Beef and Radish Soup or Seogogi Mu Guk is a great everyday Korean soup. It’s mild in flavor and easy to digest, making it a wonderful soup even for children and the elderly.
Korean Beef and Radish Soup or Seogogi Mu Guk (소고기 무국) or sometimes just called Daikon Soup is something I have been meaning to post for a looong time. It is such a basic Korean staple, I can’t believe I haven’t posted it yet. Sorry folks!!
By the way, I have already posted couple Korean radish soups before – one is a Doenjang Radish Soup with anchovy stock with no beef; one is a Cabbage Radish soup with beef and soybean sprouts. However, this particular Beef and Radish Soup recipe is probably the most classic one of all. It is such a classic that this soup is often served on Korean air flights and often in Korean restaurants.
Korean Beef and Radish Soup for babies
The flavor of this radish soup is very mild and soothing. It is just a combination of great beef stock + sweetness and clean taste of radish + garlic and sesame oil flavors that rounds out the dish. It is a great soup to feed your little ones too! I think I fed my daughter this soup with rinsed cabbage kimchi when she was first ready for regular solid foods. Until my daughter was two years old, she really did not like to eat any of the baby food. I had the most difficult time trying to feed her. I tried making home made baby food with ground beef, carrots and rice but she didn’t want any of it. She just wanted apple juice all the time.
But when I fed her this beef and radish soup with some rice, she just gobbled it up!! And even to this day, she loves Korean soups and stews. Even though she was born in the US and LOVES American food, still her favorite breakfast food is some rice and some kind of soup like this one or my husband’s beef cabbage radish soup or dried pollock soup. I guess the baby food was just not as yummy as this soup. 😉
So if you have a finicky baby who doesn’t like eating baby food, try feeding this soup or any of the mild tasting Korean soups with some rice. They may actually like that much better than the bland baby food made from pureed carrots, peas, or whatever. I mean, I tasted that stuff one time and I said to myself –
‘Oh NO wonder she doesn’t want to eat this! It’s so bland and mushy!!’ 😝 😝
Anyway, hope you like my version of this classic Korean soup.
Beef and Radish Soup (Korean Seogogi Mu Guk) Recipe
Servings: 2-3 Cooking Time: 65 min Difficulty: EASY
- In a pot, add water and beef brisket/chuck/boneless short ribs like I did here. This is Costco Korean Boneless Short Ribs. I used 2 pieces which was about 11 oz.
Boneless Short Ribs for Korean Radish Soup - Bring to boil and then simmer for 40-45 minutes until meat is tender (fork goes easily into the meat). If you are using a thicker meat, cut your meat into 1/2 inch thickness so that it cooks easily. Alternatively, you can use an Instant Pot to make beef stock in much short time – especially with bigger pieces of meat.
Beef Broth for Beef and Radish Soup - While the stock is being made, cut Korean radish (mu) or daikon into 1 inch squares, about 1/4 inch thick. Here I cut a whole radish into a 1 inch disc and then cut it into squares.
Korean Radish Daikon -Beef and Radish Soup 
Cutting Radish for Mu Guk - Cut green onions to use as garnish. I had some fun here and cut the green onions into 3 different styles. You are welcome to use any one of these cuts for your soup! The leftmost cut is cut at a diagonal (어슷썰기 Eoseut Sseolgi).
Green Onion slices for Korean Soups - When beef is fully cooked and stock is ready, take beef out from the broth, let it cool and cut into small bite size pieces.
Beef Slices for Beef and Radish Soup Mu Guk - Transfer broth out of the pot into a bowl. Heat some sesame oil in the empty pot on medium high heat. Add radish squares and sauté for 3 minutes or so until they look somewhat translucent.
Sauteeing radish Beef and Radish Soup - Add beef broth back to sauteed radishes and bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Let radishes cook in beef broth for 5 minutes.
- While radishes are cooking, season beef with some salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds, guk ganjang (soup soy sauce), and chopped garlic.
Beef Seasoned for Mu Guk - Add seasoned beef into radish soup. Simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes or so until flavors are fully developed.
Beef and Radish Soup Mu Guk Cooking - Serve in a bowl, garnished with green onions. Provide black pepper at the table for those who want to add it.
Beef and Radish Soup - Korean Seogogi Mu Guk
Ingredients
- 11 oz beef chuck roast, boneless short rib (or brisket)
- 6 oz Korean radish (or daikon)
- 6 cups water
- 1 Tbsp guk ganjang (Korean soy sauce for soups)
- 1 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp garlic (chopped)
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1/4 cup green onions (chopped)
Instructions
- In a pot, add water and beef brisket/chuck/boneless short ribs like I did here. This is Costco Korean Boneless Short Ribs. I used 2 pieces for this recipe.
