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A street food stall at Pupyeong Market in Busan with fish cake skewers standing in a steaming broth tray beside a pan of tteokbokki

Eomuk Tang

An eomuk tang recipe from a Seoul home cook: how street carts fold and skewer the fish cake, why the broth is free and the sticks aren't, and how to rebuild it at home.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 400 g / 14 oz eomuk, flat Korean fish cake sheets
  • 1.5 L / 6 cups water
  • 8 dried anchovies (myeolchi), heads and guts removed
  • One 10 cm / 4 in square dried kelp (dasima)
  • 200 g / 1 cup Korean radish (mu), sliced into thin half-moons Substitute: daikon — nearly identical
  • 2 tbsp soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 scallions, cut into 5 cm / 2 in lengths
  • 1 fresh cheongyang chili, sliced, optional
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Method
 

  1. Simmer the water, anchovies, and kelp together for 15 minutes over medium heat. Pull the kelp out after the first 10 minutes so it doesn't turn slick.
  2. Strain out the anchovies and kelp. You should have about 1.2 L / 5 cups of clear, pale broth.
  3. Fold each fish cake sheet accordion-style and thread it onto a skewer, the way street carts do, so it holds its pleats while it cooks. If using chikuwa or hanpen instead, just slice thickly.
  4. Add the radish to the broth and simmer 8 minutes, until it turns slightly translucent at the edges.
  5. Add the skewered fish cake. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until the fish cake is heated through and has taken on the broth's flavor rather than tasting flat.
  6. Stir in the soup soy sauce and garlic. Taste and adjust with salt — it should taste a little saltier than a soup you'd sip on its own, since the fish cake is fairly plain.
  7. Add the scallions and chili, if using. Simmer 2 more minutes, then take it off the heat.