Posts in Category: Cooking

Seolleongtang

On August 28, 2025 0 Comments - Cooking

Seolleongtang is the first meal I ever ate in Korea. After a 15 hour flight and a long train ride, I finally arrived at my Insa-dong hotel sore, exhausted and hungry. The closest restaurant was directly behind the hotel, attached to the parking lot. This unassuming restaurant turned out to be one of the oldest in Seoul: Imun Seolleongtang. I had a big hot bowl of this plain milky beef soup and within an hour I felt completely refreshed. This simple soup seemed to erase my body’s memory of being crushed in an economy seat for the last 15 hours. It was like magic.

Since then, I have been back to Korea many times and I always start and finish my travels with this simple meal. Imun Seolleongtang has since received Michelin recognition and so it is busier (and more expensive) than ever with lots of tourists coming in to snap photos for instagram and tiktok. The staff seem to take it in stride, brisk and efficient, though maybe somewhat less friendly than I remember nearly 10 years ago. Also gone is the sloppy bucket of juicy and chunky kkadugi in the middle of the table and the big basket of chopped green onion. These now arrive in less bottomless portions after you order. But, even though some things have changed, the food is still as delicious as I remember and I still go to Imun as well as another smaller family run Seollongtang restaurant nearby.

Homemade seolleongtang

Seolleongtang always seemed kind of mysterious to me. Where did that milky colour come from? How was this simple soup so nutty and delicious? It arrives at the table completely bland and unseasoned but the addition of a little salt and pepper, kimchi juice and green onion turns it into something deep and complex and unforgettable.

Like a good food detective, I decided to launch a full investigation. After much reading and video watching, I discovered that the secret is really in the style of beef stock, in the process rather than the ingredients. The recipe below is a two-part process. First you will need to make the milky bone broth. Once you have this broth on hand, turning it into finished seolleongtang is a very simple and quick process. You can find the complete recipe for the beef bone broth by clicking here.

Ingredients

*this is for one big portion or 2 smaller portions

  • 1 litre Korean milky beef bone broth
  • 250gr beef brisket point
  • cooked white rice
  • cooked somyeon/somen noodles
  • 2-3 green onions (scallions)
  • salt and pepper

I used brisket point. You can use any beef you like. Tougher cuts will take longer to soften up and more tender cuts will take less time. I like brisket because it is somewhere in between. It has the deep beef flavour of a tougher muscle but is slightly more tender so takes a little less time to cook. If you like, you can soak the meat in water for a few hours to remove some of the blood but, this is optional.

Process

raw seolleongtang ingredients
Raw ingredients. This is leftover rice from yesterday. I am cooking a whole portion of noodles but probably will not use them all in here.
sliced brisket point
Slice beef into thin bite-sized pieces. Note: if you are making seolleongtang and the bone broth on the same day, you can cook the uncut chunk of meat directly in the broth and slice it after it is cooked. Either way will work. I think that slicing the meat first and then cooking might give it a slightly drier texture but I don’t think it makes that much difference in the end.
cooking somen noodles
In a seperate pot, precook your somyeon according to the directions on the package. The ones I am using take around 3 minutes.
Drain the noodles and rinse them with cool water.
Warm up the beef broth.
Add in slices of meat. Cover the pot and simmer the meat in the broth until it is as tender as you like. I let this brisket go for about 30 minutes.
Add noodles. You can put as many noodles as you like.
assembling finished seolleongtang
Scoop in some rice. You can also serve a bowl of fresh rice on the side. I usually end up putting most of it in the soup anyways so I will add it now.
While the above ingredients are warming through, slice up some green onions.
Once everything is warmed through, it is ready to go. Serve it with kimchi, salt, pepper and green onion on the side. As you add salt, you will notice that the bland broth suddenly comes alive with rich nutty sweet and beefy flavour. Add some pepper if you like. You can also add in some kimchi juice if you want to give it a little spice or acid. This is usually served with a juicy kkakdugi and this radish kimchi is a perfect accompaniment to this dish. Some time ago, I made a batch of watery kkakduki to eat with seolleongtang but I ate it all before I got around to cooking this. Cabbage kimchi is also good. You can find the kkakdugi recipe by clicking here. This doesn’t look too impressive at the table does it?
All the good stuff is hiding in the milky broth.
a look at the finished and seasoned soup

The verdict?

This turned out to be very very good. Maybe 4 out of 5 stars. One star off because, as good as it is, it doesn’t quite measure up to the flavour of Imun Seolleongtang in Seoul. But, honestly, I can say the same thing about all Korean food made outside of Korea. There is always a little something missing when you make these dishes yourself or, eat them in restaurants back home. I think a big part of this is the high quality of ingredients in Korea but, there is also generational knowledge and experience that adds flavour to these dishes and makes the magic hard to replicate. Imun Seolleongtang has been making this same dish for over 100 years and legend has it that the same stock pot has been continuously boiling fresh bones every day for the whole time!

Having said that, I am really happy with the way this turned out and I feel just as refreshed after eating a big hot bowl of this flavourful soup. 시원하다!

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the space below. Thanks for reading!

