Sujebi is a brothy soup with hand pulled dough torn into irregular shapes, and it's one of the oldest Korean dishes that dates back to the goryeo period that starts in the 900s.

Today I made a Clam Chowder Sujebi as a Korean-American fusion of my two favorite soups, and it turned out amazing! This might be the first Clam Chowder Sujebi that’s ever been published on the internet, since I couldn’t find any past recipes. I think you will really enjoy it with a side of cold, crisp kimchi :)

Since this is a fusion dish, here’s a bit of history about the traditional Korean sujebi: in the aforementioned Goryeo period, rice was a staple and wheat flour was quite rare. So sujebi was made only for the royal family, during special occasions like banquets or a royal baby's first birthday. But after the Korean farmlands were destroyed from the japanese colonization, and after the korean war, in the 1950s the supply of wheat flour and rice actually flipped and Koreans started to rely on wheat based food, basically to survive. (read more here)

During this time, even the government was encouraging the masses to eat more food made with flour, which was unconventional for a country built on rice as our staple. But out of that era came a number of our most popular dishes like spicy tteokbokki, jajangmyeon, and sujebi.

Today in Korea sujebi can be found in a range: as a cheap bowl of soup at the market, or made with expensive seafood at sujebi specialty stores. Either way, Sujebi is soul food, and it's pretty amazing to see how it's stuck with us through the thick and thin.

Tonight in my own kitchen in new york city, I made a Korean American fusion of my two favorite soups into a clam chowder sujebi, and if i say so myself, this is a brilliant combo. Here’s the recipe:

Anchovy Tablets: If you cook Korean food often, totally get this and it’ll come in handy. A total shortcut to making anchovy broth in a minute. (This is what Koreans are actually using to cook soups)
Chopped Canned Clams: I used 2 of these canned chopped clams for convenience and used the juice from it as well. You’re welcome to use any brand, and even better, fresh ones if you can.
Trader Joe’s mini scallops (frozen): To add a wonderful texture and flavor, I added these scallops from Trader Joe’s. These were great because I didn’t have to chop them up.

[[Ingredients]] Makes 3-4 servings

The Dough:

1 small potato, chopped (about 150g),
1/4 cup water,
1 cup all purpose flour (120g),
pinch of salt,
1 Tbsp neutral oil

The Clam Chowder Soup:

2 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped finely (1 cup)
2 stalks of celery, chopped finely (1 cup)
2-3 carrots, chopped finely (1 cup)
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 cans of chopped clams
pinch salt (to taste)
2 anchoby tablets
thyme
1 cup water
1 cup whole milk

[[Recipe]]

In a food processor, add the potato, salt, and 1/4 cup of water and blend until puree’ed.
Once the potato is puree’ed, add 1 cup of flour and run the food processor again

knead in a bowl or flat surface, **adding more flour as needed** until it’s a ball of dough.

store in a container or zip lock bag, and refridgerate while we make the soup base.

In a pot, stir fry the chopped bacon until golden brown. add 1 Tbsp of butter

Once the butter melts, add 1 cup each of chopped carrots, celery and onion

stir fry the vegetables for 3 minutes, and mix in 2 Tbsp of flour.

cook for 2 minutes until the flour roughly coats the vegetables and looks a bit clumpy.

Using a sieve, pour the clam juice from 2 cans of chopped clam into the pot. set aside the clam meat.

1 cup of whole milk
*just a heads up, try not to use Lactose-free lactaid milk here because the milk will be SWEET! we don’t want a sweet soup =(

Once the soup is bubbling,
take out the dough from the fridge, and pull it into bite-size pieces, flattening it with your fingers.

This is your sujebi. some people prefer their sujebi paper-thin, some people like it chunky. Try different shapes and see what you like. there’s no rule to the shape as long as it’s flat.
*In Korean, Sujebi can refer to these dough pieces themeslves, and the entire soup as well. So sujebi isn’t sujebi without these hand-pulled dough!
(I’m only clarifying because I saw this reddit post where someone said they made “sujebi” but skipped the dough and replaced it with noodles… that’s no longer sujebi! Thankfully the community corrected the person)

lastly, add all the clam meat and frozen scallops (feel free to add more seafood of your choice)
and boil on medium heat for 5-10 more minutes.
We want to add the seafood last so that it doesn’t overcook (canned clams are already cooked, and scallops will turn rubbery if overcooked)

Sneak in a taste of the sujebi (pulled dough) to see if it’s fully cooked. Fully cooked sujebi will be slightly transparent on the edges, and won’t leave a white bite mark when you bite into it.
Since we made these with potato, it’ll be extra chewy!

Enjoy with a side of kimchi.
I think you’ll love it.

Full Recipe without Photos

In a food processor, add the potato, salt, and 1/4 cup of water and blend until puree’ed. Once the potato is puree’ed, add 1 cup of flour and run the food processor again
keep blending until it becomes a dough.
knead a few times in a bowl or flat surface, adding more flour as needed until it’s a ball of dough.
store in a container or zip lock bag, and refrigerate while we make the soup base. (at least 20 min, but it will discolor of you leave it for more than 1 hour)
In a pot, stir fry the chopped bacon until golden brown. add 1 Tbsp of butter
Once the butter melts, add 1 cup each of chopped carrots, celery and onion
stir fry the vegetables for 3 minutes, and mix in 2 Tbsp of flour.
cook for 2 minutes until the flour roughly coats the vegetables and looks a bit clumpy.
Using a sieve, pour the clam juice from 2 cans of chopped clam into the pot. set aside the clam meat.
Add a dash of thyme, 2 anchovy tablets, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of whole milk (do not use lactaid milk! it will be sweet)
Once the soup is bubbling,
take out the dough from the fridge, and pull it into bite-size pieces, flattening it with your fingers.
*This is your sujebi. some people prefer their sujebi paper-thin, some people like it chunky. Try different shapes and see what you like. there’s no rule to the shape as long as it’s flat.
lastly, add all the clam meat and frozen scallops (feel free to add more seafood of your choice)
and boil on medium heat for 5-10 more minutes.
We want to add the seafood last so that it doesn’t overcook (canned clams are already cooked, and scallops will turn rubbery if overcooked)
Sneak in a taste of the sujebi to see if it’s fully cooked. Fully cooked sujebi will be slightly transparent on the edges, and won’t leave a white bite mark when you bite into it.
Enjoy with a side of kimchi.

Clam Chowder Sujebi

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