Eobok-jaengban (Pyongyang Brass-Tray Hot Pot)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow brass tray, jeongol pan, or electric shabu pot, 30 to 34cm wide
• •Portable tabletop burner
• •Large stockpot, at least 6 liters
• •Fine sieve
• •Sharp slicing knife
• •Small skillet for jidan egg garnish

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the meats

   Put the brisket or shank and the cleaned tripe in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the meat well, and scrub the pot. This first boil is not the broth. It pulls out blood and surface smell so the final broth can stay clear.

   If your tripe still smells strong after rinsing, rub it with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon flour, rinse well, then blanch again for 3 minutes. A festive tray should not ask the table to forgive poor cleaning.
2. 2

   Make the broth

   Return the rinsed beef and tripe to the clean pot with 3.5 liters water, radish, onion, 6 garlic cloves, 3 scallions, and peppercorns. Bring to a gentle boil, skim well, then lower to a quiet simmer. Add the kelp for 12 minutes only, then pull it out before it turns the broth slick and bitter. Continue simmering until the beef is tender but sliceable, about 2 hours for brisket, 2 1/2 to 3 hours for shank and tripe.

3. 3

   Strain and season

   Lift out the meats and cool them just until you can handle them. Strain the broth through a fine sieve. Season 2.4 liters of the broth with 2 tablespoons soup soy sauce and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Taste it warm. It should be savory and clear, a little lighter than soup you would eat alone, because the meats, dumplings, and noodles will season it further at the table.

4. 4

   Slice the beef

   Slice the beef across the grain into pieces about 3mm thick and 5cm wide. Slice the tripe into neat strips about 1cm wide. Thin, even slices warm through without toughening. Thick slices turn the tray into work for the teeth, and that is not hospitality.

5. 5

   Prepare the vegetables

   Blanch the sprouts in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Blanch the cabbage for 1 minute and drain well. Keep mushrooms raw, because they will give their flavor to the tray as it simmers. Keep carrot, minari, and chilies separate so the colors stay clean when you arrange them.

6. 6

   Make egg garnish

   Beat the yolks with a pinch of salt and the whites with another pinch, keeping them separate. Lightly oil a skillet and cook each into a thin sheet over low heat. Slice into narrow jidan (egg garnish) strips. Yellow and white are not decoration only. They help the tray read clearly before the broth goes in.

7. 7

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons reserved beef broth, mustard paste, sugar, chopped scallion, and grated garlic. Taste it with a slice of beef, not by itself. The sauce should wake up the boiled meat without burying the broth, sharp first, salty second, with only enough sugar to round the vinegar.

8. 8

   Arrange the tray

   Set a wide shallow jeongol pan, brass tray, or shabu pot on a portable burner. Lay sprouts and cabbage across the bottom so the meats do not stick. Arrange the sliced beef, tripe, mushrooms, carrot, minari, dumplings, egg strips, and chilies in radiating sections by color. Put heavier items near the outside and tender greens near the top. This is not fussing. The arrangement lets each ingredient cook at the right pace and lets the table see what it is eating.

9. 9

   Cook at table

   Pour in enough seasoned broth to come halfway up the ingredients, about 1.4 liters at first. Bring it to a steady simmer at the table. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, ladling broth over the top until the dumplings are cooked through and the mushrooms soften. Add more broth as the tray lowers. Eat the beef and tripe as they warm, dipping lightly in the mustard soy sauce.

10. 10

    Finish with noodles

    While the tray is being eaten, boil the buckwheat noodles in a separate pot according to the package, usually 3 to 4 minutes. Rinse briefly under warm water to remove excess starch, drain hard, and add them to the remaining broth at the end. Noodles added too early cloud the pot and steal the broth. Added last, they make a proper finish.

Chef Tips

• •A brass tray is beautiful, but a wide shallow jeongol pan or electric shabu pot is the practical home vessel. What matters is surface area. The ingredients should sit in one generous layer, not sink in a deep pot.
• •Do not season this like a red stew. No gochujang belongs here. Pyongyang dishes often ask for restraint, and the pleasure is in clear broth, tender boiled meat, mustard vinegar sauce, and buckwheat at the end.
• •Use purchased mandu if the rest of the dish is already enough work. That is a safe corner to cut. Do not cut the corner on broth or slicing, because those are the bones of the dish.
• •If you include octopus as some modern tables do, blanch small cleaned octopus separately in boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds and lift it the moment the legs curl. Slice it and add it near the end only to warm. Longer cooking makes it tough.
• •손맛 is real. I measure it anyway. For this amount of broth, begin with 2 tablespoons soup soy sauce and 1 teaspoon salt, then adjust by 1/4 teaspoon salt at a time only after the tray has simmered with the meats.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the broth and simmer the meats 1 day ahead. Chill the broth overnight, lift off the hardened fat, and slice the cold beef thinly. Cold meat cuts cleaner than warm meat.
• •The dipping sauce can be mixed up to 1 day ahead, but add the chopped scallion the day you serve so it stays fresh.
• •Vegetables can be washed and cut 4 to 6 hours ahead. Keep minari wrapped in a damp towel in the refrigerator so it stays crisp.
• •Arrange the tray up to 1 hour before serving, cover lightly, and refrigerate. Bring it to the table cold, then pour in hot broth so the ingredients cook cleanly together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 900g)