Korean Beef Bone Soup

I remembered watching Shining Inheritance last 2009 and that's when I started getting into Korean beef soup. Unlike the beef soup that I usually drink - Korean beef soups can have that cloudy look. The one in Shining Inheritance is a cloudy beef soup made from ox leg bones. Just had my thought that I wanted to punch Jung and Hwan for calling it "embarrassing" and could understand why Grandma Jang had her passion for it. I thought about the whole factory setting and the whole scene where Grandma says, "Boil it for another hour." It really requires that much effort!

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However, seollongtang is NOT gomtang. Yes, the two are similar yet different. I always thought of how I enjoyed gomtang and seollongtang. There are differences that are pointed out by Gwangju News' article "Know Which Is Which: Seollangtang and Gomtang":

Before we get down to the real tang business, there is an interesting fact to learn about beef in Korea. There is no other country besides Korea that classifies beef into 125 parts. As per tradition, Koreans never let any part of the animal go to waste. The ingredients are by far the biggest difference between seolleongtang and gomtang. Both soups require the ingredients to be simmered for a very long time (sometimes more than half a day); however, the ingredients make the colors different. Kneecap bones or leg and foot bones are simmered to make a deep, rich broth in milky white seolleongtang. On the other hand, traditional gomtang should be made using beef ribs, brisket, flank, tripe, and other innards (even tailbones) slowly simmered at a low heat. The more varieties of beef parts put into the pot for simmering, the richer the broth. In brief, seolleongtang is more bone-dense and gomtang is more meat-based.

The seasonings of the two dishes are another difference between them. During the broth simmering for gomtang, soy sauce is used as seasoning; however, seolleongtang uses pure, simmered broth and needs to be seasoned with salt and scallions according to the consumer’s preference. Furthermore, gomtang is expected to be served with few, relatively thick, chunks of meat simmered with the broth. On the other hand, seolleongtang is served with only a few thin slices of meat surrounding the bones, or beef parts are prepared separately as a garnish. This may be the reason why seolleongtang has plain noodles inside but gomtang does not.

So it looks like that seollongtang would have the parts made for Filipino soup called pochero. I mean, isn't pochero in the Philippines made usually from kneecap bones or leg and foot bones? Meanwhile, gomtang is made from beef ribs and tailbones (which is used for balbacua) along with innards, brisket, flank, and tripe. That means gomtang is going to be actually heavier than seollongtang. Seollongtang seems to be lighter because it's more bone-dense than meat dense. 

Which one should you get or cook? It depends on your preference or mood. For me, getting either one of them is good but it all depends on my mood. Sometimes, I'd go for seollongtang because I'd want to have samgeopsal and gomtang could be too heavy to taste more dishes. Though for a quick meal - gomtang would be a better choice.