Soemeori-gukbap (Ox Head Rice Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large 8 to 10 liter stockpot
• •Large basin for soaking
• •Fine strainer
• •Ladle for skimming
• •Sharp slicing knife
• •Deep soup bowls or ttukbaegi

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the meat

   Put the ox head, or the head meat, bones, and shank, in a large basin and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Soak 1 hour, changing the water once after 30 minutes. This pulls out blood that would cloud the broth and give it a heavy taste. Drain well.

   If your butcher gives you already boiled head meat, skip the soaking and blanching for that meat, but still blanch any raw bones. Pre-cooked head meat goes in only long enough to warm and soften.
2. 2

   Blanch hard

   Put the soaked meat and bones in a stockpot and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to a hard boil and boil 10 minutes. Drain everything, discard the water, rinse the meat under warm running water, and scrub any dark clots from the bones and creases. Wash the pot before the real broth begins. This is not fussy work; it is the difference between clean soup and a pot you keep apologizing for.

3. 3

   Start the broth

   Return the cleaned meat and bones to the clean pot. Add 5 liters cold water, the radish, onion, garlic, ginger, scallion whites, and rice wine. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat, then lower to a bare simmer. Skim the foam as it rises for the first 30 minutes. Do not stir hard, because stirring breaks the scum back into the broth.

4. 4

   Simmer low

   Simmer gently for 3 to 4 hours, partly covered, until the cheek and tongue are tender enough for a chopstick to slide through with little resistance. Keep the water level just covering the meat, adding boiling water as needed. A rolling boil makes the fat rough and the broth dull; a patient simmer gives body without harshness.

5. 5

   Lift and slice

   Lift the tender meat onto a tray. When cool enough to handle, separate cheek, tongue, skin, and tendon. Peel the rough outer skin from the tongue if using it. Slice the meat thinly, about 3 mm thick, across the grain where you can see one. Thin slices matter because this soup is eaten by spoon with rice, not carved at the table like roast meat.

6. 6

   Strain and defat

   Strain the broth through a fine strainer into a clean pot. Press nothing through; let the liquid pass on its own. For the cleanest bowl, chill the broth until the fat firms on top, then lift off most of it, leaving 2 to 3 tablespoons for body. If serving the same day, skim the surface carefully with a ladle instead.

7. 7

   Season lightly

   Bring the strained broth back to a simmer. Add 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, then taste. Stop there unless the broth is truly flat. Soemeori-gukbap is finished at the table, and if you salt the whole pot like restaurant soup, the second bowl will punish you.

8. 8

   Warm the bowls

   Put 3/4 to 1 cup cooked rice in each deep bowl or ttukbaegi. Lay 80 to 100 g sliced head meat over the rice. Ladle 1 1/2 to 2 cups hot broth over the top and let the rice loosen in the bowl. Scatter with sliced scallion.

9. 9

   Serve and season

   Serve with salt, black pepper, minced saeu-jeot, and the optional gochugaru paste on the side, plus kkakdugi. Each person should season their own bowl: start with 1/4 teaspoon salt or 1/2 teaspoon minced saeu-jeot, taste, then adjust. The broth should taste clean and beefy first, seasoned second.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for a cleaned, split ox head. If that is too much for a home kitchen, use beef cheek, tongue, tendon, marrow bones, and a small piece of shank. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too, but the cleaning and slow simmering still have to be done.
• •Do not throw all the seasoning into the pot. Market bowls arrive mild because the table carries salt, pepper, scallion, and saeu-jeot. That restraint lets the meat and broth taste like themselves.
• •Kkakdugi is not decoration here. The clean beef broth needs a sharp radish kimchi beside it, especially after the third spoonful. If you made kkakdugi at home, serve the juice too.
• •If the broth smells strong after blanching, add one more sliced knob of ginger and simmer uncovered for the first hour. If it still smells strong, the cleaning was incomplete or the meat was not fresh. My teacher would have sent it back without a word.

Advance Preparation

• •This soup is better made one day ahead. Chill the strained broth overnight, lift off the hardened fat, and keep the sliced meat covered separately so it does not break apart in the pot.
• •The broth keeps 4 days refrigerated or 2 months frozen. Freeze it unsalted when possible, then season after reheating.
• •Cook rice fresh if you can, but leftover rice is honest here. Rinse cold leftover rice briefly and drain before adding it to the bowl, so it loosens without making the broth pasty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 850g)