Seonji-haejangguk (Ox Blood Hangover Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large 6-quart heavy pot
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Tongs
• •Slotted spoon
• •Small pot for warming the seonji
• •Large bowl for seasoning the ugeoji

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the bones

   Put the beef bones and brisket in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring to a hard boil for 8 minutes, then drain everything. Rinse the bones, meat, and pot clean. It looks wasteful in a blood soup, but this first water is not broth; it carries bone scum that would muddy the bowl.

   Do not skip the rinse after blanching. A clean broth lets the seonji taste soft and mineral, not murky.
2. 2

   Simmer the broth

   Return the rinsed bones and brisket to the clean pot with 12 cups cold water. Bring to a simmer, skim for 10 minutes, then add the radish, onion, crushed garlic, ginger slices, and the halved scallion. Keep it at a steady gentle simmer for 2 hours. Pull the brisket out after about 75 minutes, when a chopstick slides through it, and let it cool before slicing or tearing it. Strain the broth and measure out exactly 8 cups. If you are short, add water; if you have too much, simmer it uncovered until it measures 8 cups. The seasoning below is written for that amount, because a wandering broth makes a wandering soup.

3. 3

   Blanch the ugeoji

   Bring a separate pot of water to a boil and add the coarse salt. Blanch the ugeoji for 4 to 5 minutes, until the thick ribs bend without snapping. Rinse under cold water, squeeze until damp but not dry, and cut into 3-inch lengths. The greens need their raw edge removed before they can carry the broth.

4. 4

   Season the greens

   In a bowl, mix the doenjang, gochugaru, 1 tablespoon of the guk-ganjang, minced garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil, black pepper, and perilla seed powder if using. Add the blanched ugeoji and the sliced brisket, then massage the seasoning in with your hand. Let it sit 10 minutes. Seasoning the cabbage before it enters the pot makes the greens taste seasoned through, not just dipped in salty broth.

   손맛 is real; I measure it anyway. Three tablespoons doenjang to 8 cups broth gives body without burying the cabbage.
5. 5

   Prepare the seonji

   Rinse the prepared seonji gently in cold water and cut it into 1-inch-thick pieces if it is not already cut. In a small pot, bring water and the rice wine or soju to a bare simmer, then slide in the seonji for 3 minutes. Lift it out with a slotted spoon. This clears the mineral edge and warms the blood curd without making it rubbery.

6. 6

   Cook the greens

   Bring the 8 cups of beef broth to a simmer in the soup pot. Add the seasoned ugeoji and brisket and simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cabbage has softened and the broth has taken on the color of doenjang and gochugaru. Keep the pot lively at the edges, not violent. The greens need time to give themselves to the soup.

7. 7

   Add sprouts and scallions

   Add the soybean sprouts, sliced scallions, and chilis if using. Simmer with the lid off for 7 minutes. Bean sprouts have their own smell; lid off from the start keeps it clean. Taste the broth and adjust with the remaining 1 tablespoon guk-ganjang and 1 teaspoon salt. If it still tastes flat, add up to 1/2 teaspoon more salt. It should be savory and slightly peppery, not so salty that it tires the rice.

8. 8

   Slip in seonji

   Lower the heat before the seonji goes in. Slide the pieces into the soup and let them barely simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, until hot through. Do not let the pot roll. Stir once from the edge with a spoon, gently. The seonji should cut softly under the spoon, not bounce back from it.

9. 9

   Serve the bowls

   Ladle the soup into deep bowls, giving each person greens, sprouts, beef, broth, and one or two pieces of seonji. Serve with hot rice and kkakdugi. Put extra gochugaru or perilla seed powder on the table for those who want it, but taste the soup first. Let it taste like itself.

Chef Tips

• •Buy seonji only from a trusted Korean butcher or market, already prepared and kept cold. It should smell clean and mineral, never sour. If your market cannot sell inspected seonji, make ugeoji-haejangguk with beef and greens instead; do not pretend it is the same dish.
• •Ugeoji is best made from the outer leaves of napa cabbage, the ones people too quickly throw away. If you cannot find it, use sturdy napa leaves or savoy cabbage. Do not use tender baby greens here; they collapse before the broth is ready.
• •Perilla seed powder is optional, but useful. It gives the broth a soft nutty body and rounds the iron edge of the seonji. Add it with restraint, because too much makes the soup pasty.
• •A safe shortcut is good unsalted beef bone broth. Use 8 cups, simmer it 20 minutes with radish, onion, garlic, ginger, and scallion, then continue with the seasoned greens. The corner you cannot cut is the last simmer: the seonji must go in late and gently.
• •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently until hot through, without a rolling boil. The broth improves, but the seonji firms each time, so do not make a large pot unless the table will eat it.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef broth can be made up to 3 days ahead. Chill it, lift off the hardened fat, and measure 8 cups before cooking the soup.
• •The ugeoji can be blanched, squeezed, and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Season it the day you cook the soup so the doenjang does not draw it too salty.
• •The brisket can be cooked with the broth, sliced, and refrigerated overnight. Add it back when you season the greens.
• •Do not cut and blanch the seonji far ahead. Keep it cold, handle it gently, and prepare it just before it goes into the soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 1100g)