Have you heard of "Good luck fish"?

 

This morning, a news article interested me by the mention of "Good luck fish."

The original name of the fish is pollack. It used to be one of the most common fish caught in the East coast of Korean peninsula until 1980s. Since every one liked this fish, there were many ways to cook it, and therefore it has a lot of derivative dishes created.

The salted eggs became a great dish, called Myeongnanjeot(명란젓). Also it can be a long-term presserved egg, called Eoran(어란) after dry and sesame oil treatings. In Korea, The pollack has names according to their condition. When it's caught as a live one, its name is Saengtae(생태), while it's intentionally frozen: called Dongtae(동태). When it's simply dried, its name changed to Bugeo(북어), however she has another name called Hwangtae(황태) after repeating frozen and unfrozen states at the outdoor dry plant. In a dried condition, its name becomes even more complex. In brief, Myeongtae(명태) is the most general name for this fish. What it implies is that the fish is truly famous among Koreans and very close to every individuals' lives. 

State	Name	Status
General	Myeongtae 명태	general name of pollack in Korean
Alive	Saengtae 생태	alive pollack or freshly caught pollack
Frozen	Dongtae 동태	Freeze caught pollacks in Winter
Dried	Bogeo 북어	simply and fully dried pollack for 60 days
	Kodari 코다리	a half way dried pollack to enhance chewing texture
	Hwangtae 황태	keep repeating frozen and unfrozen status in mountain area until the flesh turns into golden color
	Meoktae 먹태	Not enough drying process affects its skin color to black
	Jjaktae 짝태	a status of salt seasoning added to dried pollack
Egg	Myeongnanjeot 명란(젓)	salt seasoned pollack eggs
	Eoran 어란	a half way dried egg pocket with brushed over sesame oil layers
Baby	Nogari 노가리	pollack babies less than 25Cm

Unfortunately, the fish is rarely found in the East sea due to the overfishing for last decades and climate change. Because of these reasons, Korean government and environmental organizations reflect what the human beings have caused, and to promote its recovery in many ways. Here I enclose a recent documentary and news video clips about pollack.

📼 Come back, pollack!

📼 All disasters caused by human beings

Within shaman ritual rites held in Korea, we also can see Bugeo(북어, the dried pollack) to wish for luck. Sometimes, shamans lift it whether the spirit will answer the prayer, Or any shaman place the fish on the top of the main door so that many customers can visit the  client's store. In that case, a bunch of white threads are bound up which implies a long-lasting life cycle. As the reader knows, shaman ritual is very much related to Korean traditional music since most of the rites are offered with music accompaniment. 

I happened to see this fish on the newspaper, and I happily smiled at the name of "good luck fish" instead of Bogeo(북어).

The original newspaper article that inspired me this morning is as below link. Although the news article delivers a lot different from what I am talking, I still want to share the motif.

👉 Korean design jumps on the K-history bandwagon with traditional motifs