Korean Soups: Guk, Tang

[torakris]

What are some of your favorite Korean soups?

[Jinmyo]

Oinaeng-guk (cold cucumber soup). I use a vegetable peeler to get nice strips. Tteok-guk (sliced rice cake soup). Mandu-guk (dumpling).

[jhlurie]

Oinaeng-guk (cold cucumber soup). I use a vegetable peeler to get nice strips. Tteok-guk (sliced rice cake soup). Mandu-guk (dumpling).

What she said, except for that one with cold cucumbers in it.

I've been meaning to try Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup -- kyesamt'ang is the closest transliteration of the name I've seen--which seems to have tons of ginger, garlic, chile and sesame in it.

[torakris]

Oinaeng-guk (cold cucumber soup). I use a vegetable peeler to get nice strips. Tteok-guk (sliced rice cake soup). Mandu-guk (dumpling).

What she said, except for that one with cold cucumbers in it.

I've been meaning to try Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup -- kyesamt'ang is the closest transliteration of the name I've seen--which seems to have tons of ginger, garlic, chile and sesame in it.

These are probably my two favorites as well.

Maybe I will do the cucumber one for dinner tonight!

[Jinmyo]

Oinaeng-guk (cold cucumber soup). I use a vegetable peeler to get nice strips. Tteok-guk (sliced rice cake soup). Mandu-guk (dumpling).

What she said, except for that one with cold cucumbers in it.

It's a summer thing, Jon. Have it with some nice crispy fried mandu (gyoza) and some kalbi.

[slkinsey]

What are some of your favorite Korean soups?

I love kalbi tang because it is so simple. Other favorites include korigomtang and yook gejang. I am sure the spellings are all way off.

[canoodle]

What about Jjom pong (sp) ? My husband makes it at least once a week. Spicy seafood noodles. Yum!

[jrufusj]

I've been meaning to try Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup -- kyesamt'ang is the closest transliteration of the name I've seen--which seems to have tons of ginger, garlic, chile and sesame in it.

I think you are probably talking about samgyetang (»ï°èÅÁ). This basically consists of an entire small chicken, stuffed with rice, jujube, and Korean ginseng (insam or Àλï), all in a good broth with vegetable. Garlic and sesame should be background elements and chile has no place in my experience.

Then again, you may be talking about something different.

My other favorite tang/guk are:

Gamjatang (°¨ÀÚÅÁ): Gamja means potato, which is combined in a spicy broth with beef backbone and its meat. Prominent seasonings in additional to gochujang (chile paste) include deulggae (µé±ú), the seeds of shiso that I was describing in another note.

Dakdoritang (´ßµµ¸®ÅÁ): Dakdoritang is a spicy stew/soup featuring chicken, along with large green onions (dae p'a or ´ëÆÄ) and a number of root vegetables. (Incidentally, the "dae" is the same as Japanese dai or O and as similar Chinese sounds--- ÓÞ)

Sundaeguk (¼ø´ë±¹): Sundaeguk is a soup made from the Korean sausage called sundae. This is a fresh sausage using pig intestine as casing. The soup is not particularly spicy. Often, it includes additional pig intestine (i.e. not just as casing). Many people find the smell of this soup unpleasant.

Mi-yeok guk (¹Ì¿ª±¹): This is the simple seaweed soup given to all mothers continuously from the time that they deliver babies until the time that they scream so loud in frustration that the doctor and mother-in-law relent. Only at that point are the mothers allowed to give up seaweed soup, emerge from under the blankets, and turn the thermostat cooler than 30 degrees C. Being a man, and not in danger of being subjected to such a regime, I find the soup delicious.

