On August 26, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments
- Cooking
Korean Beef Bone Broth vs Western Versions (hard and fast vs low and slow)
Some time ago, I posted a recipe for beef bone broth (stock) that involves a very long cooking time at a very gentle simmer (click here for this low and slow version). The result is a mostly clear, brownish, meaty and gelatinous stock. This is most often what chefs make in a western kitchen…it will typically be used as a soup or sauce base.
This recipe is almost identical in ingredients and process. The main difference is that this recipe cooks at a harder rolling boil for a shorter time. Even though the steps are almost identical, this small change results in a completely different stock. This one is just as gelatinous but, it is a silky opaque white colour with a nutty and delicate flavour. This stock is a base for dishes like mandu-guk (dumpling soup) or seolleongtang in a Korean kitchen. And, I think this is the version that most people think of when looking for “beef bone broth”.
Ingredients
4kg (almost 9lb) beef marrow and knuckle bones cut into pieces.
1.2kg (around 2.5lb) cow foot cut into pieces
water
The Korean grocer in my neighbourhood usually has beef bones already cut up and frozen in bags ready to go. If you don’t have access to something like this, any butcher should be able to sell you beef bones for stock. A separate Halal butcher in the neighbourhood stocks frozen cow feet which he chops up for me on his meat saw. Cow foot adds gelatine to your stock which will give it a rich mouthfeel. If you can’t get cow feet, you can leave it out and substitute more bones.
The weights above are a guideline. You can make this as big as the biggest pot you have to hold the bones. I have a 12 litre stockpot and this is a good amount for me. The ratio of bone to cow foot does not have to be exact but I wouldn’t use more than 20-25% foot to bone.
There is no salt in this recipe. Season the stocks as you use it, depending on the dish you are preparing.
Process
This recipe is a slightly abbreviated version of the slow-and-low stock recipe. The process and ingredients are almost exactly the same so I have left out a few of the more obvious photos. If you want more detail on any step, just reference the recipe at this link.
Wash and soak bones
Rinse the bones and cover them with cold water. You can see the hip bones on the left and cow foot on the right. You don’t have to separate them. I kept them separate so that you can see what each looks like. Soak them for a minimum of 6 hours or so. Better still, cover them and leave them in the fridge overnight. If you have time, change the water every few hours (this is optional).After soaking, blood and other impurities will leach out into the water and it will be noticeably red. Pour all the water off and rinse the bones a few times.After soaking, the bones will look more pale pink than red.
Blanching the bones
Place all the bones in a stockpot that has enough room for the bones plus a few centimetres of water plus some extra room for boiling. I am using a 12L pot here.Bring the water up to a full rolling boil and let it go for around 5 minutes. During this time, any remaining blood will leach out of the bones and coagulate into a brownish floating mass on top.After 5 minutes of boiling, dump the bones and the dirty water and give all the bones a good rinse with fresh cold water. Wash your stockpot too.
Making the stock
Add bones back to the clean pot, cover with fresh cold water. Bring the heat up until the water comes to a steady roll. This shouldn’t be boiling at full speed but the water should be actively rolling all over the surface.This is what a good medium rolling boil looks like. This is critical to the success of this stock. With the stock rapidly moving, some fats, collagen and proteins will emulsify with the water. This is what gives this stock it’s characteristic white colour and nutty flavour. Make sure the stock is moving well without boiling over.Boil the stock uncovered for around 8 hours (more is ok if you have the time). It will evaporate pretty quickly so every hour or so, add back enough boiling water to keep the water level up. I boil a full kettle of water to top it up. If you use cold water, the stock will most likely stop boiling and it will take time and attention to bring back up.An hour or so in and you will notice that the stock is becoming milky. This is a great sign.It is so opaque that even in a shallow spoon, you can’t see through it.
After 8 hours or so…
Remove the bones from the stock and strain the liquid.
If you look at these bones compared to the bones from the other recipe, you can see that these bones still have some life in them. At this point, you have the option to put the bones back in the pot, cover them with fresh water and repeat this whole process. After another few hours you will get a second stock that is a little thinner and milder in flavour. In pro kitchens, we call this “remi”, short for “remoulade” in French (basically means reboil). Once this is done, you have the option of having 2 separate stocks, one richer, one more mild OR you can choose to blend them together for something in between.These bits of connective tissue and marrow were strained out of the finished stock. Everything here is edible. If I were making seolleongtang today, I would use them in the soup. If you don’t like eating this kind of thing, just discard with the bones.Here is the finished stock in a small glass beaker. It is thick and milky.Cool your stock in a sink or ice bath until it is room temp or below. Refrigerate overnight.Once the stock is cool, remove the hard layer of fat from the top. This is pure clean beef fat. You can use it for frying and it stores for a long time in the fridge or freezer. Optional, of course.You can see here that the stock itself is nearly as white as the fat layer.Good solid jiggle…cow foot adds a lot of bounce to a stock.At fridge temperature, I can easily stand a spoon up in the stock. It is that firm. The colour is just beautiful.I usually portion my stock into yogurt containers, cover with plastic wrap and lids and freeze it. The yield from this recipe was around 6 litres of rich delicious milky beef bone broth. If you reboiled the bones, you would have twice as much. Unfortunately I didn’t have time or freezer space today. Next time for sure!
What to do with your bone broth (stock)
This is the essential milky base for Korean soups like seolleongtang (click here for recipe), doganitang or mandu guk. However, you can also use it as a base for almost any soup where you want good body and deep beef flavour. You can even drink it as is or add just a bit of cooked rice and chopped green onion for the simplest, easiest to digest, healthy and protein rich meal.
If you have any questions or comments or if I spelled Seolleongtang wrong, please let me know in the space below.
