KalGukSu Korean Mussel and Knife Noodle Soup

KalGukSu 칼국수

I love to make KalGukSu for dinner on Sunday nights because the grocery store near me always has a great and fresh seafood selection on Sundays.  I'm not going to lie, this KalGukSu is not as good as you will get going out to a restaurant in Korea.  It is tasty and the flavor profile is there but I have not yet been able to achieve the creamy texture in the broth.  If you want a creamier texture I suggest cooking the noodles with everything else, however be warned if not cooked long enough your broth will have a bit of a raw flour taste, and if cooked too long you end up with a bunch of mush.  Because I am easily distracted I often opt to cook my noodles separate from the broth to avoid the mush factor.  But if you have an eagle eye, go on ahead and toss those noodles in with the rest of the good stuff.

Side Note: If you are feeling extra awesome you can try and make the noodles yourself.  Kalguksu translates to knife noodles.  The noodles are made from a simple flour, salt, water and oil mixture and then are rolled out and cut with a knife (believe it or not ;) I have yet to try making my own noodles for this recipe but have for others.  If you try it out yourself let me know how it goes in the comments.

Ingredients:

½-1 lb mussels or clams

6-8 cups of water

1 medium sized potato cut into 1/2in slices

½-1 carrot cut into medallions

1 onion cut into wedges

½-1 zucchini cut into medallions

2 bunches of Kalgusu noodles

2Tbsp-1/4 cup of soy sauce

Instructions

Let the mussels or clams soak in salted water for 30 minutes to 1 day to remove some of the grit.  Rinse and brush outside of shell with a coarse brush.  If the shells have any stringy bits on them use a kitchen scissor to cut them off.

In a large stock pot bring 6 cups of water to boil and add the mussels or clams. 

While clams are boiling slice up your vegetables.

See all the foam on top in this picture
 you will want to spoon some of that off.

Once clams have opened up you can add the carrots and onions to the pot.  If there is a lot of foam in the pot do your best to remove some for a tastier broth.

I got rid of some of the foam from the picture above
 don't worry if you can't get all of it.

Let the carrots and onion cook for about 5 minutes.

While the carrot and onion are cooking boil a pot of water and cook your kalguksu noodles according to the package directions.

After 5 minutes add the potato and zucchini and continue cooking until the potato is soft.

Once the potato is soft add the cooked kalguksu noodles and stir to mix everything together.

Finally add 2Tbsp-1/4 cup of soy sauce to taste.

*Extra Note: If you ever feel like too much of your broth has boiled off feel free to add more water.  I average 6-8 cups when I make Kalguksu, depending on how many veggies I add had how many mussels I start out with. 

* Serving Suggestions: Serve with Kimchi or MuKimchi or some Mandu (Korean dumpling)

Hope you enjoy your delicious knife noodle soup