marrow bones

This post demystifies seolleongtang so you can make this restaurant favorite at home. A few dollars’ worth of beef bones makes lots of rich and nourishing soup.

Seolleongtang (Ox bone soup)

beef

beef brisket

rice

somyeon (or glasnoodles

meat,

scallions

salt and pepper

Soak the bones in cold water to draw out as much blood as possible, about 1 hour (or longer if you have time). Rinse well and drain.

Soak the meat in another bowl to draw out as much blood as possible, about 1 hour. Drain. Keep it in the fridge until ready to use.

Preparation

Add the bones to a large stockpot (preferably 8 quarts or largewith enough cold water to cover. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, and boil for 5 minutes.

Drain. Rinse the bones, and clean out the pot to remove any brown bits. Return the bones to the pot.

Parboiling

Fill up the pot with cold water, leaving a little room for boiling. Bring it to a boil over high heat, and reduce the heat to medium.

Cover, and boil until the broth becomes rich and milky, about 5 hours (or longer if you have time). Adjust the heat a little, if necessary, to maintain a medium boil. (On my stove, this is somewhere between medium and medium low.) Add more water (boiling hot water to maintain the cooking temperature) to cover the bones, once or twice while boiling. (This photo was taken at the 3-hour point.)

Add the soaked meat (and more water if needed to submerge the meat). Boil until the meat is tender, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Remove the meat. Once cooled, thinly slice the meat to add to the soup when serving. Pour the broth through a colander into another pot or a large bowl to cool.

Boiling

Fill up the pot with fresh water again. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover, and boil until the broth becomes rich and milky, 3 - 5 hours. Reduce the heat a little, as necessary, to maintain a moderate boil. Add more water if the liquid reduces too quickly while boiling. Pour the milky broth through a colander into the pot or large bowl that contains the first batch. You can repeat this one more time, if desired. Just mix them all at the end to even it out.

Optional step (highly recommended)

You can use a fat separator to remove the fat, or keep it in the fridge (or out on the deck or balcony in the winteuntil the fat solidifies to spoon off the fat.

Removing fat

To serve, place some rice and, if desired, noodles in a serving bowl, add the meat pieces, and then ladle the hot broth on top. Typically, chopped scallions, salt and pepper are served separately so each person can season to taste. Serve piping hot with kimchi.

Serving

Freeze leftover broth in freezer bags.

Freezing leftover

Roasted beef marrow bones are easy to prepare. Here is how to clean, roast and serve them restaurant style at home.

Roasted Beef Bone Marrow

canoe cut beef marrow bones, clean*

salt and pepper (to season before roasting)

tsp sea salt flakes (to season at time of serving)

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Place the bones onto a parchment paper or...

Place the bones onto a parchment paper or foil lined baking sheet or roasting pan - canoe cut with the flat side facing up, cross cut with the narrower side facing down. Lightly season with salt and pepper.

Roast for about 15 minutes (and up to...

Roast for about 15 minutes (and up to 25 minutes), depending on the bone size and how much marrow they contain. As a rule of thumb once the marrow begins to gently bubble on the surface they are done. Remove from the oven immediately.

Serve with toast, baguette slices or pita/tortilla chips...

Serve with toast, baguette slices or pita/tortilla chips and thinly sliced onion. Sprinkle micro greens or  fresh herbs such as parsley or thyme over the marrow.

Top 2 marrow bones recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Seolleongtang (Ox bone soup)

Roasted Beef Bone Marrow

Top 2 marrow bones recipes from across the web

The most viewed marrow bones recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Seolleongtang (Ox bone soup)

Roasted Beef Bone Marrow

The most viewed marrow bones recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine