AI-generated image
Eomuk-tang
어묵탕: fish-cake skewers simmered in a light radish and anchovy broth
On cold evenings in Busan, the city that made Korean fish cake famous, steam rises from street stalls where folded fish-cake skewers bob in a long tray of broth. You help yourself to a skewer, dip it in soy sauce and sip a paper cup of the hot broth while you stand. Bupyeong market has rows of fish-cake shops, and many families buy a bag there to make this simple soup at home. Radish, dried anchovies and kelp give the broth its clean, sweet flavour. Chef's tip: pull the heads and black guts off the dried anchovies before using them, because the guts make the broth bitter.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the broth
For the skewers
For the dipping sauce
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Soak 8 to 10 bamboo skewers in water. Snap the heads off 15 large dried anchovies (for stock) and pull out the black guts with your fingers.
Step 2: Toast the anchovies in a dry saucepan over a medium heat for 1 minute, until they smell nutty. Add 6 ¼ cups water, ⅓ oz dried kelp (dasima or kombu), 7 oz Korean radish or mooli and ½ onion and bring to the boil over a high heat.
6 minStep 3: Common mistake: leaving the kelp in to boil. After 3 minutes at the boil, lift it out; long boiling makes the broth slimy and bitter. Lower the heat and simmer the rest for 5 minutes more.
8 minStep 4: Meanwhile cut 14 oz flat Korean fish-cake sheets (eomuk) into long strips about 4 cm wide and thread each strip onto a skewer in a zigzag, folding it like a ribbon.
Step 5: Strain out the anchovies and onion, keeping the radish in the pot. Season with 1 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) and ½ tsp salt; the broth should taste lightly salty.
Step 6: Add the skewers, 2 spring onions and 1 red or green chilli and simmer over a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the fish cakes are hot and puffed. Fish cake is already cooked, so it only needs heating; longer boiling makes it soft and soggy.
4 minStep 7: Mix 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp water, ½ tsp Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru) and 1 spring onion. Serve the skewers in the pot with cups or bowls of broth, the radish and the dipping sauce.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 210 kcal
- Protein
- 13 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does eomuk-tang take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of korean soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)?
- Tamari, same amount (gluten free).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Soto Banjar
Along the rivers of Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan, breakfast often means soto Banjar eaten at a wooden riverside warung, sometimes after a dawn trip to the floating market. Unlike the turmeric sotos of Java, this broth is pale and clear, perfumed with the sweet spices that traders brought up the river centuries ago: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and nutmeg. Shredded chicken, glass noodles, carrot and a boiled egg go into the bowl with rice cakes, and lime and a little chilli sharpen it at the table. Chef's tip: toast the whole spices in the pan for a minute before the paste goes in; it brings out their sweetness without the dusty edge of ground spice.
Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is Korea's best-loved street snack: chewy cylinders of rice cake simmered in a thick, glossy, sweet and spicy red sauce. It became a classic in Seoul, where it is sold from street stalls and snack bars in every neighbourhood. Street versions use anchovy stock and fish cakes; this vegan version uses a quick kelp and shiitake stock with cabbage and spring onions, and has all the same punch. Eat it hot, while the rice cakes are soft and stretchy. Chef's tip: keep stirring and scrape the bottom; the rice cakes release starch that thickens the sauce but also catches. The sauce is right when it clings to the spoon in a glossy coat.
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.