Note – This recipe combines 2 sujebi recipes that I eventually updated to make more specific recipes and videos for: traditional sujebi and kimchi sujebi. The updated versions may be easier for you to follow. ~ Maangchi
Sujebi is a traditional Korean noodle soup, and is well-loved and popular among Koreans. The noodles are made with homemade dough, and while noodles are usually cut with a knife, these noodles are unique in that each flat noodle is torn by hand!
The ingredients are very simple and it doesn’t cost much money to make, so it used to be regular food for some poor people who couldn’t afford rice. But Koreans still love this food and eat it all the time.
One day I read a magazine article about a famous Korean actress who passed away last year. She was asked by the reporter what dish she likes the most. Her answer was, “kimchi sujebi! When I was young, we were so poor that my mother always made kimchi sujebi. I got tired of it terribly at that time, but for some reason, I have craving for the kimchi sujebi. It’s my favorite food!”
Once I read it, I wanted to make kimchi sujebi. Whenever I eat my kimchi sujebi, I think about the actress! What she said in the magazine motivated me to like sujebi more than before.
My grandmother used to make sujebi in a huge iron pot. When she decided to make sujebi for lunch, she would start kneading the dough soon after breakfast. She put the dough into a basin, and brought it out of the kitchen. She sat down and was kneading and pressing, and talking to us at the same time. Koreans usually use a large bowl or basin to knead dough instead of a cutting board.
I stood next to her and helped her tear the dough and put it into the boiling soup, but couldn’t follow her speed.
She used to say, “Be careful, the soup is hot. Go out and play with friends!”
My dough usually turned out too thick and when the soup was done, I could easily see who got my noodles.
Oh, so many good memories about my grandmother! I should have learned more from her, if only I had known I would be blogging about Korean traditional food someday. She passed away long time ago, and her life was dedicated to feeding her husband and children. She was a real expert on cooking Korean food.
Sujebi (mild version)
Ingredients (2-3 servings)
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 12 large dried anchovies, removed the heads and guts
- Dried kelp (about 4 or 5 inches on each side)
- 1 stalk of green onion, chopped
- 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
- ½ cup of onion, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tablespoon of fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of soup soy sauce (If it’s not available, replace it with 1-2 teaspoons of salt according to your taste)
- 1-2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil
- Water
Directions
- Combine the flour, ¾ cup water, kosher salt, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Knead by hand for 10-15 minutes until the dough gets softer and sticks together firmly.
- Put the dough into a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator.
*tip: Using a food processor is very convenient and saves time. If you use a food processor, use the dough blade and knead all the above ingredients for 1 minute until the dough sticks together and gets lumpy.
Let’s make stock:
- Place 10 cups of water in a large pot. Add dried kelp and dried anchovies
- Bring it to a boil for 20 minutes over medium high heat, then lower the heat to simmer for another 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and take the anchovies and kelp out.
- Add the potato, onion, and garlic to the pot and boil 10-15 minutes over medium high heat.
- Cut the cooked kelp into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
- Open the pot and add fish sauce, soup soy sauce (or salt), and the kelp strips.
Now it’s time to make noodles!
- Put the dough in your left hand, and pull and stretch it with your right. Get it as thin as you can. Then tear it into bite sized pieces with your right. Drop it into the boiling soup. Repeat this until the dough runs out.
*tip: If you make more than 4 servings’ worth, tearing the dough may take too long. So all family members should work together. - Close the lid and cook for a couple of minutes to let the noodles cook. The noodles will float on the surface when cooked properly.
- Add the green onion and toasted sesame oil
- Transfer to a bowl and serve hot with kimchi.
Hot spicy kimchi sujebi: 1 serving
Ingredients
2 cups of all purpose flour
½ of salt
1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil,
6 large dried anchovies with the heads and guts removed
1 medium potato, peeled, cut into bite sized pieces
¼ cup onion, sliced
1 stalk of green onion, chopped
¼ cup of kimchi, chopped
2 Tablespoons of kimchi juice
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tablespoons of hot pepper paste
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
water
Directions
- Combine flour, ¾ cup of water, kosher salt, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Knead by hand for 10-15 minutes until the dough gets softer and sticks together firmly.
