Haejangguk has many variations and its preparation methods and ingredients differ slightly in different Korean provinces and cities.
The one thing they have in common is that the preparation is complicated, and requires a lot of time and patience.
Mr Lee said haejangguk was also considered to be good for overall health, and would be consumed by every member of the family. One of the more potent versions is the seonji haejangguk, which uses congealed ox blood. Several variations of the haejangguk, including seonji, are sold at Mr Lee's restaurant.
Haejangguk
Ingredients
• 2kg meaty pork bones
• doenjang (soybean paste)
• gochujang (red pepper paste)
• gochutgaru - red chilli pepper powder)
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 8 cups unsalted beef broth
• 30g ginger
• 10 whole or cracked black pepper seeds
• 1 white radish
• 1 Chinese cabbage
• 150g dried gosari (bracken fiddleheads)
• 2 red chilli peppers
• 2 green chilli peppers
• 500g oyster mushrooms
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 200g soy bean sprouts
• 7 spring onions
• 200g enoki mushrooms
• salt
Method
1. Soak bones in a large stockpot with cold water for two hours, rinse and drain.
2. Fill stock pot with fresh water to cover bones and bring to boil. Boil for about five minutes, remove from heat and discard boiled water. Rinse bones in cold water and drain.
3. Rub doenjang paste over the bones and set aside.
4. Cut onions in quarters, peel and slice ginger into two or three pieces, cut garlic cloves in half from top to bottom, and slice the white section of the spring onion in half.
5. Place bones in large pot and cover with beef broth and bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
6. Add the prepared vegetables and simmer for two hours, adding water as needed to maintain the original liquid volume.
7 Remove the bones from broth, strain the broth into a second cooking pot. Discard vegetable solids strained from the broth.
8. Soak dried gosari for about 30 minutes to one hour in cold water, then rinse and drain.
9. Cut white radish in slices, rinse Chinese cabbage in cold water and cut into strips.
10. Slice garlic in half, chilli peppers diagonally and oyster mushrooms into bite-sized pieces.
11. Add the shiitake mushrooms, cut the mushrooms in half and the bean sprouts.
12. Place bones back into pot, add strained broth and bring to a medium boil.
13. Add sliced radish and gosari, cook for five minutes and then add the remaining ingredients and cook another five minutes on low heat.
14. Finally, separate the enoki mushrooms into small bunches and add one bunch per serving bowl.
15. Cut the spring onions into 5cm in length, and place some of the meaty bones in each serving bowl.
16. Place cooked vegetables in each serving, over the bones and top with spring onions.
17. Pour simmering broth over the meat and vegetables in each bowl and serve.
Kumkang Mountain Restaurant, 215 Rosedale Rd, Albany.
The series
• Monday: Kitfo (Ethiopian)
• Today: Haejangguk (S Korea)
• Wednesday: Bheja fry (India)
• Thursday: Herbal duck (China)
• Friday: Rainbow stir fry (Thailand)
• Saturday: Oysters with coriander dressing (NZ-Fusion)
