Busan Dwaeji Gukbap

Ingredients

• 1.5kg pork leg and neck bones
• 800g pork shoulder, in one piece
• 5 litres cold water
• 2 onions, halved
• 1 leek, halved
• 10 garlic cloves
• 30g fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp doenjang (soybean paste)
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 600g cooked short-grain rice
• 120g garlic chives (buchu)
• 3 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 tbsp salted shrimp (saeujeot), chopped
• 3 spring onions
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Before you cook

• Soak the pork bones in cold water for 3 hours, changing the water three times, until the water no longer runs pink.
• Soak the pork shoulder in cold water for 1 hour, then drain it.
• Cut the garlic chives into 4cm lengths.
• Mix 2 tablespoons of the gochugaru with the minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of water into a chilli seasoning paste.
• Toss the garlic chives with the remaining 1 tablespoon of gochugaru and a pinch of salt.
• Slice the spring onions finely.

Steps

1. Put the soaked bones in a stockpot, cover them with water and boil hard for 10 minutes.
2. Tip the bones into the sink and scrub each one under running water, then wash out the pot until no grey residue remains.
3. Return the clean bones to the clean pot with 5 litres of fresh cold water and bring it to a hard, rolling boil.
4. Keep the boil aggressive for the first hour, because that violent agitation is what emulsifies the fat and turns the broth white.
5. Add the onions, leek, garlic, ginger, peppercorns, doenjang and rice wine.
6. Lower the pork shoulder into the pot and cook it at a strong simmer for 90 minutes, until a skewer meets no resistance.
7. Lift out the shoulder and press it between two boards under a weight for 30 minutes.
8. Carry on boiling the bones for another hour, topping up with hot water if the level drops below the bones.
9. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and skim off the surplus fat from the surface.
10. Season the broth with only the salt and black pepper, keeping it deliberately mild.
11. Slice the pressed pork shoulder thinly across the grain.
12. Divide the warm rice between four deep bowls and lay the sliced pork over it.
13. Ladle in the hot broth, then pour it back into the pot and ladle it in again so the rice and meat are properly heated.
14. Scatter the spring onion over each bowl.
15. Put the chilli seasoning, the dressed garlic chives and the chopped salted shrimp on the table in small dishes, and let everyone season their own bowl to taste.