- Put the dough into a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator.
*tip: Using a food processor is very convenient and saves time. If you use a food processor, use the dough blade and knead all the above ingredients for 1-2 minutes until the dough forms a ball.
Let’s make stock:
- In a shallow pot, place 3½ cups of water, the kimchi, kimchi juice, potato, onion, garlic, and dried anchovies.
- Close the lid and bring to a boil for 10 minutes over medium high heat. Lower the heat and simmer another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, take out the dough from the refrigerator and knead a few more minutes until the dough gets smooth and silky.
- Put the dough back into the plastic bag.
- Open the lid of the boiling pot and take out the anchovies and add hot pepper paste. Stir it with a spoon.
Now it’s time to make noodles!
- Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Put 1 piece of the dough into a plastic bag and keep it in the fridge for a future use.
- Put the other dough in your left hand, and pull and stretch it with your right. Get it as thin as you can. Then tear it into bite sized pieces with your right. Drop it into the boiling soup. Repeat this until the dough runs out.
- Close the lid and boil it for a few more minutes to cook the dough
- Turn the heat off and add green onion and a few drops of toasted sesame oil.
- Serve hot!
If you want to, you can add an egg when it’s still hot:
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![[NongHyup] Dried Korean Seawee...](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41snm3pr68L._SL160_.jpg)
Thank you so much, Maangchi for the detailed instructions and thoroughness of this recipe! I was feeling awful recently and woke up craving some good sujebi, but not wanting to get out of bed. I turned over and whined to my boyfriend “I waaaannnt suuuujebiiiiiii,” so he looked up this recipe, ran it by me (I told him it looked good, but to add some sliced zucchini) then made it for me! I was shocked that he, as a Mexican American who has never cooked a Korean meal, was able to make sujebi better than most of the Korean restaurants around here with very minimal coaching.
I know that if I had tried to explain to him how to make it, it would have ended in disaster, because I’m in the “small handful” or “until it smells right” school of cooking, and he likes exact amounts. The soup was great, and helped me to feel better. There’s really nothing like a nice hot bowl of sujebi to calm an angry stomach. So, thanks again! Now that I know he can use your recipes, he might just be cooking me Korean food more often!
Hello! I always have this dish back at home, it tastes really good! But instead of kelp, we use soy bean instead, and we will use the winter mushroom to give it a stronger flavor! To give a sweeter flavor to it, we will add Sauropus androgynus plant to it, it tastes really good! As a topping, we use stir-fried finely chopped onion, and when we eat with our family on a cold day, it’s really ‘daebak’! :)
Hi Maangchi! I finally got myself to join your website and wanted to THANK YOU so much for being an inspiration & changing the lives of so many people! So, I just made my most favorite this ever and this recipe was better than I had at most restaurants so thank you so much! The only thing was that my dough (hand kneaded) was tough so I just added more oil? I definitely need more practice on this part!
“this recipe was better than I had at most restaurant” great compliment!
I would add more water instead of oil.
Okay , the very first time i made sujebi was 3 years ago !!! i can’t believe i only made this dish once !!
Anyway i have to post another comment , because this time , i didn’t use store bought kimchi like 3 years ago . I used the kimchi that i made from your recipe :) The result was so much better and i added eggs and shrimps at the end of cooking . Everyone loved it , i doubled the recipe and we finished them all for dinner :) This will be a good dish for a cold rainy night , but yesterday was super hot and we still enjoyed the dish !!
Thanks again :)
Your kimchi sujebi photo is here: https://www.maangchi.com/photo/sujebi-3
It looks amazing!
Hai everyone!
I made this recipes today….. I made the spicy version with my kimchi. I don’t have hot pepper paste, but I substitute it with soy sauce, and it’s turn so yummy…. I’ll upload the photo soon…. Bye everyone…..
Can I make the dough, put some in the soup, and then put the unused dough in the fridge until the next day? I’m cooking for myself and I can’t eat all of it in one day! Will the dough get too hard? Thank you!