Gochuguljjampong (°íÃß±¼Â«ºÀ): Someone referred to jjampong earlier in the thread as a delicious spicy soup with seafood. Jjampong is a Chinese-derived dish that has been heavily adapted by Korea (as have jajangmyeon, mapo dubu, and others). Ordinarily it is not terribly spicy, but there is a wonderful version done by a restaurant near my office that is oyster-driven and includes lots of gochujang. The full name means "chile pepper/oyster jjampong". (I have probably screwed up the Hangul for jjampong. It is a Chinese word so the Hangul is harder to remember and I don't have any resources with me at the moment to make sure).

General Note: I'm including the Korean characters for those who may be trying to read Korean menus. I was inspired by Kristin's daily Nihongo in the Japan forum. If the characters don't come through properly, you can go to View>Encloding>More>Korean in IE. For other browsers, I apologize that I don't know.

Another Note: This thread hasn't addressed jjigae and related dishes. Often they are not much different except in name but they can also be very different. I'll name my favorite jjigae (and probably some guk/tang I've not had time to mention right now as I'm racing off for Indian food tonight) in another note.

Take care,

Jim

[canoodle]

[torakris]

Another Note:  This thread hasn't addressed jjigae and related dishes.  Often they are not much different except in name but they can also be very different.  I'll name my favorite jjigae (and probably some guk/tang I've not had time to mention right now as I'm racing off for Indian food tonight) in another note.

the chigae thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...T&f=21&t=22771&

[jschyun]

I just had Kaesong style Tteok-guk (rice cake soup) at Yongsusan and it was awesome. Instead of slices of rice cake, they make their own little rice balls that go into a very light, clear broth.

After that, I love sullongtang (sp?) Basically it's a white soup that's so good on a cold day.

[jrufusj]

I'll name my favorite jjigae (and probably some guk/tang I've not had time to mention right now as I'm racing off for Indian food tonight) in another note.

How could I have left out sanji guk?

Sanji guk is the hae jang guk (hangover soup) par excellence.

It is made from cubes of congealed blood, gopchang (intestines), and various vegetables.

Sounds like the last thing one needs with a hangover and I was skeptical the first time I faced it in that condition. However, it was perfect.

Also, as a summer food, I'm very fond of kongnamul guk, which is basically a soup made from pureed beans. It is served cool and is almost milky, but with more texture. Eaten with wang (king-size) mandu, it is a great summer lunch.

Jim

[skchai]

This post is getting pretty fun. Thanks to everyone for the colorful suvey of the guk/tang world!

My favorites:

Seolleongtang (current official romanization, I believe) - like jschyun said, it's great on a cold day. And because it's so bland, it's good for breakfast when (at least for me), something hotter would make me queasy. It's basically a white-boiled bone beef broth with a few slices of yangji-meori (round steak?), along with usually a few bean thread noodles and green onions. It's always served unsalted, and you add some rock salt at the the table to your liking. That's it.

Gomtang - another white-boiled beef broth, but this time with yang (tripe) thrown in, a little cheongjang (light soy sauce), and no noodles. Another bland dish, good for breakfast.

Ugeojitang - this is made with dried-up radish stems (ugeoji) which have a nice chewy texture even when cooked. Although in Seoul you get a little unsettled watching people drying it out on the side of narrow roads where cars are constantly farting exhaust on them. But you put that out of your mind when you enter a restaurant. Again, a nice and simple soup. In Hawaii, it's hard to get good ugeojitang, presumably because the "authentic" drying technique is not really available. So you end of getting some kind of modified kimchi-guk with a few ugeoji thrown in.

Boshintang / Sacheoltang / Mongmongtang, i.e. Dog Soup. O.K., I've never tried it, but it's I guess it has attained talismanic status in the guk/ tang category. As is often the case, this occured in part as a result of the efforts by PETA, Brigitte Bardot and others to have it banned. Being challenged in such a way, it now becomes an essential part of what it means to be true Korean (male).

I think I posted briefly on another thread: it is not clear what is the difference between kuk and tang nomenclaturally. O.K. kuk is usually thin and tang usually thick, but there's all kinds of exceptions. Got to wake the kids and go to work so I'll edit this later . . .

