I’m re-introducing the delicious and nutritious yukgaejang to you today: spicy beef and vegetable soup. This soup is smoky, spicy, and rich, with healthy hunks of sliced beef and plenty of vegetables that are soft, but not mushy—they’re full of earthy mountain flavor from gosari (fernbrake). Served with rice, it’s a satisfying, warming meal.
I made a video for this recipe years ago. It was on my first low-def camera, and eventually the music was removed in a copyright claim. Even though the video was rough, the recipe was very good and many people used it to make delicious yukgaejang. I thought the time was right to remake the video in HD and rewrite the recipe.
When Koreans make yukagejang, they always make it in large batches to make it worth the effort. Extra yukagaejang is full of good stuff and never goes to waste: you can bring some to your friend’s house, or a close neighbor may get a knock at the door and find you there with some yukgaejang to share!
It’s also common for Korean moms to make a big pot of yukagaejang to keep their family sustained while goes away for an extended time. That way she can visit her own mom and not worry about her children and husband starving at home. It can keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or up to 1 week if you reheat it every other day. One of my readers told me he divides it into portions and then freezes them, and then takes out a portion whenever he wants some for a meal. Good tip!
Homemade yukgaejang is always better than yukgaejang at a restaurant, because you can take care to add a lot of the best ingredients, perfectly prepared. Some restaurants might not include gosari, either. It’s an essential ingredient!
Enjoy my updated yukgaejang recipe and let me know how yours turns out!
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 pound beef brisket, cut into several pieces along the grain 3 inch long, soaked in cold water for 10 to 20 minutes, washed, and drained
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 medium onion, cut in half
- 12 ounces (about 3 cups) mung bean sprouts (you can grow your own!), washed and strained
- 3-4 large green onions (dae-pa) or 14-16 green onions, cut into 2½ inch long pieces
- 6 ounces of soaked (or fresh) gosari (about 2 cups), cut into 2½ inch long pieces
- 8 cloves of garlic, minced
Sauce
- ¼ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 table spoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or any cooking oil)
On the side
- Extra kosher salt
Directions
Start cooking the beef, mushrooms, and onion:
- In a large pot, bring 3 quarts (12 cups) of water to a boil. Add the beef along with the dried shiitake mushrooms and the onion.
- Cook for 1 hour over medium high heat.
While it boils, make the seasoning sauce and prepare the vegetables:
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix it well.
- Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Put the mung bean sprouts, green onions, gosari, and garlic in a large bowl.
Make the soup:
- 1 hour later, check the beef. Take a sample chunk and split it with your fingers or fork. If it splits nicely, it’s done. If it’s a little tough to split, let it cook for 10 more minutes. As stock boils off, you want to maintain about 10 cups’ worth, so add some water.
- When it’s done, remove the beef, onion, and mushrooms with a slotted strainer.
- Let the beef and mushrooms cool down and discard the cooked onion.
- Mix the vegetables with the seasoning sauce by hand until well incorporated. Add to the boiling stock.
- Cover and cook 20 minutes over medium high heat until the vegetables are cooked through and tender, but not mushy.
- Slice the mushrooms and pull the beef apart into strips. Add to the boiling soup and cook another 10 minutes.
Serve:
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon for that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
Klyn,
Thank you very much!
Nova,
sure, bossam recipe will be included in the list of my upcoming video recipes. Thanks!
Hi Maangchi :D I looovveeee your recipes! I became inspired to cook korean dish and in fact, I’m gonna buy the ingredients at korean market tomorrow. :) I <3 yukgaejang! oh, and do you have any bosam recipe?
Thankssss so muchh!
hi,
ur amazing maangchi!ur so cute and ur voice to.
i like ur video coz,i can learn more about the
korean food,thnks to you!!!
LD,
I hope your “yukgaejang” turned out good!
Shila,
How did you know this soup is good for cold! You are very smart! Yeah, if kosari is not available, skip it then.
Hey maangchi, thanks for the recipe for this dish. I made this for my boyfriend when he was sick and I think it really helped him in getting over his cold. The only thing I didn’t have was the kosari, but I think it still tasted good even without it. As you said, this dish is good for those cold days when you just want to warm up inside… thanks again =)
Im making this right now.