Keep the leftover dough in the refrigerator. It will be ok up to a few days.
Thank you! I didn’t know you responded to me here, so I asked on facebook. You can disregard my question on there. 감사합니다!
Hi! I’m having a what I think is a big problem… I’m not Korean in the least, nor have I ever made Korean food. I went to an Asian market and purchased all of the ingredients for this but.. when I was buying the ingredients I wasn’t sure if kelp and seaweed were the same thing so I looked it up on my phone and it said they were. Anyway, it doesn’t look like your picture and it’s not cooking like your directions. Straight when I put it in the pot it turned to mush and it’s definitly not something I would be able to cut into bite-sized pieces and it says right on the package “Dried Seaweed”. Do you have any idea what I’m cooking with and what I should buy next time?
It sounds like you bought this: https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/kim
To make good stock for this recipe, you need dried kelp. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/kelp
Some of my readers printed out the photos of the ingredients they’re looking for, take it to their Korean store and show it to the people there so they know they’re getting the right ingredient. Maybe you should try that.
Hi! How many people does this recipe serve? :D
It’s for 2 or 3 servings.
Dear Maanchi,
Can you please tell me the recipe and how many ingredients to put in for a family of 6.
For example, how many ml of water and spoons of salt or soy sauce etc.
This is for 3 servings, so triple the recipe.
Thank you so much for this recipe. My mother would make this for me growing up but i didn’t know what it was called or how to make it myself. She moved far away to live with my sister so haven’t had this dish for so long. I plan to make this tonight!!! I know it should turn out well. Your recipe explains the steps easily. Thank you!!! :)
awesome! While you are eating sujebi, you will miss your mom! Happy cooking!
omg! thank you thank you for this recipe!
my mom died when i was young & i never knew the name of this recipe.
i’ve been searching for years! i use to sit on the counter next to the stove & she would let me tear the dough & drop it into the water. thanks so much again, i cannot wait to make this! :]]]
oh…” i use to sit on the counter next to the stove & she would let me tear the dough & drop it into the water..” I’m touched by your story. Thanks for telling us about it…. Now you can make delicious sujebi by yourself! Your mom would be proud of you!!!
Hi, Maangchi. Thank you for sharing your recipes, I really enjoying them! I have a question, can I substitute dried kelp with dried seaweed? I live in Germany and closest asian market is hours away from me. Thank you!
“can I substitute dried kelp with dried seaweed?” no. If dried kelp is not available, skip it. It will still be delicious because of dried anchovy stock.
HI!!! It’s me again! HALO HALO!
I have another question!
Is that dough good for pulling noodles, as in those long strips?
hello maangchi , i follow your instructions about the dough , but this be glue and i cant make this be more hard , what should i do?
If the sujebi dough is too sticky for you to handle well, put some water on your hands before stretching and tearing the dough. Or if you want, add more flour to the dough and knead it.
hello maangchi, i knead the dough with my hands and its really sticky. is it cause i may put to much water in it?
If the sujebi dough is too sticky for you to handle well, put some water on your hands before stretching and tearing the dough. If you want, add more flour to the dough and knead it.
Honey, I was thrilled to read your story about your grandmother. I feel the same way, if you knew that grandparents died, I would have been much closer to her, but I thought it was an angel, so immortal … she was and were only memories. I have a very old recipe from it, which is delicious. It is a famous Ukrainian soup. If you want I can send you. will be a joy.
a big hug and I was his fan.
Ilda Mara
I’m already excited about your soup recipe. Is it Bosch soup? Post the recipe here. Let’s share it with all of my readers! https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/reader-recipes
나는 멸치를 뛸 수있다면 안녕하세요 제가 궁금해서, 내가 지금 무슨을 위해 그것을 대체할 수 있을까? 도움 주셔서 감사합니다!
You can use chicken or beef broth. It will be delicious!
Hello Maangchi!!!
Can i use this dough to make Mandu?
Thank you, i love your site!!!