[jrufusj]

Boshintang / Sacheoltang / Mongmongtang, i.e. Dog Soup.  O.K., I've never tried it, but it's I guess it has attained talismanic status in the guk/ tang category.  As is often the case, this occured in part as a result of the efforts by PETA, Brigitte Bardot and others to have it banned.  Being challenged in such a way, it now becomes an essential part of what it means to be true Korean (male).

Yes...how could I forget boshintang? Especially during the "dog days of summer" which, traditionally in Korea, are actually the dog days of summer. There are three days during the summer when it is traditional to eat dog meat.

My favorite way to eat dog, however, is tomagogi, which is stewed and sliced dog meat served on a wooden board (toma). The seasoning dip is sublime -- heavy on the gochujang, sesame oil, shiso seeds, and more.

Wait, maybe this should be a dog thread.

Jim

[jsbst18]

Boshintang / Sacheoltang / Mongmongtang, i.e. Dog Soup.  O.K., I've never tried it, but it's I guess it has attained talismanic status in the guk/ tang category.  As is often the case, this occured in part as a result of the efforts by PETA, Brigitte Bardot and others to have it banned.  Being challenged in such a way, it now becomes an essential part of what it means to be true Korean (male).

Yes...how could I forget boshintang? Especially during the "dog days of summer" which, traditionally in Korea, are actually the dog days of summer. There are three days during the summer when it is traditional to eat dog meat.

My favorite way to eat dog, however, is tomagogi, which is stewed and sliced dog meat served on a wooden board (toma). The seasoning dip is sublime -- heavy on the gochujang, sesame oil, shiso seeds, and more.

Wait, maybe this should be a dog thread.

Jim

I actually worked upstairs from a boshintang restaurant in Korea, never tried the soup, but the smell, it is something that lingers in your nostrils and disturbs your sleep.

I think the best Korean soup depends on your physical condition (ie, how drunk you are). Kongnamul Guk (Bean Sprout Soup) is excellent at 4am in the morning after a night of drinking. But my favorite, although not exactly a soup, has to be Dwen Jang Jigae (Soybean Stew).

[skchai]

I couldn't let this thread rest until I added one more post . . .

About the mysterious difference between kuk and tang.

It's easy to tell the difference between Japanese shirumono and suimono - the former contains miso, the latter doesn't. However, no one, including no die-hard 100% cannot-live-without-kimchi Korean, has been able to give me a clear answer about what makes guk guk and tang tang.

Modally speaking, guk is clear broth and tang is thicker pottage, but there are so many exceptions to make this wholely unsatisfactory even as a rule of thumb. Most obviously, Korean miso soup is called twoenjangguk, even though it obviously is not a clear broth. Any thicker and it doesn't become twoenjangtang; it becomes twoenjangcchigae!

Many tangs are based upon rapidly boiled bone stock, and thus have a milky color, e.g. seollongtang (thick beef soup with a few bean thread noodles), gomtang (thick beef soup with offal), and kkorigomtang (oxtail soup). So perhaps that's it?

Unfortunately, galbitang (beef rib soup) are is clear-simmered, which messes up the generalization. O.K., it, like the aforementioned tangs, is beef-based. But where does that leave jeonboktang (abalone soup) and gultang (oyster soup)?

Well, we can say that all the above tangs have a high chunk (geondugi) / broth ratio, unlike guks such as miyeokguk (seaweed soup) or muguk (white radish soup), which are relatively watery and short on chunks. However, the highest chunk / broth ratios of any soups short of cchigae are found in tteokguk (rice cake soup) and tteokmanduguk (rice cake and meat dumpling soup)!

So frustrating. . .

O.K. I do have better ways to spend my time. But I wrote this because I used to have a lot of fun with my son (when he was four or five) playing the "guk or tang?" game. We would open up the pages of the soup volume in Hyundai's "Love Cooking" cookbook series (yes, Hyundai produces things other than cars, semiconductors, and tours to North Korea), and guess from the pictures alone which was a guk and which was a tang. . .

