Jjamppong (Korean Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup)
Jjamppong is a Korean-Chinese dish made with fresh noodles and a variety of vegetables in a hot and refreshing, spicy seafood soup.
Jjamppong (짬뽕) is a noodle dish made with vegetables and seafood in a red hot and spicy soup. This is a popular dish at Korean-Chinese restaurants.
By making your own jjamppong at home, you can control the spice level and also the quality of the seafood and vegetables in your soup. Adding more Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru, 고추가루) will make the soup spicier. I usually get mussels, shrimp and squid rings from the grocery store and cook this dish on the same day while the seafood is still fresh. At home, you can also control your cook time and make sure the seafood is tender and not overcooked.
Junghwa Yori
Korean-Chinese cuisine (Junghwa Yori, 중화요리), was created by early Chinese immigrants in Korea. The Chinese restaurants in Korea started to assimilate Korean ingredients and flavors and create their own adaptations of classic Chinese dishes. The original Chinese jjamppong is actually pale in color and not spicy. The Korean version adds Korean red pepper flakes(gochugaru,고추가루), which make it distinctly red hot and spicy.
Other popular Korean-Chinese dishes areKorean black bean noodles (jajangmyeon, 자장면), sweet and sour fried pork (tangsuyuk, 탕수육), and spicy garlic fried chicken (ganpungi, 깐풍기). In Korea, you can order these dishes for quick home delivery. It’s similar to how pizza is conveniently and quickly delivered here in the US.
Tips for making Jjamppong
- Use a dried anchovy and dashima broth base for a more flavorful tasting soup. I like to use this easy dried anchovy and dashima pouch to prepare my broth.
- While completely optional, I like to also add pork loin to my jjamppong soup base for additional depth of flavor.
- Use fresh Korean “Udong & Jjajang” noodles. They soak up more of the flavor and cook more tender.
- Choose fresh mussels. Click here to learn more on how to prepare mussels for cooking.
- Cook the noodles just until they are al dente since they will continue to cook and soak up the flavors in the hot soup. You could cook them about 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions indicate.
- Try not to overcook the seafood. By cooking this dish at home you can control the cook time. When overcooked, the shrimp and squid rings are tough and dry in texture.
Other noodle soup recipes:
Mise en place
If you make this Jjamppong, I would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to leave a comment and/or recipe rating at the bottom of this page. And if you have a photo of your food, be sure to tag me on Instagram!
Jjamppong (Korean Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup)
Ingredients
- 5 cups dried anchovy and dashima stock (see notes)
- 20 oz fresh Korean "Udong & Jjajang" noodles
- 3 tbsp cooking oil (e.g. canola oil)
- 1 tbsp garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp green onions, finely sliced
- 8 oz pork loin, sliced into thin strips (optional)
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 3 tbsp gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
- 1½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1½ tsp ginger, peeled
- 1 tsp salt (or TT)
- pinch white pepper (or TT)
Vegetables
- 1 cup yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 cup zucchini, julienned
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
Seafood
- 8 mussels, cleaned and debearded (see notes for tips)
- 8 shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 4 oz squid rings, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Heat a large pot on medium-low heat and add the oil, green onion, garlic. Stir for about 30 seconds or until fragrant, and add the (optional) sliced pork. Sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Add the vegetables and gochugaru, and stir over medium heat for about 1 minute.
- Add the seafood, mirin, and soy sauce and stir again for another minute.
- Add the dried anchovy and dashima stock and bring the soup to a boil.
- Let it simmer covered for about 10 minutes or until the seafood is just cooked through. Season with salt and white pepper.
- While the soup is simmering, bring about 5 cups of water to a boil in another large pot to cook the noodles.
- Add the fresh noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook it for one minute less than what is said in the package instructions. I cook the fresh Korean "Udong & Jjajang" noodles for about 2 minutes. (The noodles will continue to cook in the hot jjamppong soup.)
- Drain the noodles in a colander.
- Add some noodles, vegetables, seafood, and soup into a bowl and serve immediately.