Ssuk-guk (Mugwort Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium heavy pot, 2.5 to 3 liters
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Large bowl for washing greens
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the ssuk

   Pick through the ssuk and remove woody stems, yellow leaves, and anything coarse. Rinse in a large bowl of cold water, lift the leaves out, dump the grit, and repeat two more times. Do not pour the water off over the leaves, or the sand goes right back where it started. Drain well and lightly squeeze, then weigh 90g cleaned leaves.

   Use only young edible Korean mugwort from a trusted market or a clean, correctly identified source. Do not gather from roadsides, sprayed fields, or any plant you cannot identify with certainty.
2. 2

   Make the broth

   Put 5 cups water, the kelp, and the cleaned anchovies in a medium pot. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Pull the kelp out as soon as small bubbles gather at the edge, about 6 to 7 minutes, because kelp left too long turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies 8 minutes more, then remove them.

3. 3

   Add rice water

   Stir in 1 cup second rice-washing water. Use the cloudy second rinse, not the first gritty rinse. Rice water gives the soup a soft body and keeps the doenjang from tasting harsh, which matters because ssuk already has its own medicinal edge.

4. 4

   Season the broth

   Set a small strainer over the pot and rub 2 tablespoons doenjang through it into the broth, leaving behind coarse soybean skins if your paste is rough. Add the guk-ganjang and garlic. Simmer 3 minutes, then taste. It should be savory but light, a little under-salted, because the mugwort will tighten the flavor when it goes in.

5. 5

   Cook the mugwort

   Add the ssuk and press it gently under the broth with chopsticks. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just until the leaves darken and soften but still look alive. Do not boil hard. This is the step the soup lives or dies by: too short and the leaves taste raw, too long and the whole pot turns bitter.

6. 6

   Finish the soup

   Add the tofu if using and simmer 1 minute more, only to warm it through. Taste once, then adjust with up to 1 teaspoon more doenjang or a pinch of salt. Turn off the heat, scatter in the scallion, and add the sesame oil only if your ssuk is very mild. If the mugwort is fragrant, leave the sesame oil out and let it taste like itself.

7. 7

   Serve at once

   Ladle into bowls while the leaves are still tender and the broth is clear green-brown. Serve with rice and two or three plain banchan, not a crowded table of strong flavors. Ssuk-guk is quiet food. Give it room.

Chef Tips

• •Buy ssuk in early spring when the leaves are small, soft, and fragrant. If the stems are tough or the smell is sharp, the soup will be bitter no matter how gently you cook it.
• •Second rice-washing water is the old home trick here. Rinse the rice once and discard that water, then rub the grains with fresh water and save the cloudy second rinse for the pot.
• •Some homes dust the cleaned ssuk with a spoonful of raw soybean flour before it goes into the broth. That makes a fuller, cloudier soup. This version stays lighter so the mugwort comes through clearly.
• •Clams are welcome if your table likes them. Add 150g scrubbed small clams after the doenjang dissolves and cook just until they open, then add the ssuk. Throw away any clam that stays shut.
• •Frozen ssuk can stand in when spring is gone, but use 70g thawed and squeezed dry, not 90g. Frozen leaves are already softened, and too much makes the broth muddy.

Advance Preparation

• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Add the rice water, doenjang, and ssuk only when you cook the soup.
• •Clean the ssuk up to 1 day ahead, wrap it in a barely damp towel, and refrigerate in a loose container. Do not chop it early, or the cut edges darken and the fragrance fades.
• •Ssuk-guk is best eaten fresh. Leftovers keep 1 day in the refrigerator, but reheat gently and stop before the leaves cook down further.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 370g)