Hoengseong butcher shop: 1++ striploin, gomtang broth as ice pack

On the way to Pyeongchang with family, we stopped by Hoengseong — famous for hanwoo (Korean native beef) — and picked out meat at a local butcher shop to cook at home. Good beef really does taste amazing even when it's grilled at home.

Where Hoengseong Hanu Jeongyukjeom is, plus hours and parking

• 📍Address: 10 Munhwacheyuk-ro, Hoengseong-eup, Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
• ⏰Hours: Daily 07:00–20:00
• 🚗Parking: Brief roadside parking available in front of the shop

Hoengseong Hanu Jeongyukjeom, a well-known hanwoo spot in Hoengseong, isn't a place to grill and eat on-site — it's literally a butcher shop. It's been running since 1979, now in its second generation.

It's a well-known butcher shop that's received an excellent rating in its category and has even appeared on TV.

Ordering at the counter, and what the butcher sells besides beef

At Hoengseong Hanu Jeongyukjeom, the meat is displayed in a refrigerated case, and you just pick the cut and amount you want by price.

Besides raw cuts, they also carry hanwoo gomtang (beef bone soup), boiled beef, and boiled beef tendon (suji). There's hanwoo bone stock (sagol) too, so you can simmer your own bone broth at home.

1++ striploin and two packs of gomtang broth used as an ice pack

I picked the Hoengseong hanwoo striploin — 1++ grade!! Since we were buying it on the way to Pyeongchang, I also grabbed two packs of gomtang broth to use as an ice pack, haha. The gomtang broth doesn't need thawing — you can just boil it straight up. When I'm stuck on what to cook for my kid, having gomtang broth on hand is so reassuring because you can make anything with it.

After a fun day out with the hanwoo packed along, we came home and had it for dinner. The marbling was so dense it looked delicious just to look at.

How to sear Hoengseong hanwoo striploin steak at home

Before grilling, I drizzled a bit of olive oil over the meat and seasoned it simply with salt and pepper. Hanwoo already tastes great on its own, so instead of piling on seasoning, just a little salt and pepper brings out the flavor much better.

Thanks to the oil, the meat got a light coating that browned beautifully as it cooked! The moment it hit the pan, the sizzle and the aroma rising up already had me convinced it was going to be good.

You can't have beef without the vegetables. I grilled onion, scallion, and whole garlic cloves alongside it. Whole garlic takes a while to cook, so you need to put it in early! Grilling the garlic together also gently infuses the meat with its aroma.

After searing both sides nicely, I let it rest for a bit. Resting lets the juices redistribute through the meat, preventing juice loss and keeping it moist.

I was going for medium-rare, but sometimes it comes out rare or well-done by mistake, so the moment of cutting into it after resting is always the most nerve-wracking, haha. This time was a total success — it came out exactly the doneness we wanted. And it was so tender that slicing it with a knife took almost no effort at all. Beef so soft it practically cut itself.

I plated it on a plate I'd warmed up beforehand, completing a pretty impressive dinner spread.

How the striploin tasted, with garlic, scallion and garlic oil pasta

I dipped a bite in beef sauce and it just melted the moment I bit into it. The outside had a peppery, buttery savoriness, while the inside released juicy moisture — it got better the more I chewed. Eating it together with the roasted whole garlic wrapped the beef in garlic aroma for even deeper flavor.

I made garlic oil pasta to pair with the beef, and I'm so glad I did — the tender beef and the garlic-loaded oil pasta went really well together. Did you know that grilling scallions maximizes their sweetness? Eating grilled scallion together with the beef, the fragrant scallion flavor paired perfectly with the beef.

Add a glass of red wine and our home turns into a restaurant.

Moist, not chewy, and completely free of any gamey smell — that was this Hoengseong beef. My kid dipped it in sauce and asked for more before I even offered. Even though we cooked it at home, it felt like eating at a great restaurant. Just picking out good meat lets you enjoy something like this. If I ever go back to Hoengseong, I think I'll pack more meat from Hoengseong Hanu Jeongyukjeom again.