How to Eat Sundae Gukbap Like a Local: Open the Tins, Then Season It

Don't eat sundae gukbap (순대국밥) the way it lands on the table. The bowl usually comes out mild on purpose, and the little tins at the side of your table are how you finish it: a knuckle of red paste, a big spoon of perilla, a quarter spoon of salted shrimp, a few slices of chili. Season it your way, then eat.

Not on night one. Day three, yes.

When friends visit, I don't take them for sundae on the first night. Jet lag plus a smell you've never met is a rough combo. But once you've had your barbecue and your fried chicken, this is the meal I want you to try, because it's the one my coworkers and I actually eat.

Sundae gukbap is soul food here. Gukbap (국밥) means soup and rice. The broth is milky and rich from hours of simmering. In it you get slices of sundae (순대), which is a sausage stuffed with things like pig's blood, glass noodles and sticky rice, plus pieces of head meat and some innards. It looks strange the first time. Then you take a spoonful and get it.

Every neighborhood has a sundae gukbap place people swear by, and no two taste the same. One has a deeper broth. One has more of that nutty, porky smell we call kkosohada (roughly "toasty"). One loads the bowl with intestines. Even the sausage changes: some shops use chapssal sundae, the smooth sticky-rice kind, and some use yennal sundae, the old-style kind, darker and coarser. That's half the fun. Try two places on one trip and you'll have a favorite.

When it hits hardest

• A cold day. It comes in a black earthenware pot, a ttukbaegi, still boiling. You'll stop thinking about the wind.
• The lunch after a big night. Koreans call this haejang, eating to "settle" a hangover. Sundae gukbap is a classic haejang meal.
• A dinner that means it. A bowl each and one bottle of soju between two people. That's a good night, and it won't cost you much.

It's also easy alone. You get one bowl for one person, no sharing rules, no grill. If you're traveling solo, I've got more on eating alone in Seoul (opens in a new tab).

Before you pick up the spoon, look at the side of the table

This is the part most visitors miss. Along the wall or at the end of the table there are small tins or dishes, usually with tiny spoons inside. Open the lids. You'll usually find some of these:

• Saeujeot: tiny shrimp, salted and fermented. This is the salt for your soup.
• Dadaegi: a thick red seasoning paste with chili and garlic. It brings the heat.
• Deulkkae-garu: ground perilla seed. Nutty, a little earthy. Some places put it on top for you, some leave it on the table, some don't have it.
• Black pepper, often in a shaker.
• Cheongyang chili: a small green or red pepper, sliced. Hotter than it looks.

They're free and they're yours. Nobody will think you're rude for using them. The only rude thing is eating the soup bland and deciding you don't like it.

My order, step by step

1. Chives go in first. If a plate of chopped buchu (garlic chives) comes with the bowl, drop it straight into the boiling soup. It softens as it cooks and adds a fresh smell to the broth. Then taste the broth plain, the milky white of it. If you love it as is, have another spoonful. Then follow me.
2. Heat and body. Open the tins and use the little spoons. Add dadaegi, about the size of the top knuckle of your index finger. That's enough for a gentle kick. If there's already a red dollop on top, stir it in and taste before adding more. If there's perilla powder, add one big spoonful. It makes the broth nuttier and a bit thicker.
3. Salt, then pepper. Taste. If it's flat, add about a quarter spoon of saeujeot and taste again. Good? Then a little pepper. If you're confident with spice, add a few slices of Cheongyang chili. A little gives the soup a sharp, clean bite. A lot, and you'll be sweating before you notice.
4. Let it calm down. By now the pot is either still bubbling or just steaming. Take the lid off your rice bowl, turn it upside down, and fish a few pieces of sundae onto it. They're too hot to eat straight from the pot. They'll wait for you.
5. Half the rice goes in. Tip about half the bowl of rice into the soup. Keep the rest for later if you want it.
6. Eat it together. Use the spoon to get broth, rice and meat in the same bite.
7. A shot of soju, if you're drinking. A sip of cold soju after a hot spoonful is the whole point for a lot of people here.
8. Now the sundae. Dip a piece from the lid back into the broth for a second and eat it. Keep going until the bowl's empty.

The order matters more than the amounts. Plain broth first, so you know what the shop made. Then paste and perilla, then salt, then heat. If you add the shrimp before you taste, you'll oversalt it. Everybody does it once.

The sausage, the sides and the bottle

The kimchi and pickled radish on the side are refillable at most places, and they're there to cut the richness between spoonfuls. Raw green chilies and onion often come too. Dip them in the red paste if you like.

Soju is optional. A cold bottle of Chamisul with a hot bowl is a classic pairing, not a rule. If you want the full rundown on what to drink, the drinking age and ID, I wrote a first-timer's guide to makgeolli, soju and somaek (opens in a new tab).

Finding the place and ordering

Look for 순대국 or 순댓국 (sundae-guk) on the sign. 순대국밥 (sundae-gukbap) is the same thing. Most of these places are plain and bright, with a short menu on the wall. Ordering is simple. Hold up fingers for your party, then point at the menu.

Ask: Sundae-gukbap hana juseyo (soon-deh gook-bap hah-nah joo-seh-yoh), "One sundae gukbap, please." Locals usually cut it to sundae-gukbap hana-yo. For two, say dul (dool) instead of hana.

Hungry? Check the menu for 특 (teuk, "special") next to the regular price. At most places that means a bigger bowl with more meat. Say teuk-euro hana juseyo (tuhk-uh-roh hah-nah joo-seh-yoh), "the special one, please."

You'll also see 수육 (suyuk), a plate of sliced boiled pork. It's good, but a bowl of gukbap plus suyuk is a lot of food, even for two. First time, just get the gukbap. Try that first. Suyuk can be your second visit.

Pay at the counter by the door when you're done, unless there's a kiosk at the entrance, in which case you pay first. Don't wait at the table for a check.

Rather have a local sit you down first?

If walking into a gukbap place cold feels like a lot on your first night, there's a gentler warm-up. Seoul Street Food Market Tour (opens in a new tab) is a two-hour evening in a famous Seoul market with a local host, starting at Exit 7 of Jongno 5-ga Station. All the food and drinks are included, with non-alcoholic options, and there are Korean drinking games. It works solo too.

• Good for: a first night when you want someone to order for you and explain what's on the plate.
• Before you book: the listing doesn't name the dishes, so don't book it just for sundae. Send your dietary restrictions or allergies before the day.

Then come back and do the bowl on your own. For more ways to plan your first food night, I compared options in Seoul food tour or DIY (opens in a new tab).

Tonight, or tomorrow at lunch: find the nearest 순대국 sign, sit down, open every tin and follow the order above. Taste first. Then make it yours.

Worth a read before you go:

• The Korea Herald: sundae gukbap, blood sausage soup with rice (opens in a new tab)