Korean Gangwon-Style Loach Soup

Use 700 g of loaches that have been professionally purged and prepared for cooking.

Rinse the surface and belly area several times under cold running water and drain.

Boil mudfish in water for 10 minutes, then drain through a sieve, reserving the cooking liquid.

Check whether your blender allows hot ingredients; if it does not, cool the cooked loaches and any liquid before blending.

Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid as needed to blend smoothly. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove remaining bone fragments and coarse pieces, then stir the strained fish and liquid back into the reserved broth.

Add 1.5 tbsp doenjang, 1 tbsp gochugaru, and minced garlic; simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes until broth is thick and deeply flavored.

Add 220 g of thoroughly cooked radish greens and simmer over medium-low heat for 15 more minutes.

This is the weight of the cooked greens, not dry siraegi. Check that the greens are tender.

Dissolve 4 tbsp perilla powder in 3 tbsp broth until lump-free, add to the pot, and simmer on low for 5 minutes until the broth turns glossy and cloudy.

Add 2 scallions and 2 Cheongyang peppers and boil for 2 minutes.

Serve when the perilla powder is evenly dispersed and the scallion and pepper aromas rise.