Kimchi and Soybean Sprout GukBap

Today, I will share one of my new recipes with soybean sprouts – it is called KimChi KongNaMul GukBap (콩나물 국밥) in Korean. It is one of my favorite foods. I used to enjoy it in restaurants in Korea. In a clay pot, you serve some rice mixed with delicious kimchi soybean soup and extra seasoning ingredients. Oh my, it is so simple, yet so tasty – just as you would get from a Korean restaurant. I Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Let’s get started.

Yield: 1-2 Servings

Short Korean Lesson

JiMun (지문) = Fingerprint
BalJaGuk (발자국) = Footprint

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients:

2 Cups Soybean Sprouts (6 oz) (3 Cups Water, ½ tsp Salt)
1 Cup Cooked Short Grain Rice
½ Cup Well Fermented Kimchi
¼ Cup Green Onions
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Red Hot Pepper (Optional)

Broth Ingredients:

4 Cups Water
2 oz Korean Radish
5 Pieces Dried Anchovies
5 Pieces Dried Kelp (2×2 Inches)

Seasoning Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Kimchi Broth
1 Tbsp Perilla Powder (Or Crushed Sesame Seeds)
1 tsp Salted Shrimp
1 tsp Hot Pepper Powder
½ tsp Garlic, Minced
⅛ tsp Salt

Directions

To make a savory broth, we need some ingredients such as 2 oz of Korean radish (Mu,무), 5 pieces of dried anchovies (MyeolChi, 멸치), and 5 pieces of dried kelp (DaShiMa,다시마).

First, remove heads and guts of the dried anchovies like this because they will make the broth bitter.

Pour 4 cups of water into a pot and then add the ingredients for the broth.

Once the water starts to boil, cook it for about 20 minutes on medium-high.

Next, prepare about 2 cups of soybean sprouts (6 os) by removing any bad parts and cleaning them.

In 3 cups of boiling water, add the prepared soybean sprouts.

I like to season the soybean sprout with 1⁄2 tsp of salt in this step. Cook the soybean sprouts for 8 minutes on high.

Meanwhile, chop ½ cup of well fermented kimchi and ¼ cup of green onions into ½-inch pieces. Slice 1 Tbsp worth of red hot pepper thinly. This recipe has some unfamiliar ingredients, so I want to show them in more detail.

These are all the seasoning ingredients for this soup. This is perilla powder called DeulGgaeGaRu (들깨가루) and it gives the unique nutty and earthy flavor which I love in this soup. If you do not have it, you can crush some sesame seeds like this and use them instead. This is salted shrimp and it also gives good salty flavor. You can replace it with fish sauce, soy sauce, or salt.

We also need about 1 cup of cooked short grain rice.

After 8 minutes, take out the cooked soybean sprouts and put them in ice water. This step will help them remain crunchy in the soup.

When the broth is done cooking, strain the broth and discard the other ingredients. You will get about 2½ cups of amazing broth.

It is common to use a clay pot (DdukBaeGi, ) for this soup, but you can also use a normal pot. Put the kimchi on the bottom of the pot.

Put the prepared rice on top of the kimchi.

Then, put the soybean sprouts on top of the rice.

Pour 2½ cups of the broth into the pot.

Cook the soup on high. It will take a while for the soup to start to boil in a clay pot.

Once, the soup starts to boil, add 2 Tbsp of kimchi broth and bring it back to a boil.

Break an egg in the center of the soup.

Then, add the green onions and red hot pepper.

Season the soup with 1 tsp of salted shrimp, 1 tsp of hot pepper powder, ½ tsp of minced garlic, and 1 Tbsp of perilla powder. Depending on your taste, you can add about ⅛ tsp of salt.