- Bring to boil and simmer for 40-45 minutes until meat is tender (fork goes easily into the meat). If you are using a thicker meat, cut your meat into 1/2 inch thickness so that it cooks easily. Alternatively, you can use an Instant Pot to make beef stock – especially with bigger pieces of meat.
- While the stock is being made, cut Korean radish (mu) or daikon into 1 inch squares, about 1/4 inch thick. Here I cut a whole radish into a 1 inch disc and then cut it into squares.
- Cut green onions to use as garnish. I had some fun here and cut the green onions into 3 different styles. You are welcome to use any one of these cuts for your soup! The leftmost cut is cut at a diagonal (어슷썰기 Eoseut Sseolgi).
- When beef is fully cooked and stock is ready, take beef out from the broth, let it cool and cut into small bite size pieces.
- Transfer the broth out of the pot to a bowl. Heat some sesame oil in the empty pot on medium high heat. Add radish squares and sauté for 3 minutes or so until they are looking translucent.
- Add the beef broth back to sauteed radishes and bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Let radishes cook in beef broth for 5 minutes.
- While radishes are cooking, season beef with some salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds, guk ganjang (soup soy sauce), and chopped garlic.
- Add seasoned beef into radish soup. Simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes or so until flavors are fully developed. Adjust time to your preference. If you like your radishes less soft, cook less.
- Serve in a bowl, garnished with green onions. Provide black pepper at the table for those who want to add it.
Tips & Notes:
- To reduce cooking time, use an Instant Pot to make the beef stock.
- To save some effort, you can pre-cut beef into small thin bite size pieces and saute with the radish altogether. The soup will not be as full of beef flavor as making the beef stock separately but it works.
- You can make a large batch of this soup and freeze in containers to eat later.
- For the simplest meal, you just need some rice and kimchi. Maybe some gim and myeolchi bokkeum and you should be all set!
- You can find more information about Guk Ganjang (Soup Soy Sauce) in my Know your Soy Sauce post. If you don't have it, you can substitute it by adding a tsp or so of fish sauce and adding more salt if necessary.
Nutrition Information:
Notes
- You can find more information about Guk Ganjang (Soup Soy Sauce) in my Know your Soy Sauce post. If you don’t have it, you can substitute it by adding a tsp or so of fish sauce and adding more salt if necessary.
- To save time, you can pre-cut beef into small thin bite size pieces and saute with the radish at the same time, then add water and cook. The soup will not be as full of beef flavor as making the beef stock separately but it should still work.
- You can make a large batch of this soup and freeze in containers to eat later.
- For the simplest meal, you just need some rice, this soup and kimchi. Even better if you have some gim and myeolchi bokkeum or any other banchan!
- If you don’t know what to do with leftover radish, here are some other recipe ideas using Korean radish besides soups – radish salad, radish kimchi and radish namul.
Radish Salad (Moo Saeng Che 무생채)
Kkakdugi Korean Radish Kimchi
Korean Radish Saute Side Dish (Mu/Moo Namul Banchan)
Enjoy!
XOXO ❤
JinJoo
We really like the clean flavour of the beef soup! An addition to our comfort meal. I added more vegetables. It a complete meal in itself!
Love to hear that!! So glad you like it. Yes, Korean food is easy when you have a good soup. Thank you for sharing!
How long should you cook in the instant pot for the beef stock
It will depend on the cut and size of beef but 15 min should work ok. If using tougher, bigger meat, maybe 20. I have more info on my Instant Pot Tteokguk recipe for making beef stock for soup with stew meat – https://kimchimari.com/instant-pot-tteokguk-rice-cake-soup/ Good luck!
Im im nt able to cook beef and use pork instead. Can i use pork to cook pork stock? What kind of pork should i use?
I have never made this soup with pork because of the porky smell you can get so I am not certain but I think you can try pork – but you will have to add ginger and other ingredients to take care of the smell.
I saw this recipe so many times while looking for other things, and made a mental note that I would try it. Well, we did today, and WE LOVED IT! It was so yummy and flavorful, simple yet satisfying. So, so delicious! It made me wish that I had made a bigger batch so that I could have to freeze for later too, haha! Thank you for sharing.
I appreciate your great feedback!! Yes, if you make a big match, it actually even taste better I think. Try making a bigger batch, freeze it and enjoy it whenever you can later. Thank you again Angel!
This soup is super easy to make, amazing delicious on the first day and even better the next!
Thank you!! And yes – it does taste even better the next day. So glad you tried it and like it. Have a great day! oh and Happy Holidays!