Chef Jeong-sun
Auk-guk (Mallow Soup)
Late-summer mallow leaves rubbed with salt until the bitter green water runs off, then simmered in a clean doenjang broth with dried shrimp, the quiet soup a Korean weeknight deserves.
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Aehobak-guk (애호박국, Korean Zucchini Soup)
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A clean summer soup of Korean zucchini and salted shrimp, built on quick anchovy-kelp broth and finished before the half-moons lose their shape on a weeknight table.
Soups & Stews
Korean
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
10 min
Active Time
18 min cook•28 min total
Yield4 servings
Summer aehobak is a forgiving vegetable until you put it in the pot too early. Then it gives up and disappears. At the market near my childhood house in Suwon, the best ones were pale green and heavy for their size, with skins thin enough that my mother never peeled them. She bought two, not a sack. This soup is for the day you want rice, kimchi, and one clean bowl, not a table trying to impress anyone.
The whole soup lives or dies by timing and salt. Build a short anchovy-kelp broth, season it with saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp), then add the zucchini late, just long enough for the edges to turn translucent while the centers still hold. Notebook 18 says 2 teaspoons of minced saeujeot for 5 cups of water, with another 1/2 teaspoon only after tasting. That number matters because saeujeot can swing from gentle to fierce, and a mild vegetable has no place to hide a heavy hand.
My teacher Master Seong-nyeo would tap the side of the pot when students wandered off at this point. Stay there. Five minutes of attention keeps the half-moons tender instead of melted, and the broth stays clear enough to taste the vegetable. Cook the month you're standing in. In summer, aehobak deserves this bowl; in winter, make radish soup and wait for the squash to come back.
Squash reached Korea after the sixteenth-century Columbian exchange, and by the late Joseon period the broad name hobak was used for several squashes; aehobak means the young, tender one harvested before its seeds harden. Saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp) has long been a practical coastal seasoning for clear soups and mild vegetables, especially in Seoul and Gyeonggi home cooking, because it seasons without turning the broth dark. Aehobak-guk belongs to the everyday summer table, not palace ceremony: a short broth, a seasonal vegetable, and one measured spoon of fermented seafood beside rice.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
water
Quantity
5 cups
dried kelp (dasima)
Quantity
1 piece, about 3 by 4 inches
large dried anchovies (myeolchi)
Quantity
10
heads and guts removed
aehobak (Korean zucchini)
Quantity
1 medium, about 300g
trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
onion
Quantity
1/2 small
thinly sliced
saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp)
Quantity
2 teaspoons, plus 1/2 to 1 teaspoon more after tasting
minced
soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
scallion
Quantity
1
sliced on the diagonal
green chili (optional)
Quantity
1
thinly sliced
fine sea salt (optional)
Quantity
up to 1/4 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| water | 5 cups |
| dried kelp (dasima) | 1 piece, about 3 by 4 inches |
| large dried anchovies (myeolchi)heads and guts removed | 10 |
| aehobak (Korean zucchini)trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons | 1 medium, about 300g |
| onionthinly sliced | 1/2 small |
| saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp)minced | 2 teaspoons, plus 1/2 to 1 teaspoon more after tasting |
| soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) | 1 teaspoon |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| scallionsliced on the diagonal | 1 |
| green chili (optional)thinly sliced | 1 |
| fine sea salt (optional) | up to 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •2-quart saucepan or small ttukbaegi
- •Fine strainer or mesh skimmer
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Cut the aehobak
Trim the aehobak and halve it lengthwise, then cut it into 1/4-inch half-moons. Keep the pieces even, because this soup gives you only a few minutes between tender and collapsed. Do not peel it. The skin helps the half-moons hold their shape and shows you when the edges have softened.
If you can only find dark-skinned zucchini, choose a small firm one with no swollen seed core. Cut it the same way, but start checking one minute earlier because it softens faster than aehobak. - 2
Make short broth
Put the water, kelp, and anchovies in a 2-quart pot over medium heat. When small bubbles gather at the edge, lift out the kelp before it turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, then strain them out. Measure the broth; you should have about 4 1/2 cups. Add a splash of water if it has reduced below that.
- 3
Season the soup
Return the broth to the pot and bring it to a gentle simmer. Add the onion, 2 teaspoons minced saeujeot, soup soy sauce, and garlic. Simmer 2 minutes, just long enough for the onion to lose its raw edge and the salted shrimp to season the broth.
Mince the saeujeot before it goes in. Whole salted shrimp can land on the spoon as one sharp bite; minced, they season the whole pot evenly. - 4
Add zucchini late
Add the aehobak and keep the soup at a gentle simmer, not a hard boil. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the edges of the half-moons turn translucent and the centers are still pale green. A spoon should bend a piece without breaking it. This is the point of the dish, so do not walk away.
- 5
Finish and serve
Add the scallion and green chili, if using, and simmer 30 seconds. Taste the broth. If it is flat, add another 1/2 teaspoon saeujeot; if it is savory but still shy of salt, add a pinch of fine sea salt, up to 1/4 teaspoon. Ladle the soup into bowls at once and serve with rice and kimchi, before the zucchini keeps cooking in the bowl.
Chef Tips
- •Buy aehobak that feels heavy for its size, with glossy pale-green skin and no spongy spots. Oversized squash has a watery seed core, and that core softens before the flesh does.
- •Saeujeot varies wildly by jar. Start with the measured 2 teaspoons, then adjust in 1/2-teaspoon steps after tasting. More is not always better; the soup should taste like zucchini carried by the sea, not like a jar of salted shrimp.
- •A safe shortcut is broth made ahead, or a good unsalted anchovy stock from the freezer. The unsafe shortcut is adding the zucchini with the onion. That saves two minutes and costs the dish its shape.
- •If you cannot find saeujeot, use 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce and a small pinch of salt. It will be a different bowl, darker and less rounded, but still honest if the zucchini is good and the timing is right.
Advance Preparation
- •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month. Keep it unsalted until you make the soup.
- •The aehobak and onion can be cut up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerated in a covered container. Do not salt them ahead, or they release water and soften.
- •This soup is best eaten right after cooking. Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator, but reheat them gently and do not boil, because the zucchini will keep softening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 350g)
Calories
30 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
520 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
2 g
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