You may think you know all about potato soup until you try this and see what you’ve been missing all your life. Anchovies and fermented soybean paste make it irresistibly savory, and chili peppers give it an undercurrent of heat. Perilla seed powder adds just a hint of nuttiness. I tie the anchovies up in a piece of cheesecloth so they are easy to remove from the soup before serving. But you can add them directly to the soup and then search around for them and fish them out, or just leave them in and eat them.
SERVES: 4
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 large dried anchovies (mareun-myeolchi), heads and guts removed
- 6 cups water
- 1½ pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup fermented soybean paste (doenjang)
- 4 scallions, cut into 1½-inch-long pieces
- 1 or 2 green Korean chili peppers (cheong-gochu), chopped
- ¼ cup perilla seed powder (deulkkae-garu)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Wrap the anchovies in cheesecloth, if desired.
- Combine the water, potatoes, onion, garlic, anchovies, and soybean paste in a medium heavy saucepan, cover, and cook over medium-high heat for 40 minutes.
- Add the scallions, chili peppers, and perilla seed powder, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Remove and discard the anchovies, if desired.
- Remove from the heat, ladle into bowls, and serve