Made 김치 수제비 last night and for dinner today-soooooo good!!!! My noodles are still a bit thick, but I will have to practice at that. :)
감사합니다 Maangchi!!!
kimchi sujebi! irresistible! : )
I will try to make it tomorrow i guess. If i make the noodle dough, could i refrigerate it then just use it when i need it, or does it have to beeaten in a certain amount of time? (it is me by the way… Halo halo)
Halo halo! : )
You can refrigerate the dough but you will have to knead for a minute before using it.
Thanks. Lol Sorry if I replied so late! I was just busy in school! Thank you again!
Hi Maangchi!!!. It’s so cold and raining in Sydney today and all I could think of was your kimchi sujebi!! My Korean gave me their homemade kimchi and it’s soo yummy and sour so I used that to make it. It’s the first time I made this sujebi and it’s so easy and yummy and absolutely perfect for today’s gloomy weather!! My boyfriend ate sooooo much of it and kept asking for more hahahahahaha!! He even stile some noodles from my bowl!! Anyways I’d just like to thank you for yet another great quick and easy recipes :) loved it!!!
A bow of sujebi on a rainy day sounds awesome! Thank you for your cute story about sujebi! : )
Maangchi, I think I’ll make this for tomorrow dinner…
but I afraid my dorm friends won’t be suitable to anchovy and kelp stock….
can I substitute it with chicken or beef stock?
which one better?
chicken or beef?
hehee….
thanks for your recipes maangchi…
really made my mouth water everytime I open them,,,,
I would choose clear chicken stock! Good luck with making delicious sujebi!
Thank you maangchi…
I’ll try my best~!
:)
Maangchi, I did it…
It’s very nice…
and I even take the photo of it!
:)
and, I have some problem….
My noodles taste like raw flour…
did I do something wrong while making it?
but the rest is very good….:)
You made it! Nice! Making your noodles more chewy is very simple. Knead the dough longer. The longer you knead it, the more chewy it is. “..Knead by hand for 10-15 minutes until the dough gets softer and sticks together firmly.”
okay maangchi….
the chicken stock turn out great and my dorm friend eating like no tommorow!
:)
I think I’ll knead it more next time..
hehe
thank you for the recipe…
I’ll cook another food for my friends tomorrow.
and I’m sure that I’ll take it from one of your recipe!
Thank you
“.. my dorm friend eating like no tomorrow!” lol lol, u know I love funny expression!
Me too maangchi…
like when I see your hoobakjuk video.
one of your comment
“If my house were on fire, I’ll take this balls first and then run out”
it really made me laugh out and hard to stop, even my dorm friends come to my room, being afraid if I were poisoned by some kind of laughing mushroom or something…
Can anyone say, DELICIOUS? Made this for dinner tonight, both versions, and I had a cup of both styles. Thanks Maangchi for the recipes.
Hi Maangchi,
I want to make enough to have leftover and was wondering does the noodle stay good in soup? Some noodles will expand and lose the flavor. Or how long can I store leftover dough in the fridge? Thank you so much for your videos and tutorials.
“does the noodle stay good in soup?” No, as you say, the noodles will expand and lose the chewy texture. ” how long can I store leftover dough in the fridge?” It will be ok in the fridge for a couple of days.
love love love the dough noodle muahhhhh”fantastico delisyoso
My friend ever told me about sujebi and I didn’t have any idea about that.
After read it, then I think Aaah it’s so easy..
I can’t wait to cook the hot spicy kimchi sujebi..
Thanks Maangchi :)
Hot spicy kimchi sujebi! If you can, take a photo and send it to me.
Hi Maangchi,
Thanks for all your recipes. I’m living in Western Australia n my husband is a Korean. It’s hard to find good korean food here, we went to many korean restaurants but my husband hardly find anything decent. And he misses Korean food much.
But then I found your recipes and now he hardly wanna go out for Korean food hahaha..even one day he said “Should we open a Korean restaurant?” hahaha and I thought “I should get a franchise from Maangchi!!!” hahaha
Anyway I wanna ask if I can knife-cut the dough (like in kalguksu) and use the same spicy soup recipe in sujebi or it will be weird? Is kalguksu very different from Sujebi?
