Korean Spicy Beef Soup (Yukgaejang)
Shredded brisket, scallion and gosari in a broth built on chili oil. Made in a regular pot, with substitutes for the Korean pantry items.
Equipment
- 1 Large pot at least 4 quarts / 4 L
Ingredients
For the soup
- 10 oz beef brisket 300g — chuck also works
- 9 oz gosari 250g fernbrake — see the post; buy dried or pre-boiled
- 7 oz Korean radish 250g — daikon works
- 3 stalks Korean scallion daepa, about 200g — or 1 leek plus 4 scallions
- 7 oz mung bean sprouts
- 5 oz oyster mushrooms torn
- 10.5 cups beef broth 2.5 L
For the chili oil base
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 tbsp gochugaru soup soy sauce — or 2 Tbsp regular soy sauce plus a pinch of salt
For seasoning
- 3 tbsp guk-ganjang
- 2 tbsp fish sauce nam pla
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 2 tsp Dasida Korean beef seasoning — or 1 tsp beef bouillon powder, or skip
Instructions
- Soak the brisket in cold water for 1 hour to draw out the blood. Change the water once if it goes dark.
- While it soaks, prepare the vegetables. Cut the radish into thin squares about as wide as your index finger. Cut the scallion into finger lengths and split each piece lengthwise. Tear the oyster mushrooms into strips. Boil the gosari for 3 minutes and drain.
- Drain the brisket and blanch it in boiling water for 10 minutes, skimming the foam. Lift it out and let it cool enough to handle.
- Tear the beef along the grain into strips. Don't slice it.
- Heat the cooking oil and sesame oil in a large pot. Add the scallion and radish and fry until the scallion softens and smells sweet.
- Add the torn beef and keep frying for another 2 minutes.
- Add the gochugaru and keep it moving. The oil should turn deep red and glossy and start to smell toasted, not raw. This takes about a minute and it is the most important step in the recipe.
- Pour in the beef broth. Add the gosari, guk-ganjang, fish sauce, garlic and Dasida.
- Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer and cook uncovered for 50 minutes. The beef is ready when a strand falls apart under a spoon — start checking at 40 minutes.
- Add the mung bean sprouts and oyster mushrooms. Simmer 10 minutes more, no longer. They are here for texture, and they lose it if you overcook them.
- Serve in deep bowls with short-grain rice and kimchi.
Notes
Fine gochugaru, not coarse. Coarse flakes scorch in the oil before they release their color.
Tear, don't slice. Yukgaejang is a soup of long strands. A knife gives you cubes, and the texture goes with it.
Pressure cooker: cut the 50-minute simmer to about 30 minutes. Everything else is the same.
No gosari? The soup still works. It will be lighter and less earthy. Don't substitute another mushroom for it — you already have oyster mushrooms in there.
Leftovers are better. The broth deepens overnight. Reheat gently; the sprouts will have softened, which Koreans consider normal.