Sundae-gukbap (Korean Blood Sausage Rice Soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8 to 10 quart heavy stockpot
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide ladle for skimming
• •Steamer basket or heatproof colander
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Deep soup bowls or ttukbaegi

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the pork

   Put the pork bones and pork hock or shoulder in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Soak 1 hour, changing the water once. This pulls out the stale blood that makes pork broth smell heavy before it ever has a chance to taste deep.

   If tonight is tight, soak 30 minutes, but do not skip the blanch. The broth will tell on you.
2. 2

   Blanch and rinse

   Drain the pork, put it in an 8 to 10 quart stockpot, and cover with fresh cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a hard boil and cook 10 minutes. Pour everything into the sink, rinse the bones and meat under running water, and scrub the pot clean before the pork goes back in. This is not throwing flavor away. It is removing the scum that would muddy the soup.

3. 3

   Boil the broth

   Return the rinsed bones and meat to the clean pot with 14 cups water. Bring to a strong boil, then keep it at a lively simmer with the lid slightly open. For the first 30 minutes, skim the grey foam and excess fat as it rises. Add hot water if the bones start to show above the liquid. A sundae-gukbap broth should have body, but it should not taste dirty.

4. 4

   Finish the bones

   After 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, check the pork hock or shoulder. When a skewer slides through without a fight, lift the meat out and cool it. Add the onion, leek or scallions, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, and rice wine if using. Keep the bones cooking 2 1/2 to 3 hours more, until the broth is cloudy, rounded, and lightly sticky on your lips. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. You should have 9 to 10 cups broth. Do not salt it.

   Notebook 41 says the same thing three times: season pork soup with saeujeot, not salt. Salt makes it flat. Fermented shrimp gives salt, sweetness, and the small sea taste pork needs.
5. 5

   Slice the meat

   Slice the cooled pork hock or shoulder into thin bite-size pieces. If you bought cooked pork head meat or offal, slice it thin too. Keep the pieces covered so they do not dry out while you prepare the sundae and seasoning.

6. 6

   Make the dadaegi

   Mix the gochugaru, 2 tablespoons hot broth, soup soy sauce, minced garlic, saeujeot brine, and black pepper into a thick red paste. Let it sit at least 15 minutes so the chili flakes soften and bloom. Raw gochugaru sprinkled straight into soup floats like dust; wet it first and it becomes seasoning.

7. 7

   Warm the sundae

   If the sundae is in whole links, warm it gently in a steamer basket over simmering water for 8 to 10 minutes, or lower it into hot broth kept below a boil, until the center reaches 74 C/165 F. Slice it into 2cm rounds after warming. If it is already sliced, warm the slices in a ladleful of broth for 60 to 90 seconds just before serving. Do not boil sliced sundae hard. The casing splits, the filling clouds the broth, and then the bowl tastes careless.

   Prepared sundae is usually cooked when sold, but treat it like the meat it is: keep it chilled, reheat it fully, and discard any package that smells sour or sharp.
8. 8

   Build the bowls

   Warm four deep bowls or ttukbaegi. Put 1 cup hot rice in each bowl. Add 4 to 5 slices of sundae and about 70g sliced pork meat or offal. Ladle in 2 to 2 1/4 cups hot broth per bowl. Scatter each bowl with 1/4 cup garlic chives, a spoonful of scallions, 1 tablespoon perilla seed powder, and a few grinds of black pepper.

9. 9

   Season at table

   Serve the bowls with saeujeot, dadaegi, and sliced green chili on the side. Start each bowl with 1 teaspoon saeujeot, shrimp and brine together, then stir and taste before adding more. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons dadaegi only if you want heat. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway. That first teaspoon teaches your hand where the bowl begins.

Chef Tips

• •Buy sundae from a Korean market that sells it fresh and, if possible, in whole links. Whole links warm cleanly; pre-sliced sundae is convenient but splits faster, so it must be handled gently.
• •Saeujeot is not decoration here. Start with 1 teaspoon per bowl, then adjust by half-teaspoons. The broth is deliberately unsalted so each person can bring it into balance at the table.
• •Pork head meat and offal are traditional in many shops, but a home kitchen can use the hock or shoulder from the broth and still make a proper bowl. Technique first. A modest market will feed you well if your hands are right.
• •If you need a weeknight shortcut, buy unsalted pork bone broth or plain Korean sagol-style broth and simmer it 20 minutes with garlic, leek, ginger, and a few slices of cooked pork. Do not use sweet barbecue pork, smoked ham, or salty boxed stock. They drag the bowl somewhere else.
• •Keep leftover rice separate from the broth. Rice left soaking overnight turns the soup thick and dull. Store broth, meat, and rice in separate containers, then rebuild the bowl fresh.

Advance Preparation

• •The pork broth can be made up to 3 days ahead. Chill it uncovered until cool, cover it, then refrigerate. Lift off any solid fat before reheating, leaving a spoonful if you want a richer bowl.
• •The broth freezes well for up to 2 months. Freeze it unsalted in 2-cup portions, which is enough for one generous bowl of gukbap.
• •The dadaegi can be mixed up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated. It tastes rounder after the gochugaru has had time to soften.
• •Slice the cooked pork up to 2 days ahead, but slice and warm the sundae only when serving. Sundae is at its best when the casing still holds and the filling stays distinct.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 1050g)