I asked my husband, as a Korean person, what soups come to mind when he thinks of the most commonly cooked at home or enjoyed at restaurant soups. I cannot go over every single Korean soup ever made, so instead, I will break down the following popular and common Korean soups.
Besides these soups being well known and common in Korea, they all touch upon different cooking methods, different styles of soups (flavor, ingredients, and consistency wise), and call for some special ingredient prep. So, they are perfect for helping explain some cooking methods so that you can learn from some examples.
Breakdown of Popular Korean Soups
Kimchi Jjigae 김치찌개 (kimchi-jjigae)
Kimchi jjigae is a type of Jjigae, which means it is a bit thicker like a stew in comparison to guk (국). It is made with fermented sour cabbage kimchi. It has a savory, spicy, and sour flavor. Kimchi jjigae usually contains tofu, some kind of protein, onion, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, garlic, and most importantly, kimchi. Kimchi jjigae can be made from any kind of protein, like pork, fish (saury (꽁치)), spam, fishcake, or tuna.
A very important aspect of making good kimchi jjigae is using the right kind of kimchi. You need to use sour kimchi. Sour kimchi is regular cabbage kimchi that is left at room temperature for 3-4 days. This rise in temperature gives the regular kimchi a more sour flavor. If you are making kimchi jjigae, you need to use sour kimchi. If you forgot to let your kimchi sour, you could use vinegar at the end of cooking the soup, but it won’t be as delicious.
When you prep kimchi for kimchi jjigae: just remove the stem that connects the cabbage kimchi and cut the kimchi into a size that would be easy to scoop up with a spoon. Do not cut it into too large of a piece or it’ll be hard to eat later. If you are cooking and realize it’s too big, no worries just use scissors and cut the kimchi into smaller pieces right in the pot.
Another important step to making kimchi jjigae is to stir-fry the kimchi in the protein fat (pork is best) or oil. Stir fry it to the point where it is cooked but still retains its texture. Stir-frying makes your kimchi jjigae taste way more savory.
Soybean Paste Jjigae 된장찌개 (dwen-jang-jjigae)
Dwen-jang-jjigae is also more like a stew. It is made and seasoned with fermented soybean paste. It can contain a variety of proteins like tofu, anchovy, beef (brisket/fatty parts better), and different kinds of seafood like shrimp, snails, clams, or pork. Vegetable-wise, it usually has some onions, squash (애호박), peppers, and garlic. In some recipes, you can see more seasonal greens take center in this dish, like shepherd’s purse (냉이), chard (근대), or dried radish greens (시래기).
When you use soybean paste in this soup, you can stir fry the soybean paste. This will make the soup more savory and can help to tone down the strong smell from the soybean paste and make it smell more appetizing. Depending on the look and type of soybean paste soup, you may want to strain the bean paste with a small strainer to remove the large chunks.
Seaweed Guk 미역국 (mi-yokk-kuk)
Seaweed soup is made from dried sea mustard (미역). This soup has a savory flavor and silky texture with a clearer broth.
It is usually eaten on someone’s birthday, given to women who have just given birth, and it is avoided when people are taking tests. It is avoided when you have to take a test because the slippery texture makes people think the answers will slip from their minds. Although it is enjoyed on these special occasions it can be eaten anytime.
Beef, seafood, and potato are all options to add to seaweed soup. Avoid using any other kind of land protein like pork.
You need to rehydrate the dried seaweed before using it. First add the seaweed to cold water and let it soak for 30 plus minutes. After the seaweed expands, cut it into spoon-length pieces so that it is easier to eat.
After rehydrating, you need to stir fry the seaweed with the protein because it can improve the texture, and taste and remove any smells from the seaweed.
Ox Bone Soup 설렁탕 (sol-rong-tang)
This soup has milky white bone broth, and various beef cuts are used to make this soup. It is seasoned with salt by the person eating it and topped with sliced green onion, and sometimes Sōmen (소면) is added. When Sōmen (소면) is added only a small portion is added.
The broth is made from cow leg bones and boiled for a long time until it turns white.
Beef cuts like ox tail, plate, flank, leg/shank, or brisket are simmered until tender and then added.
Beef bone broth takes a while to make, so you can make it in bulk and freeze it or purchase premade broth.
Pork Bone Soup 뼈해장국 (ppyo-hae-jang-guk)
This type of hangover soup is made with different kinds of bones like pork ribs, the spine, or the back. It is a spicy, savory soup that can contain different ingredients that can help with hangovers like the dried outer leaves of radish (우거지) and other greens.
Army Base Soup 부대찌개 (bu-dae-jjigae)
Army base soup was invented in an area near an American army base in Korea around 70 years ago. It is said to have been invented because in this area processed ingredients like spam were used by the American soldiers. Korean people were then exposed to these ingredients and made this dish.
This dish varies by restaurant, but basically, ingredients like kimchi, tofu, spam, ham, sausage, hot dogs, American cheese, ramen noodles, rice cake, onion, and green onion are simmered together with a red pepper paste mixture and other seasonings.
This dish is usually assembled and then cooked at the table in front of the people eating. A tip is to cut the ingredients into different sizes to add perceived variety.
Pork Neck Soup 감자탕 (gamjatang)
This soup has a unique flavor from perilla seed powder and fresh perilla leaves. It is very similar to 뼈해장국
There are different theories for why this soup is called 감자탕. Some think it’s to highlight the potato in the soup because pork bones had a negative image. Another theory is that since there isn’t much meat on pork neck bones, they added potato. There is no term “감자” that means pork bone.
Dried Pollock Soup 북어국 (bu-go-guk)
Dried pollock is simmered with radish in a clear broth with egg, and green onion. It is light, savory, and refreshing.
Pollock is a type of white fish. It is not used fresh in this dish. When you make this a variety of soup, Dried pollock called 북어채 is used. It is dried and pre-shredded. When cooked, it has a plush chewy texture.
When you use this dried pollock, you must soak it in rice water or plain water. Doing this improves the texture by making the fish softer. After soaking, you must squeeze out the excess water from the fish. Save that water and use it as a broth. Then stir fry the fish in oil mixed with sesame oil on low heat. This removes any smell and again improves the texture.
Bean Sprout Soup 콩나물국 (kong-namul-guk)
This is a simple and refreshing soup that contains simple ingredients like green onion and a clear broth. Based on the kind you want to make, it can be made more complex or spicy depending on what you add.
Soybean sprouts (not mung bean sprouts) should be used in Korean soups; they have a crisp texture. When prepping the soybean sprouts, wash them and drain them but do not remove the bottom string part of the bean sprout it contains a component that can help with hangovers.