Its a cold winter night in the pacific northwest…snow is expected.
The house smells wonderful.
Thank you!
James,
It looks ok for me,but I don’t see green onion in the soup. I use lots of green onions in Yukgaejang.
I made this tonight but I think I overcooked the vegetables.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79469156@N00/2903286367/
Anonymous,
I recommend spinach side dish(shigeumchi: 시금치), beansprout side dish (kongnamul: 콩나물) and seaplant salad(miyuk muchim: 미역 무침)
Check out my recipe for spinach side dish,kimchi stew and bean sprout side dish video, and sea plant soup and sald side dish.
hi maangchi!
i want to make yuk gae jang for a school cultural project i have coming up. we are supposed to make a whole meal, so i was wondering, what other korean dishes would go good with yuk gae jang besides pony-tail kimchi?
Thank you very much~!
JooHyun,
Don’t worry much about soy sauce. Just skip it and use salt then. Thank you!
Hi Maangchi!
I’ve just recently discovered your site and have been making great korean dishes since!!! I’m Korean but I’m kind of new at cooking Korean Food, and you’ve been so inspirational!!! I love watching your videos and you are too cute!!! One quick question. I LOVE yuk gae jang but I want to make one on my own (I live pretty far away from a decent Korean restaurant). I want to share this with my friend, but unfortunately, he is allergic to soy sauce. Seeing as how this dish only uses 1 TB of soy sauce, do you think the end result would be greatly affected if I were to omit soy sauce from the recipe? Maybe I should add some fish sauce instead? What do you think?
Thanks and I look forward to more of your videos!!!
Hi, Maangchi! I recently ordered Yuk gae jang and enjoyed it. I will try cooking it one of these days using the recipe you provided. I think I will be able to find kosari here in the Philippines.
gabieolie
beef can replace with pork and skip radish if you can’t find it. I would not use celery.
Thanks!
Hi Maanchi,
I made Yuk Gae Jang today, and it turned out great! I invited my parents for lunch, and they really enjoyed it. My dad even asked me to make more. :) I’m so happy that I was able to make such a delicious dish. Thank you for the recipe.
My daughter asked me to make your jja jang myun. I hope I succeed. If I don’t find radish, is it OK to substitute with celery? And beef instead of pork? Thank you!!
Hi, minhul,
Yes, dak do ri tang and dak kal bi are already in the list of my upcoming cooking videos. Thanks!
Hello Maangchi,
Do you have any chicken stew recipes? I remember a dak dori tang (?) that had potatoes and spicy braised chicken, or dak galbi, spicy stir-fried chicken, as a child.
Thanks!
I can’t visit your site anymore because I get so hungry! Stop showing us these delicious recipes …
But seriously, your site and videos are great. I am glad more people are becoming aware of Korean food. We need to be able to buy Korean food or go to Korean restaurants just as easily as we can find Chinese restaurants in the US.
desperatelyseekingsuddenlysusan
haha, long id!
yes, toran is taro and its taste is like potatoes. I found toran in chinese market in Toronto.
Thank you for your compliment about being ninja in the kitchen. : )
i’ve been enjoying your cooking videos. they’re better than most cookbooks because we can see how to cut and prepare the ingredients. thank you!
i once had toran-guk in korea and the toran tasted like taro. i found out that’s what it is. i think you might be able to find taro in chinese or vietnamese markets.
i’m very impressed by your knife skills. you chop like a pro!
hi, anonymous,
The soup base for gamjatang is made from pork bones.
Ok, your request gamjatang is included in the list of my cooking videos in the future.Thank you!
Hello Maangchi,
Thanks for this recipe. I was wondering if you know how to make gamjatang? I had it in a restaurant the other day and really liked the soup base. the soup was really red and spicy which was pretty good. Is the soup base the same as this soup base?
Hi, someone left a comment regarding Yuk Gae Jang. for some reason, I tried to approve her comment, but failed, so I’m copying and pasting her question with my answer.
“Hi, Maangchi
I tried cooking Yuk Gae Jang last night but the soup was too blend.
For the amount of hot pepper sauce you have indicated, how much water should I use? I used only about 250grams of beef. Please kindly advise.
