Korean cuisine has a lot of soup dishes because it can get really cold, and these are refreshing and flavorful ways to keep warm. Of course, it won’t be complete without what could be the holy trinity of Korean cooking: gochujang paste, soybean paste (doenjang) and Korean chili flakes (gochugaru). You could say these are now so commonplace you don’t have to go to a Korean specialty store, it’s available at practically supermarket. Now, the imperially named crown daisy leaf, you need to get at the Korean grocery. Called suugkat in Korea, these Chrysanthemum greens are popular with vegans as it’s somewhat of a wonder vegetable that helps with insomnia, strokes and anemia.
So maybe the family or the folks at your office are all down with various illnesses, this is a bracing bursting with flavors soup you can give them. Even with a less than peak performing sense of smell, they will surely taste this soup. The combination of crab and mussels really intensifies the seafood flavors, and you can add other varieties of shellfish that are readily available, such as Manila clams.
Spicy Blue Crab Soup
- 1 large blue crab, cleaned and gills taken out
- 500g mussels, cleaned
- 1 bar tofu
- 1 pc zucchini, sliced
- 1 bunch enoki mushroom
- 1 small radish, peeled and sliced
- 1 bunch crown daisy leaf (Korean grocery)
- 2 tbsp Korean chili flakes (Gochugaru)
- 2 tbsp gochuchang (Korean chili paste)
- 2 tbsp doenjang (Korean soybean paste)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- salt and black pepper to taste
1 Simmer 1.5 liters water in a pot. Add radish, chili flakes, chili paste and soybean paste and continue simmering for three minutes.
2 Place blue crab in and add mussels, tofu and zucchini. Cover and cook just until mussels
have opened.
3 Add sugar and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
4 Just before serving, top soup with enoki mushrooms and crown daisy leaves.