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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Chicago 48hrs

On August 24, 2025 0 Comments - Photography, Travel

Chicago

Chicago seems like a city that is doing a lot of things right. The more time I spend here, the more I like it. There are endless low rise/high density neighbourhoods with sprawling canopies of old trees giving shade from the summer sun. A healthy independent retail scene fills countless blocks with small stores catering to every niche in fashion, decor, music, etc. Restaurants seem to be thriving as well. In 48hrs, we had great meals at places from classic sandwich shop Mr Beef up to Michelin star restaurant Sepia. Special mention to Jersey Mike’s for one of the best fast-food submarine sandwiches I have ever eaten. The CTA L-trains, stations and entrances are clean and efficient with colourful tiles and architecture that fits in perfectly with their surroundings. The lake is bordered by easily accessible parks, public spaces and beaches, theatres, sculpture and botanical gardens. There is so much more. It is the first place that comes to mind when I think of great American cities.

About the photographs

This was a short and busy road trip so I didn’t take as many photos as I would have on a slower adventure. But the tradeoff was that I got to see and do many fun things in short time with great company. As a die-hard solo traveler, I am starting to warm up to the idea of traveling with others (depends on the people though!). This time around, following the lead of my friend’s two sons as they scoped out cool spots in the city was an absolute pleasure. Hope we can do it again someday.

Just before this trip, I installed a mild diffusion filter on my camera lens (Tiffen Glimmerglass 1). It has tiny specks of reflective material sandwiched between two glass plates that serve to scatter and diffuse light. Mounted on the front of my Fujifilm X100 lens, in daytime photos it tends to smooth out transitions between between bright and dark areas. Points of light (especially at night) show some halation (they glow softly like halos). It is a mild effect but I think I like it…

Travelling companions: Matias, Milosz and Luke. I like the weird greenish LED light halos under the bridge.

A couple of Chicago landmarks

Chicago Theatre, a landmark in the city since 1921. You can see the halation from the lens filter around the lamp post lights.
Wrigley Field, another famous landmark and home to the Chicago Cubs. Opened in 1914 and named after the Wrigley Company, makers of the famous chewing gum some years after they acquired the stadium in 1921. I just noticed that this says “Hornitos: A shot worth taking”. Haha…that is a good line.

Millenium Park

The “Bean” (actual name is Cloud Gate) in Millennium Park. It is a 66 foot long and 33 foot high polished stainless steel sculpture. Artist Anish Kapoor took inspiration from liquid mercury. It is always crawling with tourists but absolutely worth visiting to see the surrounding architecture get bent out of shape (also to take fun-house selfies). I tried to catch some interesting reflections and angles.
Probably one of the best places in the world for mirror selfies. I am in here too..
I like seeing the actual buildings next to their distorted reflections.
Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing nestled behind the dreamy wildflower meadow in Lurie Garden.
Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue in Millennium Park. There are a few hundred people sitting in the grass watching the film Sense and Sensibility.
Free public tennis courts in Millennium park. You can really see the halation in the lights here.

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

This time around, we only used the L-train although I have used buses in the past. The CTA seems like a clean and functional system. The L-train stations have beautiful tile-work but I didn’t have enough time for pictures. Next time I come back, I will focus a little more on the L-train and stations including sound recordings.

The compact L-trains mostly travel on elevated (L) tracks around the downtown area. Underneath the narrow rail corridors are cafes, restaurants and shops. These trains are bright and clean, weaving seamlessly throughout the fabric of the urban centre. I like being able to travel with sunlight in the windows and views of the Chicago architecture. It is well worth the price of admission.

Chicago Architecture

I think I could spend a week just looking at buildings in this city. Below are a few of the better known ones. But, at least for me, all the beautifully built and maintained low rise apartment buildings are just as impressive. The number and variety of perfectly preserved low-rises in residential neighbourhoods is astonishing. This city is a real knock-out.

The Marina Towers (aka the corncob buildings) taken from under the Wabash Avenue bridge. I never get tired of seeing these beauties. The corncobs were designed by Bertrand Goldberg, a student of Mies van der Rohe. And, I could be wrong, but I think the black building leaning into the photo on the right is the IBM building designed by Mies van der Rohe himself.
Another shot of the same spot. I like the glow of the street lamps and the lit-up couple underneath.
Sometimes large scale textures show better in black-and-white images. I was tempted to shoot this whole Chicago trip in black-and-white. I think this city would look especially handsome. Just think of how New York City looked in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan”.
This is one of my favourite shots from this trip. It is a serviceman climbing a steel ladder above the loading area behind Sepia Restaurant. This is a great example of how the glitter glass filter softens the transition between the hard daylight from above and the dark alleyway below.

The way home

I was amazed at how beautiful US gas stations and rest stops are. Not enough time this trip to really document them but I did get in a couple of shots on a midnight break on the way home, just back over the Canadian border. Next trip I will focus on these colourful oases in the pitch black countryside.

Gas stations and trucks stops are so photogenic at night, especially in the deep dark of rural areas.
Mati and the Maybach
Luke shooting film…green because I messed up my white balance setting…I like it though.

This was a short but fun mini-vacation. Hope we can do it again soon with more pictures and sounds. As always, if you have any comments or questions or if you don’t like the plural of oasis, please leave your thoughts below.

If you enjoy the content and would like to contribute towards website maintenance and development, you can make a donation here.

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