Jeongok Chueotang 정옥추어탕

Jeongok Chueotang is a Korean restaurant at 913 Sinjeong-dong in Namwon, Jeonbuk, specializing in the city's regional loach soup. Chueotang is made by grinding loach finely and simmering it with siraegi, dried leafy greens commonly made from radish tops or outer cabbage leaves. Here the soup is mildly spicy, full-bodied, and does not carry a prominent fishy smell. Diners have also described it as smooth to swallow without noticeable bones, so the bowl centers on thick broth and strands of softened greens rather than the visible shape of the fish. Sotbap, rice cooked in an individual metal pot, accompanies the soup. After the rice is moved to a bowl, the toasted layer left against the pot releases a nutty nurungji aroma. The meal can progress from hot soup and fresh rice to scorched rice softened with water. About eight side dishes have appeared on the table, including hobakjeon, slices of squash coated and pan-fried, and dongeurangttaeng, small Korean meat patties. Fried loach adds a crisp preparation of the same fish beside the soft, ground texture of the soup. Tteokgalbi provides another side dish, made from seasoned minced meat formed into patties and cooked. Both can be placed in the center for a group to share while each person has an individual bowl of soup and pot of rice. The restaurant is close to Namwon Station, connecting a meal of the area's signature dish with a train journey into or out of the city. Its table is more expansive than a lone soup bowl, bringing together loach in broth and fried form, freshly cooked rice, nurungji, pancakes, meat patties, and vegetable side dishes.