Spicy Green Onion and Beef Guk

When you are craving spicy food, what do you think of first? There are many different kinds of spicy food to choose in Korean cuisine. But for me, spicy soup is particularly good. I like spicy soup mixed with rice, with well-fermented kimchi as a side. It is so delicious that I could eat almost everyday. 😉 Among the many choices for spicy Korean soup, I want to introduce a new one today. If you’ve tried yukgaejang (Korean spicy beef and vegetable soup) before, you will love this recipe too. It is a spicy green onion and beef soup called ‘PaGaeJang’ (파개장) in Korean. You can consider it as the original or a simpler version of yukgaejang. As you might know, yukgaejang is a delicious spicy soup, but it asks for some unusual ingredients such as dried fernbrake and dried taro stem, etc. It also needs a lot of cooking time and preparation. On the other hand, the ingredients for pagaejang are a lot simpler, making it easier to make. The good news is, the flavor is still very good. I already posted a delicious yukgaejang recipe and many people liked it. So, now you will have a tough time choosing which one to cook and eat. Wait a minute, maybe, it is an easy decision to make after you try this new recipe. lol 😉 Savory homemade beef broth along with lots of green onions and the spicy sauce make this an unbelievably delicious soup. There are several secret tips in this recipe, so don’t miss them. 🙂

Yield: 4 Servings

Short Korean Lesson

• Bbyeo (뼈) = Bone
• GwanJeol (관절) = Joint

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients

• 1 Lb Big Green Onions
• 1 Lb Beef Brisket
• 1 oz Cellophane Noodles
• 2 Eggs (2 Pinches Salt)
• ¼ tsp Salt (Optional)

Broth Ingredients

• 11 Cups Water
• 6 Cloves Garlic
• ½ tsp Black Pepper Powder

Sauce Ingredients

• ¼ Cup Hot Pepper Powder
• ¼ Cup Soup Soy Sauce
• 1½ Tbsp Hot Pepper Oil
• 1 Tbsp Garlic, Minced
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil

Directions

Obtain 1 oz of cellophane noodles, called ‘dangmyeon’ (당면) in Korean. If you like these noodles in your soup, you can add more. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes.

Obtain about 1 lb of big green onions. We call this type of green onion ‘daepa’ in korean, which ‘dae’ means big and ‘pa’ means green onion, so I can literally translate it as big green onion. I have difficulty finding these unless I go to a big Korean grocery store like Hmart. Then, even if I go there, they don’t always have them. I got the last bunch when I went there last time, and you can see that the condition of them is not that great. I got it anyway to show you what it looks like. It is very important to note that these are not leeks that you see everywhere in normal grocery stores. These are thinner and softer than leeks, and the flavor and texture are different. If you cannot find the right kind of big green onion easily, use normal green onions. I used half and half in this video. As you see, these normal green onions are thick and kind of big. Try to get the biggest green onions that you can. lol They will work well too. Cut the green onions into 2 inch lengths. Then, cut them in half vertically if you have big green onions, or if they are too thick.

Boil 11 cups of water and add the chopped green onions. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium high. If you use normal green onions, cook for 3 minutes instead, since they are not as thick as the big green onions.

5 minutes later, take out the cooked green onions from the broth. The first secret tip is that I will use the same water for making the beef broth because the green onions will give it good flavor.

Set the cooked green onions aside for later. Around this time, your noodles will soften. Take out the noodles from the water and set them aside.

Obtain about 1 lb of beef brisket. Here are my tips for beef choice: Beef brisket is the best choice for this kind of dish. Because it has a tender texture and gives great flavor to the broth after cooking it for a long time. However, other cuts of beef such as round steak, shank, or other cuts for roasting are good too. When you pick the beef, it is nice to have some fat on one side for better flavor.

Reduce the temperature to medium. Add the beef, 6 cloves of garlic, and ½ tsp of black pepper powder.

Cover the lid and cook it for about 1 hour. You will make very flavorful beef broth.

Meanwhile, make the deliciously spicy sauce by mixing all the ingredients for the sauce: ¼ cup hot pepper powder, ¼ cup soup soy sauce, 1½ Tbsp hot pepper oil, 1 Tbsp minced garlic, and 1 tsp sesame oil. The hot pepper oil enhances the spiciness in good way, so it is a key ingredient for the sauce. I recommend that you use soup soy sauce for Korean soup recipes because it improves the flavor.

1 hour later, take out the cooked beef and let it cool down. Discard the 6 cloves of garlic. Make sure that you have 8 cups of beef broth.

Break 2 eggs and mix them with 2 pinches of salt.

When the beef has cooled enough to handle it, remove all the fat from the surface of the beef and shred the beef into thin pieces.

Add the prepared green onion and beef to the sauce.

Mix everything together. I’m already drooling. You can sneak a taste how delicious the green onion and beef are now. 🙂

Put the seasoned beef and green onion into the beef broth. Cook covered for about 15 minutes on medium-high.

15 minutes later, add the soaked noodles and cook for 3 minutes on medium-high.

3 minutes later, reduce the temperature to medium and slowly pour the egg mixture in a circle motion. Then very gently stir it with chopsticks once or twice. It’s important to get nicely sized chunks of egg in the soup – not too big, but not too small either. You do not want to make a mess in the soup with the egg. Make sure that your temperature is not too high and you stir slowly.

In the last step, taste it, and if needed, add about ¼ tsp of salt. For my tastes, that extra salt made it perfect, but you might not need it. So, it’s up to you. 🙂

 

Tada~~ The spicy, savory, and flavorful broth, with tender beef, soft green onion, and glossy noodles are all amazing together. See how I enjoyed my soup in the video. It is very delicious with rice and the radish kimchi called ggakdugi (깍두기). BTW, I made a new recipe for an upgraded version of radish kimchi that I ate in the video. I will share that recipe with you soon. Anyway, enjoy my another simple, yet delicious 5 star recipe. Thanks.