Chef Jeong-sun
Al-tang (Fish Roe Stew)
A weeknight fish roe stew with radish and crown daisy in a clean spicy broth, where the whole success depends on adding the roe late enough that it sets tender, not chalky.
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Seolleongtang (Ox Bone Soup)
Created by
Milky-white ox bone broth that turns opaque only through time and a strong simmer, served unseasoned from the pot so each person finishes the bowl at the table.
Soups & Stews
Korean
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
3 hr 30 min
Active Time
10 hr 30 min cook•14 hr total
Yield8 to 10 servings
Seolleongtang lives or dies by patience and a clean beginning. The white color cannot be faked with milk, flour, or rice water. It comes from bones that have been soaked, blanched, scrubbed, and then boiled long enough for marrow, collagen, and fat to cloud the broth honestly. I won't tell you this is quick. I will tell you what every hour is doing.
My teacher Master Seong-nyeo made us wash the bones until our fingers were cold and wrinkled. Nobody praised you for it. If the first water was cloudy with blood and bone dust, the whole pot was already tired before it began. That lesson stayed in Notebook 18: soak 3 hours, blanch 12 minutes, scrub each cut face, then start again with clean water. 정성이 첫째예요. Sincerity comes first, and here it begins before the broth has any flavor at all.
This is comfort food, but not soft work. You make it when the house can keep a pot going, when you want several meals from one labor: breakfast bowls, late-night bowls, rice dropped straight into the broth. The pot itself is never salted. Salt, black pepper, and chopped scallion go on the table, because seolleongtang belongs to the person holding the spoon.
Seolleongtang is strongly associated with Seoul, especially the long-running restaurants around Jongno that served inexpensive bowls of ox bone broth to workers and market people in the early twentieth century. Its name is often linked in folk memory to Seonnongdan, the royal altar where Joseon kings performed agricultural rites, but food historians treat that origin story cautiously; the modern dish is better understood as an urban ox-bone soup shaped by butcher shops, markets, and restaurants that learned to waste nothing. The custom of serving the broth unseasoned, with salt and scallion at the table, remains one of its defining habits.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef leg bones, knuckle bones, or ox bones
Quantity
2 kg
cut crosswise
beef brisket or shank
Quantity
700g
cold water for soaking
Quantity
6 liters, plus more as needed
water for the main broth
Quantity
5 liters
Korean radish (optional)
Quantity
1 medium, about 500g
peeled and cut into large chunks
onion (optional)
Quantity
1/2 large
peeled
scallions
Quantity
6
finely sliced
coarse sea salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for serving at the table
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
2 teaspoons
for serving at the table
cooked short-grain rice
Quantity
to serve
kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef leg bones, knuckle bones, or ox bonescut crosswise | 2 kg |
| beef brisket or shank | 700g |
| cold water for soaking | 6 liters, plus more as needed |
| water for the main broth | 5 liters |
| Korean radish (optional)peeled and cut into large chunks | 1 medium, about 500g |
| onion (optional)peeled | 1/2 large |
| scallionsfinely sliced | 6 |
| coarse sea saltfor serving at the table | 2 tablespoons |
| freshly ground black pepperfor serving at the table | 2 teaspoons |
| cooked short-grain rice | to serve |
| kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Large 8 to 10 liter stockpot
- •Large bowl or second pot for soaking bones
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Tongs
- •Ladle
- •Airtight containers for chilling broth
Instructions
- 1
Soak the bones
Put the bones in a large bowl or pot and cover with plenty of cold water. Soak for 3 hours, changing the water every hour. This pulls out blood and loose bone dust, which would make the broth gray and heavy instead of clean and white.
- 2
Blanch and discard
Drain the soaked bones, put them in a large stockpot, cover with fresh water by 5 cm, and bring to a hard boil. Boil 12 minutes, then drain and throw away that water. This first boil is not broth. It is washing by heat.
- 3
Scrub clean
Rinse every bone under running water, rubbing the cut faces to remove dark clots and gray foam. Wash the pot too. Start the real broth only after the bones and pot are clean, because a long simmer magnifies whatever you leave behind.
This is the step people rush. Do not. The broth turns white from long boiling, but it turns clean from this scrubbing. - 4
Start the broth
Return the cleaned bones to the clean pot with 5 liters water. Bring to a strong boil, then keep it between a lively simmer and a gentle boil for 5 hours, uncovered or partly covered. Add boiling water as needed to keep the bones submerged. A timid simmer gives you clear stock; seolleongtang needs enough movement to turn the broth milky.
- 5
Cook the beef
Add the brisket or shank, the radish, and the onion if using. Simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the beef is tender enough to slice but not falling apart. Lift out the meat, radish, and onion. Discard the onion, keep the radish if you like it in the bowl, and cool the beef before slicing thinly across the grain.
- 6
Continue boiling bones
Keep boiling the bones another 3 to 4 hours, adding boiling water when the level drops. The broth should be opaque ivory-white, with body on the spoon. Do not salt it. Salt tightens the purpose of the pot too early, and this soup is meant to be finished by each person at the table.
- 7
Strain and chill
Strain the broth through a fine sieve into clean containers. For the cleanest bowl, chill it until the fat firms on top, then lift off only the thick cap, leaving a little richness behind. If you remove every trace of fat, the soup loses its roundness.
- 8
Reheat and serve
Reheat only what you need until very hot. Put sliced beef and rice in each bowl, ladle the broth over, and serve with sliced scallion, salt, and black pepper on the table. Begin with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 2 pinches pepper per bowl, then adjust. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so the first bowl teaches the second.
Chef Tips
- •Ask the butcher for leg bones or knuckle bones cut crosswise. You want exposed marrow and joint collagen. Clean white bones with some marrow are better than a bag of random scraps.
- •Keep a kettle of boiling water nearby for topping up the pot. Adding cold water drops the simmer and slows the whitening of the broth.
- •A pressure cooker can shorten the schedule, but it changes the broth. Cook the cleaned bones under pressure for 2 hours, release, then boil uncovered 1 to 2 hours to emulsify the broth. Safe corner to cut: the clock. Corner not to cut: soaking, blanching, and scrubbing.
- •Do not season the pot unless you are storing it for a restaurant line, and even then I would argue with you. At home, the table seasons the bowl. That is part of the dish.
- •Serve with kkakdugi if you can. The radish kimchi's crunch and sharp brine are not decoration; they wake up a rich white broth.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the broth 1 to 2 days ahead. Chilling firms the fat, makes skimming easier, and improves the body of the soup when reheated.
- •Slice the cooked beef after it cools, then refrigerate it separately in a little broth so it does not dry out.
- •The broth keeps 4 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen. Freeze it unseasoned in meal-size containers, then season each bowl after reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 800g)
Calories
450 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
1950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
50 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
31 g
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