Dwaeji-gukbap (Busan Pork and Rice Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8 to 10 liter heavy stockpot
• •Large bowl for soaking bones
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Tongs and ladle
• •6 liter pressure cooker, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the bones

   Put the pork bones and hock, if using, in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Soak 30 minutes, changing the water once if it turns very red. This pulls out excess blood before the bones ever meet the pot, which is the first step toward a clean broth.

2. 2

   Blanch and wash

   Drain the bones. Put the bones, hock, and whole pork shoulder or belly in a large stockpot, cover with fresh water, and boil hard for 10 minutes. Drain everything, throw that water away, and wash the pot. Rinse each bone and piece of meat under warm running water, rubbing off clots and dark bits. This is not fussiness. This is where the broth's clean smell is made.

   If the bones still smell strong after blanching and rinsing, blanch them once more for 5 minutes. A second wash is better than carrying that smell into the finished bowl.
3. 3

   Start the broth

   Return the clean bones, hock, and pork meat to the washed pot. Add 4 liters water and bring to a strong boil. Skim for the first 10 minutes, then add the onion, scallions or leek, garlic, and ginger. Keep the pot at a lively boil, not a sleepy simmer. The movement helps the pork fat and collagen cloud the broth.

4. 4

   Pull the meat

   After 75 to 90 minutes, check the pork shoulder or belly. A skewer should slide in easily, but the meat should still hold its shape for slicing. Lift it out, wrap it, and let it rest. If you leave the slicing meat in for the full bone boil, it gives everything to the broth and arrives at the bowl dry.

5. 5

   Boil until milky

   Continue boiling the bones and hock for 3 to 3 1/2 hours more, adding hot water as needed to keep the bones barely covered. By the end you should have about 2.8 liters broth, opaque ivory with a glossy surface. If the broth is still clear, remove the lid and boil harder for 20 minutes. The milkiness comes from bone, collagen, fat, and movement, not from flour or milk.

   A gentle Western stock gives you clarity. Dwaeji-gukbap asks for body. Keep the boil active once the broth is clean.
6. 6

   Strain and season

   Strain the broth through a fine strainer into a clean pot. Discard the spent bones and aromatics. Skim off only excessive fat; leave a thin sheen, because a completely stripped broth tastes thin. Stir in 1 teaspoon kosher salt. It should taste underseasoned now. Saeujeot and dadaegi will finish each bowl at the table.

7. 7

   Mix the dadaegi

   Stir together 3 tablespoons gochugaru, 2 tablespoons hot broth, 1 tablespoon soup soy sauce, 2 teaspoons saeujeot brine or fish sauce, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and the sesame oil if using. Let it sit 10 minutes so the chili softens and blooms. Dry chili flakes floating on soup taste raw; hydrated dadaegi melts into the bowl.

8. 8

   Dress the chives

   Just before serving, toss the garlic chives with 1 teaspoon gochugaru, 1 teaspoon saeujeot brine or fish sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds. Do this late, because buchu collapses if it waits. You want it bright and sharp against the pale pork broth.

9. 9

   Assemble the bowls

   Slice the rested pork thinly across the grain. Put 3/4 cup cooked rice in each bowl, lay 90 to 120g sliced pork over it, and ladle in about 2 cups hot broth. Scatter sliced scallion over the top and add a small spoonful of dressed chives. Serve with saeujeot, dadaegi, kimchi or kkakdugi, green chili, and raw garlic on the side. Start with 1 teaspoon saeujeot and 1 teaspoon dadaegi per bowl, taste, then add more. The seasoning belongs to the eater, but the first measure keeps the bowl from turning too salty at once.

   For ttaro-gukbap, serve the rice separately. For Busan-style gukbap, the rice goes into the soup. Both feed you, but the bowl with rice inside is the one that made the dish a working meal.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for pork neck bones or back bones cut small enough for your pot. The hock or trotter is optional, but it gives the broth body and a lip-sticking finish that plain bones alone may not give.
• •Do not season the whole pot heavily. Saeujeot is salty, fermented, and alive with flavor, and each person needs a different amount. A light base broth plus measured table seasoning makes a better bowl than one salty pot.
• •A pressure cooker is an honest modern vessel here. After blanching and washing, pressure cook the bones and hock with 3 liters water for 90 minutes, natural release, then boil uncovered 20 to 30 minutes to cloud the broth. Cook the pork shoulder separately in that broth for 60 to 75 minutes so it slices cleanly.
• •If you want the old market-shop version with offal, buy only from a butcher you trust, scrub it well, and blanch it separately before adding it to the finished broth. For a home kitchen, sliced shoulder or belly is enough.
• •No buchu at the market? Use thinly sliced scallions and a little extra kimchi at the table. Do not replace the chives with a sweet salad. This soup wants sharpness, salt, and pork, not sugar.

Advance Preparation

• •The broth can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool it quickly in shallow containers, refrigerate within 2 hours, and bring it back to a full boil before serving.
• •Chilled broth will set softly if the bones gave enough collagen. Remove some of the hardened fat from the top, but not all of it; a completely lean pork broth tastes flat.
• •The pork slices most neatly when cold. Cook the meat a day ahead, chill it wrapped, then slice and warm the slices in hot broth just before serving.
• •Dadaegi keeps 1 week refrigerated. Buchu should be dressed only at the last minute.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 760g)