Cooking Attempt #6: 무우국 (Beef and Radish Soup)

Ahhhh~ I had exams on Monday and Tuesday this week, so I wanted to make something that would last awhile and be yummy enough that I wouldn't get sick of eating it all the time.

Hence, the beef and radish soup. I thought it was turnip this whole time, but it turns out that it was actually radish. After much discussion with Josh and Robert, I will specify here that it's a Korean radish, which is white in colour with a slight greenish tinge towards the bottom end.

So anyhoo, the recipe here is for about 4 servings, apparently.

Ingredients:

Beef - 200g

Water - 10 cups

Korean white radish - about the size of a small fist, let's say

Garlic - 1 tbsp, crushed

Green onion - 1/2 cup, chopped

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp

Sesame oil - 1/2 tbsp

Salt and pepper

You can use whichever beef part you like. I had sliced ribeye from a Korean market. It shouldn't be too lean, otherwise it will end up being tough and you also want some beef flavour to infuse the water. You can cut it up into small bite-size chunks.

Put the beef chunks in the cold water in the pot and turn on the heat.

When it starts boiling, the oily parts will rise to the surface. Skim these off.

The radish should be peeled and cut into thin slices (5mm) so that they cook faster. Add these radish chunks to the boiling water.

Turn down the heat to medium and let it boil for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the green onion and garlic.

It should cook until the radish pieces turn into a translucent grey. Then add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir and turn off the heat.

Now, this recipe might end up being a bit bland, but you can always add a little more soy sauce or salt to make it suit your tastes.

To eat it, you cook some rice and add the cooked rice to a bowl of the soup. Mix well and eat with kimchi. Yum!

Update: After this picture was taken, I went back and added some egg drops. You bring the soup to a boil, whip an egg and plunk it into the boiling soup. Give it a quick swirl and you've got egg drops.