Korea Life and Cultures

MOOOOOOO. That’s me being a cow.

Hello all! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break – yes I realize I’m a bit late. Anyhow, I thought I would do a short little blog on cow parts. I made beef tang no less than four times already this winter so I thought I would share some of the different parts of cow you can buy at the butcher shop so you can see what it looks like.

Knee caps. If you go to Jinju Gomtang, they have a great do-ga-ni tang - though I confess that I haven’t been there in a very long time since I’m not out and about in K-town like I was in my twenties. =P They give you kitchen shears and a big plate of knee caps with soft tendons falling off the bones. I loved eating all the tendons and dipping into their soy sauce/wasabi mix. Squeamish? Don’t be. Give it a try and you might become a fan!

This is where the marrow is. Even if you don’t use other parts, I suggest adding some beef marrow to any gook or tang you make.

Ox tails are always a favorite in tangs. I always separate my meat after boiling for a while and store it for easier access.

Beef brisket. After boiling for a few hours, I will take this out of the soup and let it cool down. Then you just take a sharp kitchen knife and slice the meat into thin strips.

Beef Feet. This is definitely not for the weak of heart, but I guarantee your gook will be much more milky and flavorful if you add some feet. Try it. I promise you won’t regret it.

I normally use all the ox tails and then use about half of everything else. Let it drain in water and then boil and throw out the water.

You can store the remaining cow parts for another time.

Remember, boil and throw it out once!

Then wash and clean all your bits and pieces and add water and boil, boil, boil. You can see the more in-depth how-to over HERE and HERE.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! We will be heading over to the Motherland again to spend Christmas and New Year’s in Seoul. And yes, food pictures from the homeland will be coming up again so get ready to salivate.

And can someone please tell North Korea to tone it down a little while we’re over there? Thanks.