Korea · 110 min · Meat · Main course · For confident cooks
Yukgaejang
In German: Scharfe koreanische Rindfleischsuppe · In English: Spicy Korean Beef Soup
For 6 servings · US units
Spicy Korean beef soup with shredded brisket, bean sprouts and spring onions
Yukgaejang is the spicy Korean beef soup that brings together slow-simmered broth, brisket shredded into long strands, and a generous pile of vegetables. Chili oil made from gochugaru and sesame oil gives it that deep red colour and a rounded, savoury heat. It's served piping hot with a bowl of rice, often with kimchi alongside — everyday food that fills you up and warms you through.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ lbtrimmed of fat; flank or shank also work; shredded along the grain after simmeringCut from the breast of the cow, streaked with fat; supermarkets often sell it only as stewing beef, while a butcher sells it whole or sliced paper-thin on request.Substitute: For braising and broth, chuck or beef shank works; for thinly sliced grilling, fatty beef belly slices from an Asian grocery. Lean cuts turn dry and tough.Read more
- 10½ cupsWaterfor the broth; yields roughly 1.8–2 l of soup base
- 1Onionhalved or quartered to flavour the broth, discarded afterwards
- 10½ ozsimmered in large chunks, then discardedKorean radish, shorter and stouter than Japanese daikon, with a greenish shoulder — firm, juicy, mildly peppery and slightly sweet.Substitute: Daikon or ordinary white radish work well; they are more watery and softer, cook faster and release more liquid in kimchi, so shorten cooking times and drain more thoroughly after salting.Read more
- 2 bunchSpring onioncut into 10 cm lengths, thick white parts split lengthwise
- 8¾ ozbriefly blanched or added straight to the soupSprouted mung beans with a crisp white stem and a small green-hulled head, juicy and mild.Substitute: Jarred sprouts are soft and lose the crunch that is the whole point, so they only suit soups. True soybean sprouts, with their large yellow heads, are a separate ingredient with a nuttier taste that needs longer cooking, and stand in only partly.Read more
- 1⅓ ozsoak and simmer until tender, trim tough ends, cut into piecesCaution: Bracken fern must never be eaten raw; the dried shoots need long soaking, thorough boiling and further soaking in fresh water to reduce bitterness and harmful compounds.Dried young shoots of bracken fern, soaked and cooked before use; tender yet chewy, earthy, faintly smoky.Substitute: There is no truly equivalent substitute, as the fibrous bite and earthy, smoky tone are distinctive. The closest option is shiitake stems cut into strips or soaked dried shiitake, which bring earthiness and chew but taste more of mushroom and are less fibrous; when in doubt, it is better to leave the ingredient out.Read more
- 4¼ ozsliced or torn if fresh; soak first if driedCaution: Eaten raw or only briefly heated, shiitake can cause an itchy, streak-like skin rash in some people, so they should always be cooked through.East Asian mushrooms with a brown cap, used fresh or dried, with a strong, savoury flavour.Substitute: Fresh shiitake can be replaced with chestnut mushrooms or king oyster mushrooms, which taste milder. Dried shiitake have no true equivalent; dried porcini also add depth but taste noticeably different, nuttier and less smoky-savoury.Read more
- 2 tbspfor colour and heat, increase for a spicier soupKorean chili flakes made from sun-dried red chilies, ground coarse or fine. Bright red, fruity, mild to medium hot and slightly smoky.Substitute: The closest match is Aleppo pepper (pul biber) from a Turkish grocery, which is similarly fruity and mild but oilier, often salted and slightly tangier. In a pinch, mix sweet paprika with a little cayenne; this roughly matches colour and heat but not the fruitiness or texture. Ordinary crushed red pepper flakes are too hot to use in the usual quantities.Read more
- 2 tbspto bloom the chili flakes or season the shredded meatDark oil pressed from toasted sesame seeds, with a strong, nutty, roasted aroma; usually added at the end in small amounts as a seasoning.Substitute: There is no real substitute, as no other oil carries the roasted aroma; at a pinch, a neutral oil with freshly pan-toasted, crushed sesame seeds helps, though the flavour stays clearly weaker.Read more
- 2 tbspmain seasoning of the soupA pale, very salty Korean soy sauce made from fermented soybean blocks, used to season soups and vegetable side dishes.Substitute: The closest match is Japanese light soy sauce (usukuchi), which is also pale and salty but milder and lacks the earthy fermented note of the Korean sauce. Ordinary soy sauce is only a stopgap: it darkens broth and vegetables and tastes sweeter, so use less of it and make up the difference with a little salt.Read more
