I’ve always loved beef ugeoji-tang, but when I actually tried to make it myself, I realized ugeoji isn’t something you can easily find at a regular grocery store.
At first I thought about using siraegi instead, but ugeoji and siraegi are actually quite different ingredients with their own distinct textures and flavors, so I ended up ordering ugeoji separately from Market Kurly.
For this version I simmered it with beef, doenjang, and beef bone broth to get a deep, savory flavor, and it turned out to be the kind of soup that’s incredibly satisfying over a bowl of rice.
Since the two ingredients often get mixed up, it’s worth knowing the difference: ugeoji refers to the outer leaves of napa cabbage, while siraegi is made from dried radish greens. Both work wonderfully in hearty, savory soups, but ugeoji has a soft texture with the mild sweetness of cabbage, while siraegi develops a distinctive nutty aroma and chewier texture through the drying process.
Ingredients
- Beef – 300g (about 10.6 oz; use beef soup meat such as brisket or shank)
- Blanched ugeoji – 400g (about 14.1 oz; outer napa cabbage leaves, often sold pre-blanched; can substitute with blanched napa cabbage leaves if unavailable)
- Water – 1L (about 4 cups)
- Beef bone broth – 500g (about 17.6 oz; sagolyuksu, Korean beef bone broth; can substitute with store-bought beef broth)
- Green onion – 200g (about 7 oz)
(1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
Sauce
- Gochugaru – 3T (Korean red chili pepper flakes)
- Doenjang – 2T (Korean fermented soybean paste)
- Myeolchi aekjeot – 2T (Korean anchovy fish sauce; can substitute with regular fish sauce)
- Guk-ganjang – 2T (Korean soup soy sauce; can substitute with regular soy sauce plus a pinch of salt)
- Mirin – 2T (Korean cooking wine; can substitute with rice wine)
- Minced garlic – 1T
- Beef dashida – 1T (Korean beef broth seasoning powder; can substitute with beef bouillon powder)
- Pepper – 0.3T
(1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
How to Make It
1Cut the ugeoji into bite-sized pieces and wash it thoroughly, then set it aside in a bowl.
2Trim the green onion and cut it into bite-sized pieces as well.
3Mix all the sauce ingredients together ahead of time to make the seasoning sauce.
4In a pot, add 200ml of water, the beef, and a pinch of salt, then stir-fry over high heat.
5Once the beef is no longer pink and the water starts to boil, add the ugeoji and stir-fry together for another 2–3 minutes.
6Add 1L of water along with the seasoning sauce you made earlier, and simmer for 10 minutes.
7Add the beef bone broth and green onion, then simmer for another 5 minutes and it’s done.TipStir-frying the ugeoji with the beef first helps the seasoning soak in more deeply for a richer flavor. Adding the beef bone broth at the end gives the soup a deeper, more robust taste.
The ugeoji and beef alone already make for a delicious soup, but adding the beef bone broth gave the broth even more depth. The ugeoji turned out tender, and with a generous amount of beef in every bite, it was perfect for mixing into a bowl of rice.
If you’re someone who enjoys ugeoji-tang or ugeoji doenjang-guk, this is definitely worth making at home. It’s simpler than it looks, and you end up with a warm, filling bowl of beef ugeoji soup that tastes just as good as the kind you’d order out.
Ingredients
- Beef – 300g (about 10.6 oz; use beef soup meat such as brisket or shank)
- Blanched ugeoji – 400g (about 14.1 oz; outer napa cabbage leaves, often sold pre-blanched; can substitute with blanched napa cabbage leaves if unavailable)
- Water – 1L (about 4 cups)
- Beef bone broth – 500g (about 17.6 oz; sagolyuksu, Korean beef bone broth; can substitute with store-bought beef broth)
- Green onion – 200g (about 7 oz)
- (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
Sauce
- Gochugaru – 3T (Korean red chili pepper flakes)
- Doenjang – 2T (Korean fermented soybean paste)
- Myeolchi aekjeot – 2T (Korean anchovy fish sauce; can substitute with regular fish sauce)
- Guk-ganjang – 2T (Korean soup soy sauce; can substitute with regular soy sauce plus a pinch of salt)
- Mirin – 2T (Korean cooking wine; can substitute with rice wine)
- Minced garlic – 1T
- Beef dashida – 1T (Korean beef broth seasoning powder; can substitute with beef bouillon powder)
- Pepper – 0.3T
- (1 T = 15 ml / 0.5 fl oz, 1 t = 5 ml / 0.17 fl oz)
How to Make It
- Cut the ugeoji into bite-sized pieces and wash it thoroughly, then set it aside in a bowl.
- Trim the green onion and cut it into bite-sized pieces as well.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients together ahead of time to make the seasoning sauce.
- In a pot, add 200ml of water, the beef, and a pinch of salt, then stir-fry over high heat.
- Once the beef is no longer pink and the water starts to boil, add the ugeoji and stir-fry together for another 2–3 minutes.
- Add 1L of water along with the seasoning sauce you made earlier, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the beef bone broth and green onion, then simmer for another 5 minutes and it's done.
Tip.Stir-frying the ugeoji with the beef first helps the seasoning soak in more deeply for a richer flavor. Adding the beef bone broth at the end gives the soup a deeper, more robust taste.
