Samcheongdong Sujebi

On rainy days, many Koreans crave sujebi, a simple and comforting soup with hand-pulled dough dumplings. The long line of customers waiting in front of Samcheong-dong Sujebi has become a familiar sight, come rain or snow. After boiling garlic juice, ginger, squash, carrot, and potato in anchovy stock to bring out deep and complex flavors, hand-pulled dough dumplings are added and boiled once more. The dish is served in a small clay pot with kimchi, made fresh daily at the restaurant, as a side dish. Make sure you come hungry—serving sizes are generous. One mouthful leads to the next, as you slowly savor the natural taste of each ingredient. But the most important element to this dish is their soy sauce mixed with pepper. After adding the soy sauce to the sujebi, make sure the pepper is evenly distributed and then have a spoonful of the broth with a dumpling. The softness of the dumpling, kick of the pepper, and the various flavors from the soy sauce and soup create an astonishing taste that you won’t forget. Their pajeon (savory pancake with spring onion) is equally popular. You’ll find many tables ordering one pajeon and one bowl of sujebi, and we suggest you follow suit.