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Beef Bone Broth Version 2: Korean Style

On August 26, 2025 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

beef bones soaking in water
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.
beef bones after soaking
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.
raft of blood from blanching of bones
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.
rinsing bones in sink
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.
boiling the beef bone broth
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.

bones strained out of broth
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.
removing fat layer from finished bone broth
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.
broth prepared for freezing
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.

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Jeow Bong

On August 10, 2025 3 Comments - Cooking

What is it?

Jeow bong (or jaew bong) is a Lao chili paste used as a dip or seasoning. It is powerful and complex: full of strong aromatics and potent citrus and fruit flavours, all tied together with fermented fish sauce.

One summer at the restaurant we had a food runner who’s mom was from Laos. We became pretty good friends and her family ended up visiting for a meal a few times. I had fun preparing interesting veggie dishes (off menu) for her vegetarian dad and sister.

Afterwards, on more than one occasion, her mom sent me homemade Lao beef jerky and other little snacks. One time I even got a full dinner-set of larp, sticky rice, sides and, of course, jeow bong! This was my first experience with Lao food and I was hooked.

Sometime before our food runner left to go to university, she brought me my own bamboo sticky rice steamer and pot set with a couple of little rice baskets. This was such a thoughtful gift and I use them often. Thanks Tounie, Émilie and famille Desrosiers!

Jeow bong recipe:

This is a very good recipe. I am always surprised at how incredibly delicious it is every time I eat it.

First let me say that although I am a professional chef, I am no expert at Lao cooking. I have learned to make a few dishes because I like them so much but I am still learning. When I looked around the internet for recipes, I found many different recipes for jeow bong. I pulled from a few of them, combining ingredients that I can easily get in my neighbourhood. Many recipes include pig skin as an ingredient but I left it out of this recipe only because I didn’t have time to pick it up. This recipe turned out very well without it but next time I may try with pork included.

Ingredients

  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 4 medium shallots
  • around 25 grams fresh galangal (one thumb-size chunk)
  • 20 grams dried chilis
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) of water
  • olive oil for frying (1-2 tablespoons)
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) fish sauce
  • 6 kaffir lime leaves
  • 25 grams tamarind paste (a little less than 2 tablespoons)
  • 1 teaspoon MSG or Aji-no-moto (same thing, different name)
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or use regular white sugar)

Process

jeow bong ingredients
Raw ingredients.
chopped shallots and garlic
Slice shallots and garlic into uniform smaller pieces…this will help them to brown and cook evenly and will make them easier to crush with a mortar and pestle.
chopped galangal and kaffir lime leaves
Slice galangal into smaller pieces, rough chop lime leaves (you don’t have to do this but it keeps them from bouncing out of the mortar).
grating palm sugar
Shave palm sugar…you can probably just cut off a tablespoon-sized chunk if you don’t have a rasp.
In a hot dry pan, toast the shallots and garlic. Keep them moving.
heating shallots and garlic in dry pan
When they start to get brown and soften up a little, they are done.
heating galangal and lime leaves in dry pan
Dry roast galangal and lime leaves. These don’t need to brown. Just heat them until they are very aromatic. Use your nose. It is ok if the leaves char just a little. Galangal looks like ginger and I guess it shares a little of the flavour but…it has a much sweeter fruity aroma. I think it smells kind of like pink bubblegum when you warm it up.
roasting chilis in dry pan
Roast chilis until they become dark and smokey. A few charred patches are ok.
all aromatics pictured with stone mortar and pestle for making jeow bong
Now these will get processed by hand with this stone mortar and pestle. I think most people probably use a food processor instead but I wanted to try it this traditional way. It was more work that I thought!
scissors cutting chilis to smaller size
Start with the chilies. I snip mine into smaller pieces with scissors first. This way they don’t bounce out of the mortar so easily when you are grinding them.
chilis after grinding in mortar
Grind and pound them into a rough powder.
galangal and lime leaf grinding in mortar
Add galangal and kaffir lime leaves.
Pound and grind these into a rough paste. This takes a considerable amount of time and muscle. I was surprised.
Repeat this process with the shallots and garlic…pound..grind..pound…grind.
adding garlic and shallots to mortar and grinding into paste
This looks good to me. This is much rougher than would come out of a food processor (or a jar) but, I like the rustic look and once you cook it out everything relaxes into a nice soft paste.
Heat oil in a heavy pan.
cooking paste from mortar in pan
Add all of the paste from the mortar and warm it through.
Add the fish sauce, palm sugar, MSG, tamarind and water.
cooking paste while reducing liquid
Cook over medium heat stirring often.
finished jeow bong in pan
Once it cooks down to a sticky paste, it is done. Remove from heat and cool it down.
cooling jeow bong
Finished product! This is definitely chunkier than you would get if you bought it in a jar. But, it is delicious and easy to eat. Addictive! Personally, I like this rustic homemade look out of the mortar and pestle. If you want something perfectly smooth, use a food processor instead.

Now what?

Store the paste in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

You can use your jeow bong as a dip for meats or veggies or mix it into stir fried dishes. Or, try swiping a little onto a ball of warm sticky rice and popping it into your mouth. This is my favourite way to eat it.

Go easy with this stuff. It is surprisingly powerful!

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.

Thanks for reading : )

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