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Suwon_Haejangguk, Another Way to Eat Suwon Galbi
Yuchi Hoegwan
Hwang Rok-ju (Curator, Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation)
Suwon has relished a nationwide reputation for the cattle market since King Jeongjo (r. 1776-1800) built the walled city of Hwaseong in present-day Suwon and developed it into a commercial hub of his kingdom’s capital area. That may explain how the city came to be famous with galbi gui, grilled beef ribs. The name Suwon galbi refers to the filleted ribs marinated in the seasoning made of salt, garlic and leek and grilled. The first restaurant that put the dish, beef ribs cut parallel to the bone about 17 centimeters in length, marinated and grilled on charcoal, in its menu is known as Hwachunok which was open in the 1940s at the Ssajeon Street (i.e. rice section) in Yeongdong Market. Galbi gui had not been a new dish but that served by the restaurant was so delicious that it was soon on everyone’s tongue. Customers began to flock to the restaurants, resulting in the opening of about 20 galbi restaurants in the area.
The galbi gui had not been the main dish of Hwachunok when the restaurant first opened. It was haejangguk, a kind of soup served for those suffering hangover. The original name of the dish was haejeongguk which also means “soup to chase a hangover." The history of the dish shows that there had been heavy drinkers since ancient times. Each Korean region has developed its own dishes to serve as haejangguk. The most popular type of haejangguk in the Korea’s central region is that cooked by boiling an assortment of ingredients, such as bean sprout, cabbage and cattle blood, in the stock prepared by boiling cow’s leg bones. For the haejangguk served in Hwachunok, the ingredients included beef short ribs.
This original haejangguk of Hwachunok is now no more cooked, but a similar dish is served in the restaurant named Yuchi Hoegwan in Suwon. The taste of the hangover soup leads many food connoisseurs to believe that it is the closest to the original Hwachunok soup. The base of the dish is beef stock made by boiling cow’s leg bones for long hours, and it contains slices of rib meat abundantly. The restaurant even offers its guests, who are big eaters, an extra portion without any additional charge. Yuchi Hoegwan has since its opening in 1972 established the standard of hangover soup for the Suwon area and continued to serve their guests with this single dish. One distinctive feature of the way the dish is served in this restaurant is that the chunks of boiled hot cattle blood are offered in a separate bowl for those who do not want them mixed with other ingredients in their soup.
Eating can be a luxury that pleases our palate. The Suwon galbi can be one of such luxurious dishes. In Korea, beef short ribs are still regarded as comparatively expensive food and they were more so in the past when the restaurant Hwachunok began to serve grilled beef ribs to their guests. One can easily agree that the dish representing the restaurant industry of Suwon is still the grilled beef ribs, but for the majority of its citizens in the past it should have been the haejangguk with ribs. If you are interested in this unique dish once representing the restaurant dishes of Suwon, do not hesitate to visit Yuchi Hoegwan and order your own bowl. If you have a hangover after a night of heavy drinking, you will see how the soup helps chase it.
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세부정보
Yuchi Hoegwan
Address/ 59, Suseong-ro 340beon-gil, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do
Contact/ 031-245-2880
Open/ 24 Hours
Closed on/ national holidays