Momguk

Ingredients

• 700g bone-in pork shoulder or belly
• 2.5 litres cold water
• 1 onion, halved
• 6 garlic cloves
• 20g fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 80g dried gulfweed (mojaban), or 400g fresh
• 3 tbsp buckwheat flour
• 120g sour napa cabbage kimchi
• 1 tbsp doenjang (soybean paste)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce for soup (guk-ganjang)
• 80g garlic chives (buchu)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Before you cook

• Soak the dried gulfweed in plenty of cold water for 5 hours, changing the water twice, until it is fully swollen and soft.
• Rinse the soaked gulfweed well, drain it and chop it into 3cm lengths.
• Soak the pork in cold water for 30 minutes to draw out blood, then drain it.
• Squeeze the kimchi dry and chop it finely.
• Cut the garlic chives into 4cm lengths.
• Whisk the buckwheat flour into 150ml cold water until completely smooth, with no lumps at all.

Steps

1. Put the pork, 2.5 litres of cold water, the onion, whole garlic cloves, ginger and peppercorns into a large pot and bring it to the boil.
2. Skim off the foam, lower the heat and simmer for 70 minutes, until the meat is tender enough to shred.
3. Lift out the pork and strain the broth into a clean pot, leaving behind the aromatics.
4. Pull the pork off the bone and tear it into bite-sized pieces once it is cool enough to handle.
5. Whisk the doenjang into the broth and bring it back to a simmer.
6. Add the chopped gulfweed and cook it for 20 minutes, so it collapses and gives its body to the broth.
7. Stir in the chopped kimchi and cook for 5 minutes more.
8. Pour in the buckwheat slurry in a thin stream while stirring hard, so it thickens the soup without setting into lumps.
9. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the broth turns silky and coats the spoon.
10. Return the pork to the pot along with the minced garlic.
11. Season with the light soy sauce, the salt and the black pepper, then taste and adjust.
12. Throw in the garlic chives and turn off the heat immediately so they stay green.
13. Ladle into deep bowls and serve with steamed rice and a dish of kimchi.