BUSAN — Fishcake in Korea is best known as a street food, skewered on wooden sticks, simmering in broth and sold for 1,500 won ($1.04) or less per piece. For decades, this popular image of fishcake has drawn the attention of tourists, making it one of the most well-known K-foods. Samjin Food, a company that started in 1953, is breaking free from the food’s stereotypical form to magnify its nutritional benefits and diversify its flavors and shapes. To its global markets, the company has branded fishcake as “seafood protein,” in hopes of growing it to the level of other meat categories. In 2023, CEO Park Yong-jun confirmed rising global interest in seafood and the new protein category at the Global Food Marketplace (SIAL) Paris, one of the largest global food exhibitions. Park, 43, currently exports fishcake to 13 countries including the United States, Indonesia and Vietnam. He runs three offline fishcake bars in Australia and plans to open three new locations in China this year. He has hosted six pop-up bars in Taiwan since last July and plans to open a flagship bar there this ye