- 3 clovesGarlicfinely minced
- 1 tspfor extra depth in the broth (optional)Korean fermented soybean paste, dark, coarse and strongly salty with a deep, earthy flavour.Substitute: Dark, robust miso comes closest, but it is milder, sweeter and smoother; use a little more and add it towards the end of cooking. It does not quite reach the pungent, deep fermented note of doenjang.Read more
- 1 tspadditional heat and savouriness (optional)Korean chili paste made from glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, chili powder and salt, thick, hot, salty and faintly sweet.Substitute: There is no real substitute, because the fermented depth and the sticky sweetness together carry the dish. As a stopgap, light miso paste stirred with Korean chili powder or other mild chili flakes and a little honey or sugar roughly matches the salt, heat and sweetness, but tastes flatter and less rounded. Chili sauces such as sriracha are too thin and too sour and change the dish noticeably.Read more
- 2Egglightly beaten, drizzled into the boiling soup at the end (optional)
- 4⅔ ozsoak 20 minutes in warm water, add just before the end (optional)Korean glass noodles made from sweet potato starch, greyish-brown when dried, translucent when cooked, with a firm, springy chew.Substitute: Mung bean glass noodles are the obvious substitute, but they are thinner and softer, cook faster and turn limp quickly in sauce, so the characteristic chewy bite is lost; cook them briefly and add them late.Read more
- 1 tspSesame seedstoasted and crushed, for seasoning the meat (optional)
- Saltto taste
- Black pepperto taste
Method
- Prepare the gosariSoak the dried gosari in plenty of water, then simmer until tender, let cool and rinse thoroughly; trim off the tough ends and cut the fern into pieces about 10 cm long.
- Simmer the brisketRinse the beef brisket and put it in a pot with the water, the halved onion and the Korean radish cut into large chunks. Bring to the boil and skim the foam carefully, then cover and simmer for about 1 hour, until the meat pulls apart easily.
- Strain broth and shred beefLift out the meat and discard the onion and radish. Strain the broth and skim the fat from the surface. Once the beef has cooled, shred it into strips along the grain.
- Prep the vegetablesBlanch the mung bean sprouts briefly and rinse them under cold water. Cut the spring onions into 10 cm lengths, splitting the thick white parts lengthwise, and slice or tear the mushrooms.
- Make chili oil and season beefWarm the sesame oil in a separate frying pan and bloom the gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) in it for just a few seconds so it doesn't burn, then take the pan off the heat. Add the beef, gosari, mushrooms, minced garlic and part of the Korean soup soy sauce (guk ganjang) to the pan and toss everything well in the chili oil.
- Cook the beef in the brothAdd the seasoned beef to the broth, stir in the remaining Korean soup soy sauce along with the doenjang and gochujang if you're using them, and boil for about 10 minutes.
- Add vegetables and seasonAdd the bean sprouts and spring onions and let everything simmer for another 10 to 20 minutes, then season with salt, pepper and more gochugaru if you like.
- Finish and serveIf you want them, add the dangmyeon (sweet potato starch noodles) that has soaked for 20 minutes in warm water, drizzle the beaten eggs into the boiling soup and turn off the heat. Serve hot with rice, and kimchi on the side.
Tips and variations
In a pressure cooker the beef cooks with the onion and radish in 30 to 40 minutes under pressure; release the pressure slowly and then carry on as you would on the stove. Instead of making chili oil in the pan, you can massage the shredded beef by hand with Korean soup soy sauce, gochugaru, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, sesame seeds and pepper, then add it to the broth together with the spring onions. Leek, Asian or European, can stand in for the spring onions; sweat it in the oil with the gochugaru. The gosari can also be left out of the soup altogether. For extra depth, let a piece of dried seaweed steep briefly in the strained broth and then remove it. If you're pressed for time, cook for only a few minutes after the broth and meat come together. Left unseasoned — just broth with the boiled beef — the same pot gives you the plain beef soup gogiguk.
Allergens
Contains: Cereals containing gluten, Sesame, Soybeans
May contain if you use the optional ingredients: Eggs
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
