Daegutang (Clear Cod Soup)

Daegutang belongs to winter market mornings, when cod is firm, cold, and worth carrying home whole. Cook the month you're standing in. If the cod looks tired, don't force the soup. Make kongnamul-guk (soybean sprout soup) instead and wait for better fish.

This is not maeuntang (spicy fish stew). The work here is restraint: clean the cod well, build a quiet kelp broth, simmer the radish until it sweetens the pot, then let the fish cook just until it flakes. Too much garlic, too much soy sauce, too much boiling, and the soup turns cloudy and loud. Let it taste like itself.

Notebook 42 says the salt goes in at the end, 1 teaspoon first, then 1/4 teaspoon more only if the cod and radish ask for it. 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on. Tonight this dish asks for fresh fish, a sharp knife, and a calm hand with the seasoning.