Sundaeguk and tender suyuk in Namdong, Incheon: Gukdam

I whined and dragged myself through summer saying it was unbearably hot, and now I’m making a fuss because the mornings and evenings are cold. The human heart is as light as a feather. Craving a hot bowl of soup, I set off with a close younger friend to smash a bowl of sundae-guk (Korean sausage soup).

Gukdam Sundaeguk Main Branch near Ganseogogeori Station

This is Gukdam Sundaeguk Main Branch, a gukbap (rice soup) restaurant in Ganseok-dong, Incheon, around 400 meters from Exit 5 of Ganseogogeori Station on Incheon Subway Line 1. It is tucked into a residential area near Sangincheon Elementary School rather than facing a main road, so parking is not easy. We came just after lunch, though, and luckily there was an empty spot in front.

Mon–Sat 10:00–22:00 · Last order 21:30 · Closed every Sunday

The large floor-to-ceiling windows and bright, open interior make it feel fresh and rather upscale. I hear the Korean beef tripe hot pot is good as well as the sundae-guk. It is a great-value spot for nearby office workers, whether for lunch or a company dinner after work. Soju and beer are kindly priced at ₩4,000 too.

Self-serve sides and barley ssamjang

The basic side dishes suit the clean, neat atmosphere perfectly. Even the water is not plain water—it seems to be hovenia tea. It gets the hangover cured before you even start the gukbap.

The salted shrimp looks impressively good, and the chives are fresh. The seasoned pork skin is particularly distinctive. Its pleasantly chewy texture gives you a collagen top-up too.

Top up your collagen with pork skin, and replenish the side dishes at the self-serve bar. The house-made kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi), barley ssamjang (fermented soybean dipping paste), and spicy seasoning paste are all very good.

Barley ssamjang is known for the little pop of barley and its nutty flavor. With reduced salt, it is a healthy seasoning that goes well with vegetables and ssambap (wrapped rice).

There are crunchy mild peppers and terrifyingly hot Cheongyang peppers. Since I’m hopeless with spice, I try a mild crunchy pepper dipped in barley ssamjang. It is genuinely nutty and mild, making for an excellent appetizer.

Regular sundae-guk and suyuk together

Since we were having suyuk too, I ordered the regular sundae-guk rather than the special, but the amount of meat was no joke. At ₩10,000, it feels incredibly generous in today’s economy. What impressed me most was that, instead of the cloudy broth I normally associate with sundae-guk, this broth was pale yet clear. I tasted a spoonful with nothing added, and it was like Naju gomtang (beef bone soup). They say it is carefully simmered from dawn every day, and although it is clearly pork, the broth tastes as clean as beef broth. I add a little salted shrimp and spicy seasoning, perilla seed powder and chives, then a light dusting of pepper, and wait a moment for the flavors to settle in.

The suyuk looked insane. Like the broth, the meat is apparently boiled from dawn every day. I would have believed it was beef: there was not a trace of pork odor, and it was unbelievably tender. At the next table, a group of three who looked like nearby office workers having a late lunch shared exactly the same opinion over their suyuk.

Instead of only the salted shrimp for sundae-guk, they bring a separately seasoned salted shrimp specifically for the suyuk. Wow—this is among the best suyuk I’ve had lately. I was inhaling it so mindlessly that I briefly forgot the sundae-guk was waiting.

Clear sundae-guk with tangy kkakdugi

I worried that the shock of the suyuk might make the sundae-guk seem bland, but one bite proved that the meat quality was consistently good in both the suyuk and the gukbap. The sundae is dangmyeon sundae (glass-noodle sausage); having grown up in Seoul, I actually prefer it to blood sausage. Haha. A little seasoned pork skin between bites is a real treat too.

The suyuk alone had already filled me up, but apparently there was still room for gukbap. No matter how much garlic, ssamjang, and chives I piled on, though, well-ripened tangy kkakdugi was the winner for me.

In the end, I finished the bowl completely again today, and downed the hovenia tea in one shot to complete a healthy meal.

When I said I was going to Gukdam Sundaeguk Main Branch in Ganseok-dong, Incheon, my wife asked me to bring some home if it was good. So I did. Because it was good.