Korean soup

Korean soup, Seoul

Korean soup splits into three families: thin clear broth (guk), thicker rustic boil (jjigae), and milky long-simmered bone-broth (tang). Each one is a complete meal with rice and side dishes. This is where to eat the most beloved styles in Seoul, every spot verified for foreign visitors.

Quick primer

Type	What it is
Samgyetang 삼계탕	Whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, jujube, and pumpkin seeds, simmered in a milky broth. Eaten in summer to "fight heat with heat" (iyeolchiyeol). Most famous Seoul rite of passage.
Gomtang / Seolleongtang 곰탕 / 설렁탕	Beef bone broth simmered 12+ hours until milky white. Comes plain so you season at the table with salt, pepper, and green onion. Pure comfort food, year-round.
Jjigae 찌개	Thicker, spicier stew shared from a bubbling pot. Top variants: kimchi-jjigae (sour fermented kimchi), doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste), sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu, red broth). Everyday Korean home cooking.
Dwaeji-gukbap 돼지국밥	Busan pork-bone soup with rice already in the bowl. Add the side condiments (saewujeot shrimp sauce, chives) to taste. Cheap, fast, addictive.
Doganitang / Chueotang 도가니탕 / 추어탕	Less-common specialty broths: beef knee cartilage (doganitang, gelatinous) and ground mudfish (chueotang, earthy). For adventurous eaters.

How to eat it

Spoon, not chopsticks, for broth. Korean dining uses both: spoon (숟가락) for rice and soup, chopsticks for side dishes. Don't lift the bowl to your mouth.
Season at the table for plain broths. Gomtang and seolleongtang arrive unseasoned on purpose. Add salt, pepper, and chopped green onion until it tastes right to you.
Rice goes IN for some, BESIDE for others. Dwaeji-gukbap and samgyetang absorb rice; jjigae and tang are usually eaten side-by-side. Watch your neighbor if unsure.
Side dishes (banchan) are unlimited. Kimchi, pickled radish, bean sprouts. Free refills. The staff will replenish without asking.
Samgyetang etiquette: use scissors to cut the chicken apart in the bowl, then eat with spoon. The stuffed rice inside the bird is the prize. Salt the meat from the small dish at the side.
Jjigae is shared. Multiple spoons in one pot is normal at family-style Korean restaurants. It's a feature, not a faux pas.