Korean Fish Cake Soup (Eomuk Guk), No Added Refined Sugar

Method

1. Peel 100g daikon radish, rinse it and cut it into squares 1 to 2cm thick. Rinse half a leek and cut it into 3 to 4cm lengths, keeping a little back to slice thinly for the top.
2. Cut 300g Korean fish cake into strips 4 to 5cm wide, fold them in a zigzag or in half and thread them onto bamboo skewers.
3. Mix the dipping sauce: put 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 2 teaspoons Korean soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar in a bowl, stir until dissolved and scatter a few toasted sesame seeds over the top.
4. Pour 700ml water into a pot, add the daikon radish and the dashi packet, bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes to draw out the sweetness.
5. Lift out all the solids so the broth is clear.
6. Lower the fish cake skewers gently into the simmering broth and cook for another 5 minutes until they soften and take up the broth.
7. Season with 1 teaspoon Korean soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon seasoning powder. Add the cut leek, cook for 1 more minute and turn off the heat.
8. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot, dipping the fish cake into the sauce and eating it with kimchi or salted preserved radish.

Tips

• Korean fish cake is sold at Korean grocers and in the freezer section of large supermarkets.
• Without it, thinly sliced Vietnamese fried fish cake works, with a slightly sweeter taste.
• A dashi packet can be replaced with a piece of dried kombu simmered 10 minutes alongside a handful of dried anchovies.
• Leek can be swapped for the white part of Western leek (toi tay).
• Skim out all the solids before the fish cake goes in for a clear broth.
• Blanch the fish cake in boiling water to shed some oil before it joins the pot, and no film forms on the broth.