Chueotang (Loach Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •5- to 6-quart heavy pot with lid
• •Fine-mesh sieve or food mill
• •Ladle or wooden spoon for pressing
• •Large bowl for cleaning loaches
• •Ttukbaegi or deep soup bowls for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the greens

   If using prepared siraegi, rinse it, squeeze it firmly, strip away any tough outer fibers, and cut it into 2-inch lengths. If using fresh napa outer leaves, blanch them in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, rinse cold, squeeze dry, and cut the same way. The greens must be tender before they meet the soup; tough stems will not soften politely just because the broth is good.

2. 2

   Clean the loaches

   For live loaches, put them in a deep pot or bowl, sprinkle over 2 tablespoons coarse salt, cover tightly at once, and wait 5 minutes. Rinse under cold running water, rubbing with the remaining 1 tablespoon salt until the heavy slime is gone and the water runs mostly clear. For thawed frozen loaches, rinse with 1 tablespoon salt, then rinse clean. Freshwater fish must be cooked through, so keep the cleaned fish cold until it goes into the pot.

   Buy farmed loach from a Korean or Asian market if you can. Wild freshwater fish are not casual home cooking; parasites and muddy flavors are both real problems.
3. 3

   Build the broth

   Put the 9 cups water, kelp, anchovies, sliced ginger, and onion in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot. Bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Pull the kelp out as soon as the water begins to simmer, because kelp left too long turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies, ginger, and onion for 10 minutes more, then lift them out.

4. 4

   Simmer the loach

   Add the cleaned loaches to the broth. Bring to a boil, skim the gray foam from the surface, then lower the heat and simmer steadily for 40 to 45 minutes, partially covered. The fish should break apart when pressed with a spoon, and the small bones should bend rather than snap. This long simmer is the price of a smooth chueotang.

5. 5

   Press the fish

   Set a food mill or fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl. Scoop in the loaches with a little broth and press hard with a ladle or wooden spoon, adding more hot broth by the ladleful to rinse the flesh through. Discard the dry bones and coarse bits left behind. Return the pressed loach and broth to the pot. You should have about 7 cups; add water if you are short. A blender may help first, but the sieve must finish the work.

6. 6

   Season the greens

   In a bowl, mix the prepared greens with the doenjang, gochugaru, optional gochujang, guk-ganjang, minced garlic, grated ginger, and black pepper. Rub the seasoning into the greens with your hand for 1 minute. This puts flavor inside the stems instead of leaving all the seasoning floating in the pot. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so the next cook can make the same bowl.

7. 7

   Stew and thicken

   Add the seasoned greens to the loach broth and simmer 20 minutes, stirring now and then so the thick soup does not catch on the bottom. Add the mung bean sprouts and simmer 5 minutes more. Stir the perilla seed powder with 1/2 cup hot broth in a small bowl until smooth, then pour it back into the pot and simmer 3 to 5 minutes. The soup should coat a spoon but still pour like soup, not porridge.

8. 8

   Finish and serve

   Add the scallions, garlic chives, and green chili, then simmer 1 to 2 minutes, just until the greens bend and stay bright. Taste before adding salt; start with 1/2 teaspoon only if the soup tastes flat. Ladle into bowls or ttukbaegi and serve with rice, kimchi, and sancho or chopi powder at the table. Start with 1/8 teaspoon sancho per bowl. It belongs at the end, where its sharp fragrance stays alive.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger for farmed freshwater loach and, if possible, have them purge it. Frozen cleaned loach is an honest home-kitchen choice. The core technique is not whether the fish was live in your sink; it is whether you simmered and strained it properly.
• •The safe shortcut is the blender, used after the loach is fully cooked. Pulse the fish with broth, then still press it through a sieve or food mill. Skipping the sieve is the corner you cannot cut.
• •Prepared siraegi gives the deepest flavor, but blanched napa outer leaves make a good soup when time is short. Cut them into short lengths and season them by hand before simmering, or they will taste separate from the broth.
• •Sancho or chopi powder is strong. Put it on the table and let each person season the bowl. Too much in the pot turns medicinal, and then no amount of rice can rescue it.
• •The finished soup should be earthy and thick, but not muddy. If it tightens too much after the perilla seed powder goes in, loosen it with 1/2 cup hot water and taste again before adding salt.

Advance Preparation

• •Dried siraegi can be soaked overnight, simmered 40 to 60 minutes until tender, stripped of tough fibers, and refrigerated up to 3 days. Freeze it in 250g portions for future chueotang.
• •The loach can be simmered, pressed, and chilled in its broth 1 day ahead. Cool it quickly, refrigerate, and finish with the seasoned greens the next day.
• •Finished chueotang keeps 3 days refrigerated. Reheat it fully and add fresh garlic chives and sancho at serving, because both lose their character when boiled again and again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 540g)