Dried Pollock Soup or Bugeo Guk is a wonderful soothing soup that’s not just soothing in taste but also nutritionally known to be a detoxing soup among Koreans. It’s also my daughter’s favorite and she requested for this recipe when she was in college.
My daughter called me the other day and asked me to post my Bugeo (dried pollock) Guk recipe because she wanted to make some for herself in her dorm. This is always one of the first things she asks me to make when she comes home from college. Bugeo Guk is also one of the easiest and quickest Korean soups to make and is very popular because of its soothing and tummy warming taste. When I write these posts, sometimes I really wish there were more English words that can accurately describe the various ways Koreans express taste and texture. Koreans often describe the taste of this soup as 시원하다 (she-won-hada) which, when literally translated, means “cool” or “refreshing”.
How can a soup that is piping hot be “cooling?” But when Koreans eat a soup that somehow feels like it reaches all the way down to your stomach, leaving you a clearing feeling, we say it tastes 시원하다. I looked up the word in the dictionary and it listed the following words – cool, refreshing, reviving, invigorating, clean, clear. And I would say it is the combination of all these words and more that expresses the true taste sensation.
The quality of the bugeo makes a huge difference in the taste of this soup. We get our bugeo usually from Korea so I can’t tell you about any specific brand I buy here but my advice is to buy the ones that are not too dry and not too hard (when they are too dry, they become hard like rocks and taste like paper) Buy those that are still a little soft and moist. If you can taste one before you buy, that is the best. It should taste good just by itself. If it tastes kind of like nothing, then it is too old and too dry and lost its taste. The color is not all that important because it is hard to say which ones are better with just the color. Because HwangTae (yellow dried pollock) is popular and is also more expensive, some sellers actually color their dried pollock with food coloring.
OK, let’s get cooking…
Dried Pollock Soup (Bugeo Guk) Recipe
Cooking Time: 20 min. Prep Time: 10 min. Servings: 2-3
Ingredients (see my adjustable Recipe Card below)
Step-by-Step Directions
1. You can either use a whole Bugeo and cut it into 1 1/2 inch pieces or tear them into strips like the picture on the right.
Strips are easier to eat when cooked so I like using strips. You can sometimes buy bugeo strips in packages so you may want to buy them instead of going through the trouble of tearing them into pieces.
2. Prepare anchovy stock. See my tips page on how to make stock in advance.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Cut radish by first slicing a 1 inch thick round piece. Then cut it into halves and then into square pieces. Cut onions and green onions as shown below:
4. We are ready to start the soup! Turn the heat to medium high and add about 2 handfuls of bugeo strips (shown below):
5. When the soup starts to boil, lower the heat and add onions, radish and garlic. Stir and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so until the radish and onions are fully soft.
6. Add green onions. After they have cooked for a couple minutes, add the beaten egg to the soup. Season with about 1 tsp of salt, taste it and adjust to taste. Because the pollock is salty, you will not need a lot of salt. Sprinkle some black pepper.
7. Add sesame oil and turn off the heat. Sesame oil loses a lot of the flavor and aroma when it’s cooked so remember to add it at the very end right before or after you turn off the heat.
And there you go! Serve bugeo guk with some rice, kimchi and some other side dishes like myeolchi or myulchi bokkeum or jangjorim and enjoy!
Dried Pollock Soup (Bugeo Guk)
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried pollock strips, torn (100 g)
- 5 cups anchovy stock
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 cup sliced Korean radish (daikon radish is also OK – optional)
- 1/4 onion (sliced)
- 2-3 green onions
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- You can either use a whole Bugeo and cut it into 1 1/2 inch pieces or tear them into strips. Strips are easier to eat when cooked so I like using strips. You can sometimes buy bugeo strips in packages.
- Prepare anchovy stock. See my tips page on how to make stock in advance.
- Prepare the vegetables. Cut radish by first slicing a 1 inch thick round piece. Then cut it into halves and then into square pieces. Cut onions and green onions.
- We are ready to start the soup! Turn the heat to medium high and add about 2 handfuls of bugeo strips.
- When the soup starts to boil, lower the heat and add onions, radish and garlic. Stir and let it simmer for 15 minutes or so until the radish and onions are fully soft.
- Add green onions. After they have cooked for a couple minutes, add the beaten egg to the soup. Season with about 1 tsp of salt, taste it and adjust to taste. Because the pollock is salty, you will not need a lot of salt. Sprinkle some black pepper.
- Add sesame oil and turn off the heat. Sesame oil loses a lot of the flavor and aroma when it’s cooked so remember to add it at the very end right before or after you turn off the heat.
- Serve bugeo guk with some rice, kimchi and other side dishes like .
Tips & Notes:
- Add a dried red chili pepper or some red chili powder to spice things up.
- Some people like to add tofu (1/2 cup or so) and/or soybean sprouts (kongnamul) to the soup to add extra flavor and texture.
- You can use water instead of stock if you don’t have anchovies.
- If you find that the soup doesn’t taste as good, chances are you haven’t put enough bugeo or garlic. Increase these amounts and most likely your soup will taste much better.
Nutrition Information:
Some variations and tips –
- add a dried red chili pepper or some red chili powder to spice things up
- some people like to add tofu (1/2 C or so) and/or soy bean sprouts (kongnamul 콩나물) to the soup to add extra flavor and texture
- you can use water instead of stock if you don’t have anchovies
- if you find that the soup doesn’t taste as good, chances are you haven’t put enough bugeo or garlic. Increase these amounts and most likely your soup will taste much better.
I really like bugeoguk, so I tried a lot of recipes. Yours is really simple and turns out delicious. I’d just like to comment, while it’s not authentic or totally accurate, you can use “dashida” korean anchovy stock, or Japanese “hon dashi” bonito stock for this and get tasty results. i have used “hon dashi” as well as korean “dashida” and loved it, but I can’t easily make the anchovy stock without finding anchovies.
I’m glad you enjoyed my recipe. Thank you!
I love the simplicity of this dish. I was struggling to figure out what to make for lunch one day before we had gone grocery shopping and were low on things. This soup can we made with minimal ingredients that I usually still have laying around. It’s simple and delicious for a cool afternoon and very easy to make.
Is this cod the same as “salt cod”?
Thank you!
Hi Scott, no, it’s not the same thing. First, this is pollock, not cod. Although they are both dried, Korean Bugeo (dried pollock) is not salted but just dried in its natural state but goes through periods of freezing and thawing, creating the air pockets in between. Thanks for asking!
We just made your Pollack fish soup tonite, so yummy I got the stamp of approval to “Make it again :)”
Joyce, That’s wonderful!! Yes, that pollack fish soup is our family’s favorite too. Glad your family enjoyed it. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Thanks for your recipe! 🙂
Oh you are welcome!! Thank you for saying that~ 😉