Chicken Kalgooksoo - (닭칼국수)

My mom's favorite childhood comfort food is chicken kal gooksoo. She always talks about how my grandmother used to make the noodles and broth all by hand from start to finish. Well, we're NOT going to be doing that here today.  I will make noodles in the future, but today will be an instant day.  =P

Ingredients needed:

• Kalgooksoo Noodles
• Cornish Game Hen
• Broth: 5 dae chus (jujubes), 10 cloves of garlic, 2 sprigs of ginger, and some large green onion
• Sauce: 1/4 CUPsoy sauce, 1/4CUP gook ganjang, 2TB sesame oil, 2TB red pepper powder, 1TB minced garlic, 2 sprigs of green onions, and 1 sprig of large green onion
• Vegetables – 1/2 squash, 1/2 onion, 1 small potato
  

STEP ONE: MAKING THE BROTH

              
 
This particular brand of kalgooksoo was recalled in July of 2009 so be sure to double check on it before buying.  I’ve since found another brand to buy.

You can basically use any type of chicken meat that has bones in it. Today, I decided to defrost a Cornish game hen I had sitting in the freezer.



Make sure to wash the chicken thoroughly and transfer it back into the clean pot.



I like using a pasta pot because it makes it easier later. You can use a regular pot, if you don't have a pasta pot. Doesn't really matter.



While the chicken in boiling, I prepare the vegetables. I use one whole onion, 5 dae chus, 10 cloves of garlic, 2 sprigs of ginger, and some large green onion.



Wash and cut the veggies like this....



When the chicken starts to boil and you see all this stuff~~~



Remove it from the heat, throw away all the water and give the whole pot a good wash down. Give the chicken a little bath while you're at it too.



After everything is all nice and clean, add the chicken and the vegetables back into the pot and add enough water to cover the chicken.



Bring to a boil, and then cook on medium heat for about 2.5 hours. While boiling, you're going to need to keep an eye on the broth and skim off all the excess fat that rises to the top.



After about 1.5 hours, I take OUT some of the vegetables before they get too soggy and start falling apart in the broth.



Reduce the broth to about half and add more water if you feel like you need to.



I think I cooked the chicken for close to 3 hours before I finally pulled it out.



Look at how milky the broth is. Yummy~ You can also just cook sam gye tang and use leftover broth from that. There's not really much difference. I've made sam gye tang, then kalgooksoo, then dakjook using the same broth. Whenever I do that the MR jokes that he's 'chickened out for the next month'~



Then I let it cool and take apart the chicken and put it aside. I saved the bigger bones and placed it inside a teabag.



At this point I transferred the broth to an easy pour pot and threw the teabag full of bones back in there and added more water.



I let only the bones cook in there for about another hour and at this point I add some salt. You don't need to add too much salt because the kalgooksoo sauce is salty as it is. The broth is now done. This is actually tomorrow's breakfast, so at this point I just stored the chicken in the fridge.

Part II - Assembling the kalgooksoo...will be TOMORROW.

---

STEP TWO – SEASONING SAUCE

For my kalgooksoo sauce, I use equal parts soy sauce and gook ganjang with a splash of sesame oil.



I just mix everything inside a storage container so that I can pop it into my fridge until I need it.



Then I add a generous amount of red pepper powder (1-2 spoonfuls), about a spoonful of minced garlic, green onions, and large green onions.



Throw in some sesame seeds.



Mix it around really well and you're done. You can store it inside the refregerator until you're ready for it the next day.

---

STEP THREE:  ASSMBLING THE KALGOOKSOO

You can pretty much add whatever vegetables you want. I like to use onions, squash, and potatoes.



After cutting up the veggies, I add the chicken broth to a pan and throw in the potatoes and onions. The potatoes take a while to cook, so keep stirring away.



In another pot, I cook the gooksoo. You know that kalgooksoo is done when it boils over. Once it boils over, give it a taste test~ it should be done.



After the potatoes are ripe, I add the chicken from the night before.



Then I finally add squash and season it with a dash of salt and pepper.



Place the noodles into a bowl, put the chicken/veggie mixture on top and pour the heated broth on over everything. 


 
Do a taste test and then add some kalgooksoo sauce.  Enjoy!  Everyone in our family loves this and it’s all gone within the day.  You can use any leftover broth to make some dak jook.