Thanks Maangchi
“Should we open a Korean restaurant?” Awesome idea! “.. can knife-cut the dough (like in kalguksu) and use the same spicy soup recipe in sujebi or it will be weird?” It sounds very delicious!
A late reply I know but I suggest you check out Took Bae Kee on Barracks St. in the Perth CBD (Just up from Wellington St on the western side). It’s only a little place and gets packed around peak times, but the food, service and cleanliness of the establishment is all of a high standard and the prices are very reasonable.
We had sujebi for dinner last night. I had to make quite a few substitutions, so it didn’t end up tasting like the sujebi I am familiar with, but it was good.
My subs were: soup soy sauce and a little oyster sauce instead of fish sauce, miyuk instead of kelp and extra onion since I had no green onion on hand. I also added black pepper.
A question for you…I bought oyster sauce for jjamppong, which I will make again. But what other recipes call for oyster sauce? I want to find ways to use it up.
I use it when I make bokkeumbap (stir-fried rice) and stir-fried vegetables such as bok choy, Chinese broccoli, etc. In a heated pan, add some vegetable oil with crushed garlic,and stir fry with green vegetables. Then use oyster sauce to salt.
If you want, leave your question on the forum. My other readers may give you good advice, too. https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Great ideas! And I’ve always wanted to make bok choy at home, but didn’t quite know how to prepare it. Sounds great.
i never made kim chi before , would it be okay just to use store bought kim chi to make this sujebi ??
yes, of course it will be ok. delicious!
Maangchi , i just made sujebi tonight ..
it was delicious !! I doubled the recipe because it said on the recipe for 1 serving . I doubled it so me and my husband can eat it .. Turned out we have leftovers !! LOL .. And to think me and my husband had 2 bowls each of sujebi , and still leftovers !!
Thank you for another great recipe , this soup is so good for cooler weather like this :
: ) I made sujebi tonight for myself! I made mild version though. What a coincidence!
Hi Maangchi,
I tried this recipe today for brunch because it looked so appetizing and also because I looooove noodles. I did the non-spicy one because my sister can’t take spicy stuff. I didn’t have time to go out to the market and I didn’t have anchovies or anchovy stock cubes, so I substituted it with a chicken stock cube instead. I also skipped on the kelp. Making the noodles was time-consuming but very fun! My noodles came out a bit thick, but I think my family forgives me for it because I’m only 13 and I don’t cook very often :) The soup was delicious, and the fish sauce gave it a little twang, which was awesome! Definitely going to make this again soon! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
-Debbie
Debbie,
I’m sure your family was proud of you! Happy cooking!
Hi,I’m trying to cook this today but I dont have kelp..wonder if it’s ok to go without it? I like to do the spicy one
yes,it will be ok without using dried kelp. I love sujebi made with anchovy stock.
Hi Maangchi!
First post..:)
I have a question regarding the spicy one. It says it should be garlic in the ingredients, but I can’t see that you use it in the video. Should it be galic or is it optional? If garlic- how much?
Sincerely Emma
welcome, Emma!
non-spicy sujebi needs garlic, but kimchi sujebi doesn’t because it already has lots of garlic in it.
Yum i love the kimchi sujaebi i always make it when i have old kimchi laying around, but i use powdered chicken broth instead of anchovies!
Hi, Maangchi,
Actually, I left message to you firstly on July 1st. It was my first Hello. (but I can’t it, I may made mistake)
Just want to say that I’m happy to know the recipe of sujebi. Why? It is because I have known this dishes from a Korean TV drama (육남매) and a Korean TV show – Infinite Challenge(무한도전). In the show, MC Yu (유재석) made it and won in that chapter. I want to make it too.
Anyway, I will try this later. Update to you then.
Have a nice day!
Welcome to my website! Thank you!
Hi, Maangchi,
I have watched the “Kimchi Contest” from youtube. Many people can make tasty Kimchi. Really hope I can be one of them!
Great!
Hello maangchi! i’m a silent reader of your blog. Today i tried making the spicy sujebi. OMG ITS PHENOMENAL! love it! it’s really different from the chinese ones my mummy always make! :D thank you so much for your recipes! :D
Thank you for your update!