Yukgaejang (Korean Spicy Beef and Scallion Soup)

Put the whole slab of Beef brisket in a pot, cover with cold Water and bring to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 5 min, then drain and rinse the meat and the pot. This is what keeps the final broth clear and sweet rather than grey and scummy.

⚠ Tip: Do not skip this. A muddy broth is the one real fault in yukgaejang.

Return the beef to the rinsed pot with 2.5 l Water, Brown onions, Garlic, Ginger, Black peppercorns and Dried shiitake mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then drop to low heat and skim the surface. Simmer gently, lid ajar, until the brisket is tender enough to shred, about 1 h 10 min. Pull the meat out.

⚠ Tip: Pressure cooker: 40 min high pressure after the quick release.

Let the cooked Beef brisket cool on a board for 10 min, then pull it apart along the grain into long, thumb-thick shreds. Keep the broth.

⚠ Tip: Tearing by hand gives the ribbons better bite than a knife, and stops the beef falling apart in the soup.

Stir together Doenjang, Gochugaru, Light soy sauce, Fish sauce and Salt in a small bowl until it's a thick, dark-red paste. Have it within arm's reach of the stove. Cut the Spring onions into long batons, roughly finger-length. Keep the white and green parts separate so the whites can go in early. Slice Spur chillies on the diagonal into thin rings for the top of each bowl.

⚠ Tip: Do this before the wok goes on: gochugaru scorches in seconds, and you will not have time to measure anything once the oil is hot.

Toast Sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat until it smells nutty and a few seeds jump, about 1 min. Tip out onto a plate to cool.

⚠ Tip: Stand over it: sesame goes from toasted to bitter in a few seconds.

Heat a wide dry wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke, then add 2 tbsp Neutral oil and 2 tbsp Toasted sesame oil. Turn off the heat and immediately spoon in the seasoning paste from seasoning paste, stirring so it blooms into a glossy, deep-red oil rather than scorching.

⚠ Tip: Off the heat is the trick. Gochugaru on direct high heat turns black and bitter in under a minute.

Add the shredded beef to the wok and toss it through the chilli oil over medium heat until every strand is coated and smells of toasted chilli, about 2 min.

Tip the entire contents of the wok into the pot of beef broth and bring back to a boil over high heat. Add the Bracken fern and the drained Taro stems and simmer for 15 min so the fernbrake takes on the chilli and the broth thickens slightly.

⚠ Tip: Already-boiled fernbrake comes plain; if yours still tastes bitter, squeeze it dry and rub it with sesame oil before it goes in.

Add the Soybean sprouts and simmer just until they lose their raw edge but still squeak, about 2 min.

⚠ Tip: Beansprouts go rubbery if you treat them as a braise. Two minutes and out.

Taste the broth and sharpen it with the reserved Fish sauce and a pinch of Salt. Put a handful of the scallion batons in each bowl, ladle the boiling soup over them so they wilt in the heat, then scatter the toasted Sesame seeds, a pinch of Perilla seed powder and the sliced Spur chillies. Serve scalding, with rice on the side.

⚠ Tip: Scallions added at the table keep their sweetness and crunch; cooked into the pot for half an hour they go stringy and flat.