Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hot Soup

Michele and I stopped for some Korean food on the way home from a thoroughly enjoyable trip to Berkeley Bowl. Sahn Maru, in Oakland, CA, is one restaurant that will never have a customer send back a bowl of soup for not being hot enough!

Directly below, you'll see the iPhone video I took of our spicy soft tofu soup. My phone was off at the time, so this was after it had cooled for a minute! It was the hottest soup I've ever been served.



When I posted to YouTube, I was amused to see that many others had filmed this same soupy scene, so I gathered a small collection. There is something mesmerizing about watching this soup boil in the cast iron pots. Below these, I've posted a video recipe for how to make this super-delicious soup! (you just need to find the pots!)


How to Make Korean Soft Tofu Soup (aka Stew)

8 comments:

Pyrofish said...

When I was in Mexico at Teotehuacan, there was a little restaurant outside of the pyramid that served a soup that hot. It was a sampler dinner that was the most expensive thing on the menu. $10 US. It was actually dinner for two, but I didn't know that when I ordered it.

In the bowl, with the soup, was a selection of local sausages, roast pork, and flank steak. Along with some cactus, and some unrecognizable vegetables.

It was delicious! Just had to wait for the stone bowl to cool down to eat anything that was in it...

Fresh Local and Best said...

I miss Berkeley Bowl!

The video of the soup is awesome, it's amazing that it was still sizzling after a minute.

Susanna said...

Hope no greedy grandma will sue the restaurant for millions for burning her legs with the scorching soup that she spilled!

Anonymous said...

I eat this soup every time I go to a korean bbq joint, good thing is that i live in Korea...it is very spicy and also has zuchini in it..I LOVE IT

Christopher C. said...

I think this is a tradition because when ever they used to serve soup to the soldiers in the military outside in the winter, the soup would always get cold, so they started cooking the soup inside the bowl they served it in.. Im not entirely sure, but thats what my mom told me haha.

Elysia said...

Oh my goodness! I've been a fan of this dish for years and have searched for a solid recipe - this is perfect!!! See... I really should have checked here first, as your Irish Lamb Stew recipe is one of my favorites to make.

Thank you!!!!!

Sepi said...

Pyrofish - The dish you had is called "molcajete." The stone bowl, the "molcajete," is a mortar (as in mortar and pestle).

Solbee said...

Christopher - that is not actually true LOL. The container, or the pot, is "뚝배기"- read "Ddook - bae -gi" in Korean. It is the small version of Korean traditional cast-iron cauldron used to cook sticky rice, stew and every thing. Ddook bae gi is stoneware,however, and we use it because Korea has millions of kinds of hot soup and stew (Jjigae), and it should be served boiling hot to maintain its taste. Ddookbaegi is very slow in make soup boils, but it cools down very very slow, make us able to enjoy the meal till the end :D