Korean wheat flour dumpling soup sujebi Recipe
Sujebi is a homestyle Korean soup with hand-torn wheat flour dumplings, something like a cross between Polish broth with zacierki and an Italian pasta soup. In Korea it’s often eaten on cooler days because it’s filling and warming, while still very simple. The dumplings don’t need to be perfect – the more irregular they are, the more “homemade” the bowl looks.
This sujebi brings the cozy feel of a Korean home kitchen to your table with just a few basic ingredients. Hand-torn dumplings give each bowl its own character, and the light vegetable broth keeps the dish both comforting and not too heavy.
Chef's tips
Don’t worry about making the dumplings even or pretty – the charm of sujebi is in its rustic look. Tear the dough quite thinly so the pieces cook through quickly and stay pleasantly chewy, not dense. Keep the soup at a gentle simmer when adding the dumplings so they set nicely and don’t fall apart.
How to serve
Serve sujebi as a full meal in deep bowls, with kimchi, pickled radish or other Korean banchan on the side. A small dish of extra soy sauce and chili flakes or gochugaru lets everyone adjust the saltiness and heat to their taste.
Ingredients
- wheat flour type 450–500 - 200 g
- salt half for the dough, half for the soup - 1 teaspoon
- water lukewarm, for the dough - 120 ml
- vegetable stock homemade or from a good-quality stock cube - 1 l
- potato cut into thin slices or half-slices - 2 piece
- zucchini cut into thin strips or half-slices - 0.5 piece
- onion cut into thin slices - 0.5 piece
- garlic finely chopped - 2 cloves
- soy sauce - 1.5 tablespoon
- sesame oil - 1 teaspoon
- chives chopped, for serving - 2 tablespoon
- black pepper to taste - 0.25 teaspoon
Preparation
- Put the flour and half a teaspoon of salt into a bowl, pour in the lukewarm water and knead by hand for 5–7 minutes, until you get a smooth, elastic dough. If it’s too dry, add 1–2 tablespoons of water; if it’s too sticky, add a little flour.
- Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes to let the dough rest.
- In the meantime, prepare the vegetables: slice the potatoes and zucchini thinly, slice the onion, and finely chop the garlic.
- Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a pot. Add the potatoes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the onion, garlic and zucchini, and cook for another 3–4 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften.
- Divide the dumpling dough into 2 parts. Flatten each part in your hands and tear off small pieces about the size of a fingernail, stretching them with your fingers into thin, irregular flakes. Drop them straight into the gently simmering soup, stirring from time to time so they don’t stick together.
- Cook the dumplings for 5–6 minutes from the moment they are all in the pot. They should float to the surface and be soft but pleasantly chewy when you bite into them.
- Season the soup with soy sauce, sesame oil, the remaining salt and pepper. Taste and add more soy sauce if needed.
- Take the pot off the heat, sprinkle the soup with chopped chives and serve immediately in deep bowls.
Storage
Zupa z kluskami najlepiej smakuje świeża, bo kluski z czasem pęcznieją. Jeśli zostanie, przechowuj w lodówce i podgrzewaj bardzo delikatnie, nie doprowadzając do mocnego wrzenia.
