Bugeo-guk (Dried Pollock Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium heavy pot, 3-quart size
• •Fine-mesh skimmer or spoon
• •Chopsticks for setting egg ribbons

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the fish

   Pick through the dried pollock and remove any hard bones or tough skin. Tear long pieces into 2-inch lengths. Rinse quickly under cold water, just 5 seconds, then squeeze dry in your fist. You are washing off dust and waking the fish, not soaking away its flavor.

   If your pollock is very stiff, sprinkle it with 2 tablespoons water and let it sit 5 minutes before squeezing. It should bend, not crumble.
2. 2

   Save rice water

   When washing rice for the meal, discard the first cloudy rinse. Add fresh water, rub the rice with your hand, and save 6 cups of that second rinse. The first rinse carries dust; the second gives the soup a soft body. If you have no rice water, use plain water. Do not stop the soup for that, but write down which one you used.

3. 3

   Sweat the pollock

   Set a medium heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the sesame oil, dried pollock, radish, and scallion whites. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until the pollock curls, the radish edges turn slightly translucent, and the sesame oil smells nutty. Do not brown it. This step coats the fish and radish so the broth turns pale and rounded instead of sharp.

4. 4

   Simmer the broth

   Add the minced garlic and stir 20 seconds, then pour in the 6 cups rice water. Bring to a lively simmer, then lower the heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. The broth should turn lightly milky and the radish should bend easily on a spoon. Skim only if foam gathers in a thick patch; a little cloudiness is the point.

5. 5

   Season and add tofu

   Stir in the soup soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then add the tofu. Simmer 4 minutes, gently, so the tofu warms through without breaking. Taste the broth now. If it tastes flat, add salt 1/8 teaspoon at a time. Do not add more soup soy sauce just for salt, or the broth turns dark and loses its clean color.

6. 6

   Set the egg

   Lower the heat so the soup barely moves. Pour the beaten eggs in a thin circle over the surface and wait 20 seconds before touching them. Then draw chopsticks or a spoon through once or twice to make soft ribbons. If you stir at once, the broth turns grainy. If you boil hard, the egg toughens.

7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Scatter in the scallion greens and black pepper, if using. Turn off the heat and let the scallions soften for 30 seconds. Serve with hot rice and kimchi. This is not a soup to load with chili. Let the dried pollock taste like itself.

Chef Tips

• •Buy bugeochae, already shredded dried pollock, for a weeknight pot. Hwangtaechae, the pale winter-dried version, costs more and gives a cleaner, deeper broth. Either is correct. Avoid any package that smells oily or stale.
• •Rice water is a safe shortcut that belongs here. The unsafe corner to cut is the sesame-oil sweating step. Skip that and the soup will still be edible, but it will not have bugeo-guk's proper body.
• •Season late. Dried pollock can be mild or quite salty depending on the producer, and soup soy sauce darkens the broth quickly. Use soup soy for aroma, then salt for the final adjustment.
• •For a leaner bowl, leave out the tofu and add one more egg. For a fuller dinner, add 100g soybean sprouts with the radish and simmer until they lose their raw edge.

Advance Preparation

• •Pick over and tear the dried pollock up to 3 days ahead, then keep it sealed and dry. Do not rinse it until you are ready to cook.
• •Rice water can be saved from washing rice and refrigerated up to 24 hours. Shake or stir it before using because the starch settles.
• •The soup is best fresh after the egg goes in. If making ahead, cook through the tofu step, refrigerate up to 2 days, then reheat gently and add the beaten egg and scallions just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 470g)