Yukgaejang (육개장)
From June until September I was taking a Korean cooking class with a friend. I really love to cook, but here in Korea eating out is so cheap that I generally don’t bother with cooking anything at home too much. The cooking class is a nice way to get out of the house and do something different. Over the coming months, I’ll be (sporadically) posting some of the recipes that I’ve learned. I’ve changed the recipes a little from what was handed out in class on paper, but it’s still an authentic Korean style dish. For the sake of any expats that come across the site, I will be providing translations of the ingredients into hangul to assist with finding stuff at the local markets. My first submission is Yukgaejang (육개장), spicy beef & leek soup.
I’m not sure why, but here in Korea, the leeks seem to be called green onions. I’ve seen both labels at the markets. Appearance-wise to me they look more like leeks. The green onions I am accustomed to seeing back home are called ‘spring onions’ over here.
Yukgaejang (육개장) |
Broth
Beef Seasoning
Boil the water. Add the beef and turn the heat down. Gently boil for 90 minutes. While the beef is boiling, prepare the seasoning. Just mix the ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Cut the leeks (and their leaves) in half. then cut them into 7-10cm strips. Put the leeks into a bowl and sprinkle about 1 or 2 tbsp of coarse salt over them. Scrunch and scrub the salted leeks, they will become a little tender. Rinse the salt away and set aside. Once the beef is cooked, remove it from the pot, (you can let the water continue to boil down for a stronger broth). Shred the beef with your fingers into about 5cm strips. Mix the shredded beef with the seasoning, and place it back into the pot along with the leeks. Boil gently for 20 minutes. Serve with rice and enjoy |