Sujebi (Hand-Torn Dough Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium mixing bowl
• •4-quart heavy pot
• •Fine strainer
• •Kitchen scale or measuring cups
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Stir the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup cool water and mix until shaggy, then knead 5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and firm. If dry flour remains after 2 minutes, add water 1 teaspoon at a time. Rub the dough with 1 teaspoon oil, cover it, and rest it 30 minutes. Resting is not decoration. It relaxes the gluten so the dough stretches thin instead of snapping thick.

2. 2

   Build the broth

   Put 8 cups water, the anchovies, kelp, the half onion, and crushed garlic in a pot. Bring it slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Pull the kelp out as soon as the water begins to simmer, about 8 to 10 minutes, because kelp left boiling turns the broth slick and bitter. Simmer the anchovies, onion, and garlic 10 minutes more, then strain. You should have about 6 1/2 cups clean broth.

3. 3

   Season the broth

   Return the broth to the pot and season with soup soy sauce, the optional fish sauce or tuna extract, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Taste it now. It should be savory but not sharp, because the dough will drink some salt as it cooks. 손맛 is real. I still measure it anyway, so the next bowl does not depend on your mood.

4. 4

   Cook the potato

   Add the sliced potato and sliced onion and simmer 5 minutes. Potato goes in before the dough because it needs time to soften and because a little starch from it rounds the broth. Do not boil hard. A steady simmer keeps the broth clear enough to taste the anchovy underneath.

5. 5

   Tear the dough

   Wet your fingers. Hold the rested dough over the simmering pot, pinch off a piece about the size of a walnut, stretch it thin until you can almost see light through it, and tear it into the broth. Keep the pieces irregular, but keep them thin. Thick sujebi cooks heavy in the center and makes the bowl feel tired. Stir gently every few pieces so they do not stick together.

6. 6

   Add zucchini

   When all the dough is in, simmer 4 minutes, then add the zucchini. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the dough flakes are tender and slightly chewy and the zucchini is green and soft at the edge. Taste one dough piece, not just the broth. If the center tastes floury, give it another minute.

7. 7

   Finish the bowl

   Stir in the scallions and optional green chili for the last 30 seconds. Taste and adjust with a pinch more salt only if the broth feels flat. Finish with sesame oil only if your broth is very clean and light; too much oil covers the anchovy. Ladle into wide bowls and scatter sesame seeds if you like. Eat it while the dough still has its pull.

Chef Tips

• •Do not skip the dough rest. Thirty minutes is the difference between thin, soft-edged flakes and stubborn lumps. If you need to work ahead, the dough can rest in the refrigerator up to 24 hours, wrapped tight.
• •Anchovy broth should taste clean, not fishy. Remove the heads and dark guts from large dried anchovies, and never let the kelp boil hard. Those two small acts fix most bad broths.
• •A little fish sauce or Korean tuna extract deepens a quick weeknight broth, but it is optional. The dish should still taste of anchovy, potato, zucchini, and wheat, not bottled seasoning.
• •Frozen seafood is a safe addition, not a shortcut that changes the dish: add 150g clams or shrimp after the potato has simmered for 3 minutes. Do not add gochujang. This is not that kind of soup.
• •Leftover sujebi thickens as the dough keeps drinking broth. Reheat gently with 1/2 cup water or anchovy broth per serving, then taste again for salt.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be kneaded, oiled, wrapped, and refrigerated up to 24 hours ahead. Let it sit at room temperature 20 minutes before tearing so it stretches without fighting you.
• •The anchovy-kelp broth can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen up to 2 months. With broth ready, this becomes a 25-minute weeknight meal.
• •Slice the potato just before cooking or hold it in cold water up to 2 hours, then drain well. Zucchini is best sliced close to cooking so it keeps its clean edge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 430g)