Janchi Guksu (Korean warm noodle soup)

After I posted the good noodle soup places in Maryland last week, I thought about what my favorite noodle soup is. Not many Korean restaurants sell this noodle soup called "Janchi Guksu", and unfortunately, although I found a Korean restaurant where you can eat the noodle soup, it never tastes like my mom's Janchi Guksu.

Thin wheat flour noodle and the broth flavored with dasima (or kombu) and anchovies are mingled with all the garnishes (soy sauce seasoned beef, sautéed zucchini and thinly pan-fried egg) beautifully in your mouth.

Janchi Guksu means simply "party noodle". The noodle soup is often served in Korea in many special occasions, including wedding or big birthday parties, because (1) noodle means longevity in life or in marriage and also (2) it is very easy to serve many people at once with relatively little preparation.

In my family, we often ate Janchi Guksu as a weekend lunch. Maybe that was a small party on a weekend?


Janchi Guksu (Korean warm noodle soup)
(Yield: 4 servings / Cooking time: 1.5 hours)


Ingredients:

Broth*
+ 1.5 quart water
+ 15g dashima (kombu)
+ 5 dried anchovies (2"-2.5" size)
+ 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Garnishes
+ 2 eggs

+ 1/3 zucchini
+ 1/2 tsp minced garlic

+ 150g ground beef
+ 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
+ 1 tsp sesame oil
+ 1 tsp minced garlic
+ 1 tsp minced scallion

+ salt & pepper
+ (optional) red chili pepper

Noodle**
+ 280g Korean thin wheat flour noodle, 70g per serving


* You can find dashima and dried anchovy in Asian specialty market. Dashima (in Korean) or Kombu (in Japanese) is an edible kelp often used to make flavorful broth. There are several sizes of dried anchovies; the large ones (~2.5") are mostly used for broth. If you cannot find the big ones, please use 8-10 medium size (~1.5") dried anchovies.

** You can find the thin wheat flour noodle called somyun(소면 in Korean) or somen (素麺 in Japanese) in most of Asian corner in regular grocery market or Asian specialty market.


Procedures:
1. Make the broth first, which will take most of the time. You can prepare the broth a day before.

- First, removes bellies from the dried anchovies and wash the dried kombu.


- In a pot, pour cold water for four servings (~1.5 quart). Add dried kombu and set aside for 20 minutes to hydrate the dried kelp.


- Bring to a simmer at low temperature (~160°F (70°C)). Simmer for 30-40 minutes. Then, add cleaned anchovies and crushed garlic cloves, and raise the heat to bring the broth to a boil. Let it boil gently for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and pass through a strainer. If you don't use it right away, cool the broth and keep in a refrigerator.



2. While the broth is cooking, we can prepare the garnishes.

2-1. Egg: separate egg white and yolk. Whisk gently the white and yolk with a fork to make them smooth, but make sure not to incorporate air. Season with salt. Heat a non-stick pan and spread oil with paper towel (we don't want any excess oil). Cook egg white first, and then yolk as thin as you can on a greased pan. Ideally, the egg white and yolk should not have any brown color on them. julienne (1-2mm square x 4-5cm long) them when they have cooled.






2-2. Zucchini: Slice the zucchini and make them into short strips. Sprinkle about 1 tsp of salt and leave it for 10 minutes.


After 10 minutes, squeeze out excess water from the zucchini by pressing with both your palms. Or, you can use cheese clothes.


Grease a pan with vegetable oil, and sauté the squeezed sliced zucchini and 1/2 tsp minced garlic together until zucchini is cooked without any brown color.



2-3. Ground beef: Season ground beef with 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp minced scallion and pepper. Sauté the ground beef until it cooks.





2-4. Here are the prepared garnishes.


3. Boil a pot of water for noodle. When the water boils, add 280g of somyun (noodle) and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Follow the cooking instruction on the package if available. As soon as the noodle is cooked, strain the noodle and wash the noodle under cold running water to remove any excess starch on the noodle. Drain the water.


4. Place the washed and drained noodle in the center of a serving bowl, and top the noodle with garnishes. You can add sliced red chili pepper as well. Reheat the broth and season with salt. Pour the broth over the noodle and serve.

Enjoy~