Seolleongtang

These days, as the weather gets chillier, we start to crave hot food.  Hot seolleongtang is an invigorating food that will give you strength. Seolleongtang is made by boiling down a cow’s bones, feet, head, internal organs, beef brisket, and beef shank. Thus, it is rich in protein and calcium. Seolleongtang is inexpensive and has long been very popular with Koreans. The origins of Seolleongtang can be traced to the ceremony, which the king and his retainers in Spring, to honor the god of farming. The ceremony was held at Seonnongdan, outside of Dongdaemun in Seoul.  During the ceremony a cow would be killed in sacrificial offering, and afterwards this cow would be made into a soup.  The word “seolleongtang” stems from Seonnongtang, which means soup boiled at Seonnongdan. Later, the word seonnongtang evolved into seolleongtang. Seolleongtang has a remarkably thick taste, due to the long time it takes to boil. Compared to gomtang, seolleongtang has more bones in it. It is made by boiling bones and soaking a milky soup out of the bone marrow. You need to add salt or pepper powder when eating. Seolleongtang tastes more delicious with ripe kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi). Hot seolleongtang with rice and kkakdugi is a delicious meal that will warm you up in the cold winter. Ingredients & Amounts - Four cow leg bones (1kg) - Cow knee bones (600g) - Cow’s tongue (700g), Scalding water (5kg) - Water (7kg) - Green onions (30g), garlic (65g), ginger (20g), onions (50g) - Sauce: green onions (40g), salt (8g), pepper powder (0.3g) Cooking Instructions 1. Soak four cow leg bones, knee bones, and the cow's tongue in water. Change water every hour and skim off the blood three times. 2. Remove the blood from the beef brisket and shank using a cotton cloth. Then clean the vegetables and make the sauce. 3. Put scalding water into a pot and heat for 10 minutes on a high heat. Once it boils, put in the four leg bones, knee bones, and the cow’s tongue and boil for five minutes. Then put leg bones and knee bones in another pot and boil for one hour over a high heat after adding water. After it boils, continue to boil for five hours over a medium heat. 4. Skim off any floating froth and oil. Put in the tongue, shank and brisket and boil for one hour, then add vegetables and boil for another hour. Then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes over a low heat. 5. Once the tongue and beef are cooked, take them out and cut them to pieces of 3cm (width) x 4cm (length) x 0.2cm (thickness). 6. Pour soup in pot and boil for 10 minutes over high heat. After it boils, season with salt and pepper powder. 7. Put the sliced meat and soup in a bowl and serve with sauce. Written by Professor Yoon Sook-ja and translated by Kang Kyung-ah Photographs courtesy of Professor Yoon