Thank you! “
My answer:
Please check the recipe and watch the video. I said you need 1 pound of beef brisket, but you used 250 grams. 1 pound (LB) is 453 grams.
Start with 16 cups of water, then you may have to place more water.
hope it’s helpful
rovingbubs,
smoky flavor? I think you had “Yuk gae jang” made with “gochoo kierum(hot pepper oil)” which is more traditional way. Heat some oil in a pan and add hot pepper flakes and stir it quickly and turn off the heat before it is burnt. That’s it!
I just mixed oil and hot pepper flakes instead of making the “gochoo kierum” to save time and effort. Taste is not very different.
No hot pepper paste for this dish!
The soup will be thick and not tasty.
You can use hot pepper flakes, that’s what I am using.
Thank you!
maangchi,
a few questions:
what gives the yuk gae jang the smoky flavor?
can you use the hot pepper paste instead of the hot pepper powder?
what’s the difference between the hot pepper powder that’s coarse vs fine besides the obvious? i’ve only been able to find the coarse kind in the stores over here.
thanks.
rovingbubs,
Yes, you can add the noodles and eggs. You will be able to see what kind of noodles they are in my Stir-fried noodles with vegetables(Job chae)video.
And also check it out Agasuka’s comment:
“I added Dang Myun and egg at the end like the restaurants do.”
hi maangchi,
i really like your videos. they’re very easy to follow. when we order yuk gae jang at our local korean hot pot restaurant, they include some clear noodles. is this traditional?
agasuka,
Wow, it looks gooood!
Kosari is delicious, right? People usually dry the vegetable to preserve to eat for a long time, so its color is dark brown. Whenever they need to use it, they soak and cook it to make it soft before using. The kosari you bought is fresh one.
Maangchi,
Whenever I go to restaurant I always order Yuk Gae Jang.
I love it even though it burns my tongue, and leaves me a runny nose.
The kosari I bought has a purplish color which is very different than the brown kosari you use. (I am afriad if my kosari is the wrong kind)
I forgot to buy bean sprout, so I add more green onions.
I added Dang Myun and egg at the end like the restaurants do.
I follow a comment on your Youtube channel to use 20 cups of water, but round up the taste was not strong, so I poured >half cup of soy sauce & 3 teaspoon of salt, and a lot of sesame oil.
This big pot fed 2 people for 2 days (=2meals) in my house. It warms me up in this cold weather. What a great dish for winter!
update http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/5k6QGsJ605Q
goblinlord,
You seems to like spicy food.
Buldak and dakgalbi are made with chicken and hot spicy marinade. ok, I will include ddak galbi in my list of upcoming cooking videos.
I have never tasted “Buldak” because it was created by someone after I left korea. I should try to taste it someday.
Wow… I love your videos. I miss Korean food so much T-T. I lived in Korea for 3 years while in the military and now I am back in the US trying to get a job back in Korea.
Anyways… I was wondering… although I feel kind of greedy asking for a bunch of recipes. Do you have a good recipe for Buldak and Dakkalbi? I loved the “Hong Cho” Buldak chain. I used to go get Buldak almost every week. I have now been trying to find a recipe that comes close to the same flavor but so far I have failed. Also, Dakkalbi was another favorite of mine.
Lorraine,
I will keep your request in mind. Thank you
maangchi
please teach us how to make Gamjatang. My dad loves it and i want to make it for him
Deborah,
Yes, I eat it all. The green leaves have lots of good nutrients. Some people cut it bite size before eating, but I love to eat leaves and radish part together.
About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I visited a korean farm that is about 2 hours from Toronto.The farmer grows so many kinds of korean vegetables: cabbages, radish, green onions, korean green-hotpeppers and mustard greens.
He gave us a garbage bag and said, “I’m going to charge $10.00 for each bag, so fill it out as much as you can!” We pulled radish out from the ground directly. My friends gave me a job to pack the vegetables tightly.
I was almost sick next day when I woke up due to muscle pain. I must have been too greedy.
i’ve never seen “pony tail kimchi”. it looks really good. i am addicted to kimchi now. i was wondering though, if you can eat the entire of the pony tail kimchi?