you can confirm the day of species with your own eyes. There are days when the Jagalchi veteran with over a decade on the job says first, the rockfish is good today, and on those days it pays to follow that word.

Rockfish has thick flesh along the back and thick bones, so it lifts away in one go with chopsticks. Slide your chopsticks in along the line under the dorsal fin and open up the flesh, and the backbone shows right away, letting you lift the top fillet off as a single piece. Because the bones are not fine, any that remain are easy to find by pressing with a finger. That is why it takes the least effort when you are deboning a portion for a child or an older family member. The flavor sits on the clean, mild side. There is not much oil, so once grilled the outside is crisp and the inside comes apart along the grain, and with just salt seasoning and no soy sauce or sauce at all it still carries rice well. If you think of the grain of black rockfish eaten as sashimi, you are close. The flesh is firm, so even left on the grill a while it does not crumble, and it keeps its shape when it goes onto an assorted grilled fish plate shared by several people. Rockfish run small, so rather than splitting one fish between two, each person eating a whole fish keeps the shape and leaves fewer bones behind. If you mention that a child will be eating when you order, the kitchen will match it with a species with fewer bones, such as rockfish, as far as the day allows. On the other hand, guests looking for an oily fish may find rockfish plain, so on those days mackerel is the recommendation.

Mackerel has a layer of fat right under the skin, and when it is grilled that fat soaks into the flesh and clings to rice. That oil is the reason a bowl of rice empties without any extra seasoning once you pull off the flesh with chopsticks and lay it on top. Compared with mild white fish like rockfish or flounder, each bite carries more weight, which makes it the fit for a day when you come alone and want to finish a solid meal. There are two things to keep in mind, though. First, it has more fine bones than rockfish, so when giving it to a child an adult should check it once more. Leaving out the belly edge entirely and giving only the middle flesh is the safer way. Second, it is a blue-backed oily fish, so it does not agree with everyone. If you mention when ordering that oily blue-backed fish does not sit well with you, it will be swapped for a white-flesh fish. Because it is so oily, a fishy note rises as it cools, so it is best eaten the moment it arrives, and alternating with crunchy side dishes like cubed radish kimchi or pickled radish keeps your mouth from feeling heavy. If you also ordered a spicy fish stew, the right order is to finish the mackerel early in the meal.

Flounder has a flat body, so the grilling surface is wide and the flesh lifts up thin along the grain. Each bite is light with almost no fishy note, which makes it the right grilled fish for someone who does not love fish or for a child trying grilled fish for the first time. Because the body is thin, the grilling time is short and the surface crisps evenly, another plus. The bones run left and right along the body, so you debone it in a different direction from rockfish. Draw your chopsticks once lengthwise along the central backbone to split the flesh in half, then push each side outward, and the bones stay in the middle. Once you are used to this method it is faster than rockfish. If you push away the fin bones running around the edge of the body with your chopsticks first, only flesh is left after that. The flesh is thin, though, so if it sits it cools quickly and turns dry, which means on a table sharing several dishes, flounder should be cleared first. If several species come together on an assorted grilled fish plate, the order is flounder, rockfish, then mackerel. Going from thin and mild to thick and oily keeps the flavors that come later from being buried. Start with the mackerel instead and the flounder will taste plain when its turn comes.

Sashimi restaurants on Jagalchi Haean-ro set grilled fish out plate by plate on a display in front of the shop. That means you can look at the day of species and how well they are grilled before you walk in, and choose by eye. There are three things to look for. Whether the skin is attached to the flesh rather than lifting away, whether the edges are evenly golden rather than burnt, and whether white grain shows tightly packed through the gaps where the flesh splits. If all three hold, it is a well-grilled plate regardless of species. Being on the display does not mean it comes out cold. Once the order comes in, the fish is warmed and brought to the table, so the wait is short, and that is why guests short on time at lunch ask for the grilled fish set meal so often. Unlike a menu that takes time to prepare, such as sashimi, a full tray is laid out within about 10 minutes of sitting down. If you came with a child, letting the child pick at the display is another approach. Children eat the fish they chose themselves. If you are a group and want to mix species, ordering two or three set meals so that several fish come on one plate looks better and is easier to share.

The grilled fish set meal at KRW 15,000 (about USD 11) is a single-person menu where one plate of grilled fish comes as a tray with a bowl of rice and six or seven side dishes. Alone, you can finish a meal within 15 minutes, and if you want broth, add the cod soup at KRW 15,000 (about USD 11). If you are also having sashimi, adding one grilled fish set to a small assorted sashimi platter at KRW 60,000 (about USD 43) is a common table for two, and in that case it is better to order the grilled fish later so it arrives when the sashimi plate is about half empty. That way the sashimi does not get warm. For a family table where the kids do not eat raw fish, adults take the sashimi and the children get the grilled fish set, and everyone has something to eat. The location is 220m from Exit 2 of Jagalchi Station on Busan Metro Line 1 toward Jagalchi Haean-ro, a 3-minute walk. It is three stops from Busan Station on Line 1, so it is easy to fit in between KTX trains, and a taxi is 10 minutes and KRW 6,000 to 8,000 (about USD 4 to 6) from Busan Station or 20 minutes and KRW 12,000 to 15,000 (about USD 9 to 11) from Seomyeon. By bus, routes 8, 30, 71, 113 and 1003 stop at the Jagalchi Market bus stop. Avoid only the lunch peak from 11:30 to 13:00 and you sit on the first floor right away, and with 190 seats across the first and second floors, groups are welcome. Groups of four or more can call +82-10-8998-4803 in advance.