1. Ingredients for Kalguksu
- Primary ingredients: Flour noodle
- Secondary ingredients: Basic seasoning (soy sauce and salt), seafood (clam) and other ingredients (potato, pumpkin, carrot and welsh onion)
2. Taste evaluation
-Spicy: :☆☆☆☆☆
-Salty: ★★☆☆☆
-Sweet: ★☆☆☆☆
-Sour: ☆☆☆☆☆
-Refreshing taste of seafood: ★★★☆☆
3. Introduction to Kalguksu
One of popular noodle dishes in Korea would be Kalguksu.
Kalguksu
was named because it is made by rolling out wheat flour dough with a
bat and cutting it with a knife(kal).
It’s
cut with a knife that it looks similar to do mien(刀面)
in China, flat pasta noodles called Fetticcine, and rice noodles
called Pho in Vietnam.
However, Kalguksu noodles are thicker, chewier and cooked in soup that tastes deep and clean that is loved by everyone.
If you think Korean food is too much for you, Kalguksu is for you.
Kalguksu was originated in Joseon Dynasty era. At the time, wheat was regarded as a very valuable ingredient because most of people grew rice. So Kalguksu made with dough from wheat flour was only for the King or Yangban(noblemen) at the time.
Korean people started to cook Kalguksu since they started to import flour in bulk from the U.S. as emergency food supply for the soldiers in the 1950s.
The
noodles are cut short before they are wrapped in packages for storage
convenience but they used to be longer. It also signifies a long life
just like long noodles.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.5 | iso 250 | 2012:04:14 14:50:44 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 25mm
The dough is kneaded by hand which makes it so chewy and it is thick as it is cut with a knife.
Other than its thick and chewy noodles, Kalguksu is also characterized with deep and refreshing soup.
It’s
not just water but it is rather chicken or anchovy stock boiled for a
long time.
And
this soup will surely increase your appetite.
You
could soften the soup with an egg, if you want to, and clams,
potatoes, carrots and onions.
And it’s seasoned with soy sauce or salt. Sometimes Gochujang paste and chili pepper powder is added to make it spicy.
From a foreigner’s perspective, it is quite weird to see that around 10 dishes including rice, soup, Jjigae and dishes are served at once.
If
you’re looking for something simple, quick and delicious meal,
Kalguksu is what you’re looking for.
4. Kinds of Kalguksu
The most popular Kalguksu would be Haemul-kalguksu(seafood Kalguksu; clam Kalguksu), Dak-kalguksu(chicken Kalguksu), Jang-kalguksu(sauce Kalguksu), and Deulggae-kalguksu(perilla seed Kalguksu).
Jang-kalguksu
uses traditional Korean sauce such as Deonjang or Gochujang paste
that you can taste the Korean food, which could be a little spicy for
you.
Haemul-kalguksu
is the most common one you can find. The soup has very deep flavor
since it has a handful of seafood, clams.
And Deulggae-kalguksu is another one that foreigners might enjoy since it has a nice scent and flavor of perilla seeds.
Canon EOS 550D | f/4.0 | iso 125 | 2012:01:03 15:37:31 | Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode | 19mm
5. How to enjoy Kalguksu even more
When
you go to Kalguksu restaurant, Kimchi will be served with Kalguksu.
It’s
specifically called Geotjeori not Kimchi.
Cabbages
are salted and fermented for a long time to be Kimchi so they taste
spicy, salty and sour at the same time.
Geotjeori, however, is cabbages mixed with spicy sauce instead of salt that makes it crunchy with no sour taste but with strong flavor of garlics.
You’ll find that Geojeri tastes less spicy because of clean taste of Kalguksu. It’s one way to enjoy one variation of Kimchi, Geotjeri.