So it brings back happy memories as well. . .

Edited September 10, 2003 by skchai (log)

[jrufusj]

I just had Kaesong style Tteok-guk (rice cake soup) at Yongsusan and it was awesome.  Instead of slices of rice cake, they make their own little rice balls that go into a very light, clear broth. 

jschyun:

Did you have this at one of the Yongsusan restaurants in Seoul? Or is there an outlet now in other places?

I think you've indicated before that you live in California. I didn't know if you were recently on a trip to Seoul or if there is an outlet in the LA area.

I'm not a big fan of yangban shik, except for special occasions. I'm much more partial to everyday sorts of Korean food. However, I really do like Yongsusan. If Yongsusan is broadly typical of Kaesong style food, I'll have to explore and search out other examples.

Still, I have to admit that I still can't get excited about shinsollo.

There is a new Yongsusan (opened about a year ago) across the street from my office. I should go sometime soon. Haven't eaten at one of these in almost two years.

Jim

Edited: To correct a typo and fix repetitive diction.

Edited September 29, 2003 by jrufusj (log)

[mongo_jones]

is mool naeng myun a soup? if so, that's my favorite on hot summer days. also my wife makes a mean clear ox-tail soup.

[skchai]

mongo,

mool naeng myun is indeed a soup. "mool" means "water" or "liquid". This is in contrast to bibim naeng myun, which is dry and "mixed" with chili sauce

oxtail soup is great as well. . . especially when the weather starts to get cold. . .

[mongo_jones]

i wasn't sure if mool naeng myun would be a noodle dish or a cold soup. i guess i could have just asked my wife.

mool naeng myun and bibim naeng myun are among my favorite korean dishes--one of the things i miss most about l.a is access to the wonderful, open 24 hrs, hodori at the corner of vermont and olympic. it was always our destination for mool naeng myun on summer afternoons and bibim naeng myun or yook gae jiang on a late weekend night. here in boulder there is but one korean restaurant and it gives the japanese items on its menu top billing.

my wife--who is korean--is a great cook but there are somethings she doesn't make: the naeng myuns are among them.

a couple of bbq places in l.a--the prosaically titled corner place among them--also serve another great cold noodle soup, which smells like a calcutta drain but is incredibly tasty and refreshing (lots of sliced cucumber in what tastes like water that's been used to soak a lot of kim-chi and then drained). anyone know what i'm talking about?

[skchai]

Naengmyun is usually one of those things that are rarely made at home - the broth is fairly complicated and needs to be made in pretty huge quantities to be worth the effort.

The cold soup you're referring to is probably "oi naengguk" (cold cucumber soup). Were the noodles the same kind that you have in naengmyon or were they white noodles?

[mongo_jones]

The cold soup you're referring to is probably "oi naengguk" (cold cucumber soup). Were the noodles the same kind that you have in naengmyon or were they white noodles?

so over a lunch of chicken udon (home-made broth) and duk-buk-ki i finally got around to asking my wife what the noodle-soup thingy i was referring to is called. she tells me that is not technically a soup since no broth as such is made for it--rather the liquid is cold kim chi water. the dish (which has white noodles) is called

dongchimi-kuk-su. it is a noodle dish and as such belongs in the cold noodles thread. my apologies.

[skchai]

No need for apologies, clearly, but interestingly, dongchimi doesn't usually have cucumbers in it, so yours seems to have been an unusual version!

[mongo_jones]

the apology wasn't serious. re. the cucumbers, i may be making this up. i seem to remember thinly sliced cucumbers but maybe it was radish. we'll be in l.a for a couple of days on our way to india in 2 weeks. i don't know that we'll eat at corner place but if we do i'll confirm.

[skchai]

Whereever you eat, looking forward to your report!