Seollangtang: Korean Ox Bone Soup

Oct 19 2022

This is a recipe for seollantang (sullong tang), a milky Korean soup made of long-simmering ox leg bones. This soup is easy to make but takes time.

Ingredients

2
pounds of ox bones and any attached meat (leg and knuckle bones)
4
-5 cloves of garlic (chopped)
½
inch of ginger (thinly sliced)
1
pkg. Korean sweet potato noodles or Korean thin wheat noodles (dangmyun, cellophane, gooksu)
Optional: 1 large Korean radish (peeled, halved, and sliced)
Optional: brisket meat (cooked and thinly sliced)
For serving: chopped scallions, sea salt, freshly ground pepper

Step 1
Rinse and soak the bones for two hours in cold water. Discard the water.
Step 2
Bring a large pot half-full of water to boil. Boil the bones for five minutes, remove from pot, and discard the water again.
Step 3
Put ox bones in the large pot, and cover with a lot of water (~30 cups, 1.5 gallons, 8 quarts).
Step 4
Bring to a boil.
Step 5
Reduce heat to a hard simmer, and cook for 1 hour.
Step 6
Reduce heat to medium and a lower simmer. Then cook for 4 to 6 hours, skimming fat, foam, and anything else off the surface.
Step 7
Add ginger and garlic (and radish, if using), and simmer for another 1 to 2 hours.
Step 8
Remove bones and seasonings (and radish, if using), and skim fat again before serving.
Step 9
For a perfectly smooth broth, cool soup, and skim fats when they rise.
Step 10
Serve with rice (and noodles and meat, if using) and small bowls of sea salt, pepper, and chopped scallions for seasoning to allow your dinner mates to spice the food as they see fit.