Spicy Seafood Jjamppong Kalguksu (Noodle Soup)
A Summer Night’s Delight! Hearty Seafood Jjamppong Kalguksu with Baek Jong-won’s Recipe
Beat the summer heat with a refreshing bowl of spicy jjamppong kalguksu, featuring chewy homemade noodles! As the holidays end but vacation days linger, there’s nothing quite like sweating out the stress with a piping hot soup. Seeing the mushrooms and bok choy I bought for baby food sparked a craving for jjamppong. Today, I’m making a spicy, flavorful jjamppong kalguksu using a mix of seafood. This recipe focuses on the refreshing taste of seafood without pork, making it delicious for everyone.
Noodle Dough- 300g all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
Let’s make a refreshing and clean-tasting jjamppong kalguksu, brewed solely with seafood without any pork. Using a store-bought mixed seafood pack is convenient, and you can also add your favorite seafood like squid, mussels, or clams. Mixed seafood is also versatile for dishes like seafood pancakes or fried rice for kids.
Step 2
For a clean broth flavor, I used vegetable broth. If you’re using fresh shrimp, boiling the shrimp heads can also create a wonderfully savory broth. It’s best to prepare the jjamppong seasoning mixture the day before to allow the flavors to meld. Mix 2 Tbsp gochugaru, 2 Tbsp guk-ganjang, 2 Tbsp minced garlic, a pinch of ginger powder, and a dash of black pepper with 100ml of broth and let it soak.
Step 3
To add a smoky depth, we’ll start by making scallion oil. Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil and 1 Tbsp chili oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add chopped green onions and slowly sauté until fragrant, infusing the oil with their aroma. Following Baek Jong-won’s technique, using a generous amount of oil is key to a rich flavor. Traditionally, jjamppong involves sautéing scallions for scallion oil, then stir-frying vegetables, pork, and squid before adding chili flakes to create chili oil. However, today we’ll skip the pork and focus on the seafood.
Step 4
Once the scallion oil is fragrant, quickly add the mixed seafood and stir-fry briefly. Then, add the pre-made jjamppong seasoning mixture and stir-fry everything together again to allow the flavors to coat the seafood.
Step 5
Now, pour in a generous amount of broth, enough to cover all the seafood. Bring it to a rolling boil over high heat to deeply infuse the broth with the jjamppong flavors.
Step 6
Today, instead of using store-bought kalguksu noodles, we’ll be adding homemade hand-pulled dough (sujebi) for a chewy texture. In a bowl with 300g of all-purpose flour, add 2 Tbsp of cooking oil. Mix into a dough, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for a chewier sujebi.
Step 7
Once the dough is ready, tear it into thin pieces. It’s helpful to pre-boil the sujebi for a minute or two. This prevents the sujebi from becoming too mushy or diluting the jjamppong broth when added later. Once they float and are slightly cooked, remove them from the boiling water.
Step 8
There’s no need to rinse the pre-boiled sujebi with cold water. When the jjamppong broth is boiling vigorously, you can add the sujebi to another pot of boiling water to cook them through.
Step 9
Once the seafood jjamppong broth is ready, add the prepared bok choy and mushrooms at the end. Cook them briefly to retain their fresh crispness.
Step 10
Now, add the pre-boiled sujebi to the simmering jjamppong broth and cook for just another minute. This allows the sujebi to absorb some of the spicy and rich jjamppong flavors.
Step 11
Your delicious spicy and refreshing jjamppong sujebi, with its perfect harmony of savory broth and chewy noodles, is now complete! Enjoy your meal.
