Spicy Beef SoupYukgaejang

Yukgaejang is the soup Koreans eat when they need to feel better. After a long week, after a hard day, when the weather drops suddenly, or when you're dealing with something difficult — this is what goes on the stove. The deep brick-red broth, the shredded beef that falls apart in threads, the egg ribbon swirling at the surface.

My family served it at important gatherings too. In Korean tradition, yukgaejang is associated with funerals and significant events — it's filling, warming, and relatively affordable to make in large quantities. It was the soup on the table the day my grandfather passed. I was maybe twelve years old and didn't realize until years later that the dish I was eating was doing something specific for everyone in the room.

The technique that makes this soup is the sesame oil and gochugaru step. You heat the sesame oil, add the gochugaru, let it bloom for thirty seconds in the oil — the color releases and the oil turns a deep orange-red. Then the shredded beef goes in and absorbs that flavor before everything goes back into the broth. Skipping this step and just adding the spices to the pot produces a flatter result.

The egg ribbon at the end is poured in a thin stream while the soup is boiling, then stirred gently once. It creates soft, feathery egg strands that distribute through the broth. The technique is similar to egg drop soup but lighter-handed — you're not scrambling it, just letting it set in the current.

I made this in Vancouver for myself on a February night when the power had been out and the apartment was cold. It took about an hour total. By the time I ate it, I felt warmer than the room actually was.