← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 1 small whole chicken (about 1.5 kg)
• 2.5 l Water
• 1 Onion, halved
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 3 cm piece Ginger, sliced
• 2 spring onion whites
• 1 piece dried kelp (about 8 cm square) (optional)
• 1 tbsp soup soy sauce
• Salt
• 500 g fresh kalguksu (knife-cut) noodles or fresh udon
• 1 Courgette (zucchini), cut into matchsticks
• 1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Black pepper
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp Sesame seeds
• 3 Spring onion, finely chopped

Method

1. Rinse the chicken and trim off excess fat. Put it in a large pot with the water, onion, garlic cloves, ginger, spring onion whites and kelp. Bring to the boil, skim off the foam and simmer, partly covered, for 45–50 min, until the chicken is cooked through (75°C/165°F at the thigh) and the legs pull away easily.
2. Lift out the chicken. Strain the broth (you want about 2 litres) and skim off some of the fat. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and toss it with the sesame oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Mix the seasoning sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Bring the broth back to the boil and season with the soup soy sauce and salt. Shake the excess flour off the noodles and add them, stirring so they don’t stick. Cook for 4–5 min (or as the packet says), adding the courgette and carrot for the last 2 min.
5. Ladle into bowls, top with the shredded chicken and let everyone add seasoning sauce to taste. Serve with kimchi.

Tips

• The noodles’ starch thickens the broth slightly, which is how kalguksu should be; rinse them first if you prefer it clear.
• In a hurry? Use 2 litres of good chicken stock and a shredded roast chicken and start at step 4.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Korean Bapsang Aaron and Claire Beyond Kimchee