How Korea's humble gomtang is being reinvented — from burrata sauce to icy summer bowls

The least showy of Korea's comfort foods has to be gomtang.

The beef soup lacks the fiery color of kimchi jjigae, a spicy kimchi stew, or the visual appeal of bibimbap, Korea's iconic mixed rice dish. At first glance, it is little more than a bowl of clear broth and rice soaking beneath the surface.

But that simplicity is hard-earned.

A proper gomtang can take hours, sometimes more than a day, to make. The broth must be gently simmered to coax every last bit of flavor from cuts such as brisket and shank, while requiring constant attention and patience.

Such devotion helps explain why generations of Koreans have turned to the soup when recovering from illness, seeking warmth or simply craving a hearty, restorative meal.

In recent years, gomtang has gained international attention thanks in part to Okdongsik, the eponymous eatery whose pork-based spin on the dish has attracted a devoted global following. Run by chef Ok Dong-sik, who also appeared on Netflix's cooking competition series "Culinary Class Wars" (2024–), the minimalist restaurant has opened locations around the world that draw long lines of diners. The New York Times has recognized the restaurant as one of the Top 8 Best Dishes in NYC 2023, while it has remained a fixture in the Michelin Guide Seoul's Bib Gourmand selection since 2018.

Its success reflects a broader evolution of gomtang. The dish has traditionally been made with beef,  but clear broths brewed from pork, such as the one served at Okdongsik, have emerged as one of its trendier interpretations in recent years.

The renewed spotlight on gomtang has also drawn attention to chef-specific reinterpretations of the dish.

Today, some add unexpected ingredients. Others serve it at different temperatures. The humble soup is even being transformed into elaborate fine-dining courses.

Welcome to the expanding universe of gomtang.

The haute cuisine of comfort

A restaurant in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, is giving gomtang the royal treatment once again.

At Goum, the traditional soup takes center stage in a fine-dining experience. The approach harks back to its origins. While gomtang is enjoyed across Korea as an everyday comfort food today, the labor-intensive broth was once a luxury reserved for the privileged and served at royal tables during the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910).

The 50,000 won ($33) lunch course follows three stages of tang (broth), which the chef has named cho-tang, jung-tang and jong-tang. Each represents a different stage of the simmering process. Cho-tang is the first broth, cooked for 10 hours, while jun-tang and jong-tang undergo additional 10-hour rounds of simmering, drawing increasingly concentrated flavors from the beef cuts.

The concept was inspired by chef Song Seung-hoon's childhood memories, when he  would watch his grandmother make gomguk, the Gyeongsang dialect term for gomtang.

"Watching her boil it for days until the bones softened made me think, 'What if I structured the course around the passage of time involved in making gomtang?'" he said. "In the course, I wanted to capture  the chef's effort and dedication throughout the long simmering process, as well as the layers of flavor that develop over time."

The first course is a cup of hot cho-tang finished with a drop of kelp oil.

The aroma that wafts up as the cup is placed on the table hints at the depth hidden within the clear broth. Served alongside are raw vegetables including cabbage, radish and carrot — the very ingredients used to make the broth — allowing diners to see exactly what goes into the soup.

The true creativity begins with Jung-tang. Here, the broth disappears from the bowl altogether, reappearing instead as a burrata cheese sauce for a salad of Korean herbs and handmade tomato jelly.

The nutty richness of the sauce pairs beautifully with the aromatic herbs, while the bright acidity of the tomato jelly adds a refreshing contrast.

Jong-tang also undergoes dramatic transformation, becoming a baekkimchi (non-spicy kimchi) stew. Combined with baekkimchi, a poached ogolgye, a chicken native to Korea, and comté cheese foam, the dish offers a creative reinterpretation of the Korean staple while retaining the deep, concentrated flavors developed through hours of simmering.

"We considered which foods would best match each broth and how they would fit into the flow of the course. For lighter-bodied broths, we paired them with lighter dishes and sauces, while fuller-bodied broths were matched with dishes that allow their depth of flavor to be fully appreciated."

Traditional gomtang finally returns in the last savory course before dessert.

The restaurant’s signature dish, Goum, combines cho-tang, jung-tang and jong-tang into hap-tang, allowing diners to appreciate the full depth of gomtang. Finished with foie gras, the broth is served with rice for dipping.

Alongside is a plate of eight distinctive fermented kimchi varieties, including tomato kimchi and a kimchi mille-feuille layered with perilla leaf kimchi and fermented radish. Their restrained profiles complement rather than overpower the broth.

Song's decision to give gomtang a fine-dining makeover comes from his past culinary experience at the two-Michelin-star restaurant Jungsik, where he learned that small variations on familiar Korean flavors can create entirely new dining experiences.

"I wanted to present the very ordinary experience of eating familiar gomtang and delicious kimchi in a different way."

Before the burrata

For all its recent transformations, gomtang remains one of Korea's oldest and most enduring comfort foods.

