Sinseollo (Royal Court Hot Pot)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sinseollo brazier, 30cm shallow jeongol pan, shabu pot, or wide heavy skillet
• •Portable gas or induction burner
• •Large stockpot
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •10-inch nonstick skillet for jeon and jidan
• •Small saucepan for blanching

Instructions

1. 1

   Make clear broth

   Put the beef and 10 cups cold water in a large pot and bring it slowly to a boil over medium heat. Skim the gray foam for 5 minutes, because clear broth begins with patient skimming, not with straining at the end. Add the onion, daepa or scallions, and crushed garlic, then lower the heat and simmer 1 hour 15 minutes, until the beef is tender but not falling apart. Strain through a fine sieve and reserve the beef. Measure 6 cups broth: if you have less, add hot water; if you have more, simmer it down. Season the 6 cups broth with the soup soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. It should taste clean and savory, a little lighter than soup you would eat alone, because the seasoned ingredients will add their own salt.

   Do not boil this broth hard. A rolling boil knocks fat and protein back into the liquid, and sinseollo asks for a broth clear enough to show the ingredients.
2. 2

   Season beef mushrooms

   Soak the dried shiitakes in 1 cup warm water for 30 minutes while the broth cooks. Squeeze them dry, remove the stems, and slice the caps 5mm thick. Strain the soaking water through a fine sieve and add only 1/2 cup to the broth if it smells clean and sweet; more than that can darken the pot. Slice the reserved cooked beef into 5cm strips. Toss the beef and shiitakes with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 minced scallion, 1 minced garlic clove, and half the black pepper. Let them stand 15 minutes. This seasons the pieces themselves, so you don't have to make the whole broth salty.

3. 3

   Make meatballs

   Mix the ground beef, pressed tofu, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, the remaining minced scallion, the remaining minced garlic clove, toasted sesame seeds, 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, and the remaining black pepper. Knead for 1 minute, until the mixture holds together. Shape into 18 small wanja (meatballs), each about 2cm wide. Dust lightly with flour, dip in the beaten eggs, and pan-fry in a thin film of oil over medium heat until pale gold, 2 to 3 minutes total. Keep them small. Large meatballs make the pot look generous for one minute and then cook unevenly.

4. 4

   Fry fish jeon

   Sprinkle the fish with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and let it stand 10 minutes, then pat it dry. Dust each piece lightly with flour, dip in the beaten eggs, and pan-fry over medium heat until just set, about 1 minute per side. The coating should be thin and neat, not thick like batter, because heavy coating clouds the broth. Cut the pieces into tidy rectangles or diamonds that can sit flat in the pot.

5. 5

   Cut egg jidan

   Beat the 2 egg yolks with a tiny pinch of salt, and beat the 2 whites separately with another tiny pinch. Wipe a skillet with oil, cook each into a very thin sheet over low heat, and keep the color gentle. Cut both sheets into 4cm diamonds or narrow strips. Yellow and white are kept separate here because obangsaek (five-color balance) should read clearly before anyone takes the first bite.

6. 6

   Blanch the colors

   Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Blanch the radish for 2 minutes, the carrot for 1 minute, and the minari for 10 seconds, draining each separately. Blanch the shrimp for 45 seconds, just until barely opaque. If using octopus, lower it into the water and lift it out the moment the legs curl, usually 45 to 60 seconds, because one extra minute turns it tough. Keep every ingredient in its own pile. The order matters because the final simmer at the table is short, and the pot should not wait while raw carrot catches up.

7. 7

   Arrange the pot

   Set a sinseollo brazier, shabu pot, or 30cm shallow jeongol pan on the unlit burner. Put the radish and the seasoned beef and shiitakes across the bottom, where they can flavor the broth. Arrange the meatballs, fish jeon, shrimp, octopus if using, carrot, minari, and egg jidan in radiating sections by color. Tuck in the ginkgo nuts and walnuts if using. Arrange before the broth goes in, not after, because this is jeongol: the table sees the order, and the ingredients cook together without stirring.

8. 8

   Simmer at table

   Heat the broth until hot, then pour about 5 cups around the side of the arranged pot, not straight over the egg and fish. The broth should come just below the top layer so the colors remain visible. Bring to a gentle simmer at the table and cook 8 to 10 minutes. Do not boil hard. A hard boil breaks the jeon, toughens the seafood, and muddies the broth you worked to keep clear.

   If you own a real charcoal sinseollo, use it only with proper ventilation. In most homes, a portable gas or induction burner is the honest tool.
9. 9

   Serve in rounds

   Scatter the pine nuts and red chili or silgochu over the top just before serving. Stir together the optional cho-ganjang dipping sauce in a small bowl. Let people take a little of everything, then add the reserved hot broth around the edge as the pot lowers. After the first round, taste the broth. If it tastes flat, dissolve exactly 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in 2 tablespoons hot broth and pour it around the side. If it tastes strong, add 1/2 cup hot water. That is measuring, not fussiness; it is how the second round eats as well as the first.

Chef Tips

• •Old court versions may include beef liver, omasum, abalone, sea cucumber, or more elaborate garnishes. Cook the market you have. Good beef, clear broth, one seafood, mushrooms, jidan, and careful color will serve the dish better than expensive ingredients cut carelessly.
• •Keep the pieces close in length, about 5cm, so chopsticks can lift them cleanly. Sinseollo looks arranged, but the order is practical: sturdy ingredients below, fragile jeon and egg above, seafood cooked briefly.
• •Season with restraint. This is not a gochujang pot, and it is not meant to taste sweet. The broth should let beef, mushroom, fish, egg, and minari remain themselves.
• •If you cannot find minari, use watercress stems or the green parts of scallions. If you cannot find ginkgo nuts, leave them out. Do not replace every missing ingredient with something loud just to fill space.
• •A brass sinseollo vessel is beautiful, but a wide shallow pan on a portable burner feeds the table better than a special pot you are afraid to use.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Chill it, lift off the fat, then reheat and season before assembling the pot.
• •The meatballs, fish jeon, jidan, and seasoned beef and mushrooms can be prepared 1 day ahead and kept in separate covered containers. Separate storage keeps the colors clean and the coatings intact.
• •Cut the radish, carrot, and minari up to 1 day ahead, wrapped separately. Blanch the seafood the day you serve, and assemble the sinseollo only shortly before it goes to the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 620g)