Odeng Gook - (오댕국)

Sunday is our grocery day. The MR, Munchkin and I get into the car and go to the K-market and STOCK UP for the rest of the week. I was orginally planning on making jap-chae today, but while we were at the grocery store the MR requested that I make odeng gook instead (since he drank yesterday). I still bought the ingredients for jap chae, so I will probably make it sometime this week...stay tuned!

Remember when I said that I try and avoid MSG and preservatives whenever possible? Well, ignore that statement for this post, ok?



Over the years, I've tried a lot of odeng brands and so far this is my favorite.



And THIS is the reason why I said to avoid the no MSG statement. It's a soup base that comes inside the package of the uh-mook (odeng in Korean). It's probably LOADED with MSG and preservatives, but it really brings out the taste in Odeng Gook. You can skip it if you prefer, but I only use about 1/3 of the packet...so I feel a little better about it. =P



In a pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add a sizeable piece of moo (not TOO big). In that tea bag I have 5 anchovies, 1 piece of dashima, and 5 peppercorns. Let it boil for about 15 minutes.



Meanwhile, give you odeng a thorough rinse.



At this point I added the odeng, 1 TB of gook ganjang and removed the moo to cut it into manageable pieces.



Then I threw the moo back in and added 1/3 of the soup base into it.



And I added 1/2 TB of this stuff. It's a fish sauce made of a salted sand eel that lives off the coast of Korea.



Then you top it with both onions and green onions and let it boil for about 15 minutes and you're ready to serve!



I always make this dipping sauce for the odeng. It's equal parts water, soysauce, and vinegar with some wasabi paste.



While the MR dipped his odeng into the sauce, I made him pose for an action shot. =)