Koreans have been eating the soup for centuries. The earliest known reference to its name appears in "Gugeupganibang Eonhae," a medical text compiled in 1489. The term is believed to have evolved from "goeun guk," meaning "well-simmered soup," into gomguk and eventually gomtang.

Whatever its origins, gomtang has long been one of Korea's quintessential comfort foods.

The soup is thought to have been eaten since at least the Goryeo period (918-1392). Because meat was a valuable commodity during the time, leftover parts such as bones, offal, tails, heads and blood were often simmered together in large pots. Without refrigeration, slow-boiling was also an efficient way to make use of every part of the animal while producing a rich, nourishing broth.

Today, the dish is associated with several regional styles, among which Naju gomtang is perhaps the most famous.

During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), a beef-canning factory operated in Naju, South Jeolla. After prime cuts were set aside for canning, leftover pieces were sold cheaply to locals. Vendors began simmering beef head meat and other scraps over wood fires in large pots before serving them as rice soup, a style widely regarded as the precursor to modern Naju gomtang.

Today, Naju has a Gomtang Street, a stretch lined with restaurants specializing in the dish. Among them is Hayanjib, a restaurant founded in 1910 that has been passed down through four generations. Naju gomtang restaurants are now also found across Korea.

Gomtang, meanwhile, is frequently mistaken for seolleongtang, another beloved Korean beef soup.

The two may look similar, but their broths are fundamentally different. Seolleongtang is made primarily from bones, producing a rich, milky-white broth. Gomtang, by contrast, is typically simmered from meat and offal, resulting in a clearer soup with a deeper meat flavor.

While beef remains the classic foundation of gomtang, the dish has also evolved to feature other meats as well, including pork and chicken.

Beyond the bowl

The possibilities of gomtang do not end with burrata cheese sauce and fine dining. Across Korea, the dish continues to evolve in countless forms.

While many Koreans subscribe to "iyeol-chiyeol," the idea of fighting heat with heat, when temperatures climb, many still crave something cold. Well, gomtang has a summer version too.

At a Gangbyeon branch of Eyeo Gomtang in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, a chilled version of the soup appears during the warmer months. Served in a metal bowl, it features icy beef broth, rice noodles and slices of boiled hanwoo (Korean beef) shank.

"We freeze the gomtang broth into a slushy texture and top it with a special sauce," said owner Kim Tae-seok.

It may look like naengmyeon, or cold noodles, at first glance, but the broth is far richer and more deeply flavored, with a special sauce reminiscent of chojang, a sweet-and-tangy red pepper and vinegar sauce. The rice noodles pair particularly well with the broth, which the restaurant switched from flour noodles after customers showed a clear preference for the former.

"In the summer, about three out of every 10 customers order naeng-gomtang," said Kim, refering to the chilled beef soup.

While the hanwoo naeng-gomtang remains the bestseller, the restaurant also offers a hanwoo tartare version and a pollock mulhoe (cold raw fish) version. Both use the same beef broth base but feature different toppings.

"Unlike seolleongtang or galbitang (short rib soup), gomtang has much of its oil removed, giving it a cleaner and lighter flavor. That makes it ideal for serving cold," he said.

Elsewhere, chefs are introducing new ingredients to accentuate gomtang's deep flavor.

At Damrok in Seongdong District in eastern Seoul, chives and fried shredded scallions are sprinkled atop the bowl.

"I was experimenting with different ingredients and wanted to create a new flavor," said owner Park Joo-hyeon.

"The chives enhance the aroma of the beef, and because we use fried shredded scallions instead of regular scallions, the fragrance of the scallions also infuses the broth nicely."

The restaurant also employs the traditional torim method, in which hot broth is repeatedly poured over slightly cooled rice and drained off before serving.

At Michelin-recognized Neungdong Minari, a generous handful of water parsley blankets the surface of the soup, adding a bright aroma and crisp texture that complement the broth's rich depth.

Perhaps the most visually striking reinvention can be found near Junggok Station in Seoul.

At a restaurant called Gomgomtang in Seoul's Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, the signature dish is Deulkkaepa gomtang, a pork broth topped with grilled scallions, perilla leaves and ground perilla seeds.

Nicknamed "Shrek gukbap" for its bright-green color, the 12,500 won dish's appearance is worlds away from the clear soup once served at Joseon royal banquets. Gukbap is soup with rice.

Restaurant Anam gives gomtang a more cosmopolitan twist.

In its signature pork gomtang, green oil made from Cheongyang chili peppers and kale is drizzled over the surface.

"We used green oil because we wanted to bring the freshness of green vegetables into the dish," said its chef.

Drawing inspiration from French culinary technique, the restaurant also uses premium Spanish Duroc pork and takes cues from consommé.

"We wanted to differentiate ourselves [by using French techniques]. In French cuisine, there is consommé, a clear broth dish, and we wanted to express gomtang with a similar feeling." Gukbap is soup with rice. 

Customers can also add cilantro, which the restaurant introduced to "give the dish an extra kick."

Located near Anguk Station in Jongno District, central Seoul, the restaurant serves the dish for 13,000 won