Snapshots from South Korea: Seafood Noodle Soup from Samcheong-dong Sujebi
From May 8 to May 12 I visited Seoul for the first time, mostly to eat as much food as I could and learn about a cuisine I knew little about.
When Dan of food blog Seoul Eats told me he was going to take me to a restaurant that specialized in dumpling soup, I envisioned mandu. But this dish featured the dough-only sort of dumplings, like dumpling skins without the filling, which turned out to be even better than my initial idea.
For my introduction to sujebi, a noodle soup dish where the noodles are chunks of roughly torn dough, Dan brought me to Samcheong-dong Sujebi, a popular old-school sujebi joint sporting a light teal color scheme that, I would assume, has always been the same. While Dan explained that it was known for having a line out the door (granted, a fast-moving line), it was calm when we visited on a Thursday afternoon.
To avoid getting full before dinner we shared one bowl of sujebi (₩6,000, about $4.80), accompanied by "eat as much as you want" buckets of kimchi. The thick, semi-opaque soup with sliced zucchini, carrot, and potato burst with the briny goodness of anchovy sauce and clams. My not especially seafood-minded palette though the flavor tasted balanced—not too salty and far from bland. Paired with plenty of large ragged noodles featuring a pleasantly soft and hearty chewy texture, this is something I could see myself waiting in line for, especially for only ₩6,000.
You know a place is specialized when their menu only has six items. I didn't get to try any of the savory pancakes, but I heard they were good. A translation, courtesy of bionicgrrrl (from left to right):
Sujebi: 6000
Chapssal Sujebi (Sweet Rice/Sticky Rice Sujebi): 7000
Pajun (Korean Pancake): 10000
Kamjajun (Potato Pancake): 6000
Nokdoojun (Mung Bean Pancake): 10000
Jjookkoomi Bokum (Sauteed/Stir Fried Baby Octopus): 12000
Dongdongjoo (Korean Rice Liquor): 3000
Samcheong-dong Sujebi
102 Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (map)
(02) 735-2965
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9 Comments:
Ok, I'm definitely trying sujebi next time I go out to eat Korean food.
Not really related and yet sorta, when I scoop wonton soup at a Chinese place, I always try to get the wonton w/o the meat because I love the texture of the thick, substantive dough. Kinda like how I only buy kluski noodles when we make chicken noodle soup.
Cassaendra at 11:19AM on 05/20/09
YUM!!!!! I'm so jealous :(
My mom says this dish was made way back when in order to stretch the flour to feed the fam!
Did you eat it with the soy sauce?
Ambitous at 12:45PM on 05/20/09
wow, that looks delicious.
my aunt used to make this when i was growing up. i've never seen a restaurant serve this in the states.
pixshim at 1:03PM on 05/20/09
i made this last night for dinner! i love soojaebi. i even like to make a spicy version. buti agree with pixshim, its not usually on the menu in restaurants. the only place i've seen it on the menu is at myungdong kal gook soo in palisades park, nj.
GLEE827 at 3:01PM on 05/20/09
@Cassaendra: There should be wonton skin soup for people like us.
@Ambitous: Oh no, I didn't eat it with the soy sauce...DID I FAIL? It was still awesome!
@pixshim: I just wrote about a restaurant in NYC that has it. :D Double sujebi action in one day. whoa.
@GLEE827: I might have to check that out sometime when I go home to NJ!
roboppy at 3:20PM on 05/20/09
my great grandmother used to make this. Comfort food. My Korean-American friends use the word "soojebi" as slang to designate something is "ghetto" or "welfare". :)
i8alot at 3:22PM on 05/20/09
OMG, i am so craving this right now. Anyone have a recipe for this? I keep coming back to this post everyday just to look at that beautiful pic of Sujebi. I don't live in NY so can't go to Arirang :(
pixshim at 4:57PM on 05/21/09
Robyn, did you ever eat this while growing up? My mum is from Taiwan, and she'd make this from time to time. She learned it from her mum, who was from Northern China.
The way my mum makes it is pretty simple:
Just eggs, water, and flour. I can't give you measurements because she always cooks by feel. Anyway, she'd mix it up and slice the dough into boiling broth (consistency of dough is almost like a wet, sticky bread dough).
lunaire at 11:08PM on 05/21/09
@i8alot: I had no idea it had that meaning!...interesting.
@lunaire: Nope, never ate this growing up! I don't think I ate that much Chinese food..just food that my Chinese mom made. Which isn't the same thing. :)
roboppy at 11:52PM on 05/21/09