what Koreans eat the morning after: kongnamul-guk 🍲

The morning after a soju night in Korea = bean sprout soup 🫠 Kongnamul-guk. Clear, hot, a little spicy if you want it. Nothing fancy, and that's exactly the point. When your stomach is angry this is the bowl people reach for, and the gukbap version with rice in it (sometimes an egg cracked on top) is one of the classic haejangguk, literally "soup to chase the hangover" 😵‍💫➡️😌

What surprised me: no anchovy or kelp broth needed. Just sprouts, water and saeujeot (tiny salted shrimp) doing all the work 🦐 For 3 to 4 people: 250 to 300g bean sprouts, 1L water, half a tablespoon of minced garlic, half a green onion, half a tablespoon of saeujeot, a pinch of salt. One cheongyang chili if you want a kick 🌶️ Rinse the sprouts and drop them into boiling water with the lid OFF from the very start, otherwise you get that raw beany smell. When it boils again, medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, then in go the garlic, green onion and chili. Season with saeujeot first, taste, and only then add salt, because every jar of saeujeot has a different saltiness 😅 No saeujeot at home? A small splash of anchovy or sand lance fish sauce works too. Don't let it boil forever. The sprouts should still crunch. Add a little extra green onion or chili right before eating ✨ Leftover sprouts become kongnamul muchim: blanch, drain really well, toss with salt, garlic, green onion, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Rice + soup + banchan, done 🍚 Saving this for the next noraebang night 🎤🍲