Unlike most Korean noodle soups, sujebi is fast and inexpensive to make. Because it’s not at all fancy it’s not the kind of dish you’ll find in Korean restaurants. Fortunately, it’s easy to make at home.

Kimchi Sujebi (Spicy Dough Flake Soup) — 김치 수제비

Ingredients

• 4 c. flour*
• 10 c. water
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Korean red pepper paste (gochujang)**
• 1 c. Napa cabbage kimchi plus extra kimchi liquid
• 3 scallions cut on the diagonal into about 2-inch pieces
• salt

*To make this recipe gluten free, I used gluten-free flour. It turned out fine.

**You can buy gochujang in plastic, tub-like containers at Asian grocery stores or for $10 on Amazon.com. The tubs are easy to identify, even if you don’t read Korean, because they are always red in color, to match their contents. (See photo above.)

Steps

• Combine the flour and 1½ c. water, adding the water about ¼ c. at a time, until the mixture clumps together in one piece.
• Knead into a dough. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.
• Bring water to a boil in a pan and add garlic.
• Add the red pepper paste, kimchi and kimchi juice to the boiling water.
• Rip the dough into thin pieces roughly 1½ inches in size. Press the dough with your thumb to flatten into a disc shape and add to the boiling stock.
• When the dough begins to float and becomes slightly translucent on the edges (~5 to 7 minutes), add the scallions.
• Remove pan from heat and add salt.
• Serve hot.