Ttaro Means Separately. Everyone Puts the Rice In Anyway.

I work in Seoul. I eat lunch near Sinsa Station most weekdays.

There is a soup place two minutes from exit 4 that opens at seven in the morning. On a weekday at noon I walked in and sat down without waiting. On a Saturday morning, I am told, that does not happen.

The bowl is 12,000 won. Beef broth, bean sprouts, radish, and dark cubes of seonji. The rice comes on a separate plate. That is what ttaro means: separately. It is the one thing the name promises, and almost every table pours the rice straight into the soup within a minute of it arriving.

What seonji is

Seonji is cow’s blood, steamed until it sets. It looks like dark tofu and cuts like it. Foreign coworkers hear the word “blood” and stop. Korean coworkers hear “seonji” and ask for extra.

At this place it is soft and does not taste of iron. The broth is clear but heavier than it looks. I think the radish does that. It has been cooking long enough to fall apart on the spoon. The bean sprouts have not, which is the correct order.

If you cannot do the blood, you say so when you order and the bowl arrives without it. Nobody reacts.

Where the style comes from

Ttaro gukbap is a Daegu dish, not a Seoul one. The story is that customers there did not want their rice soaked, so the kitchen started serving it on the side. Seoul took the format and kept the name. This shop has been doing it in Sinsa-dong for around forty years, first in an older building nearby, now on a second floor with a renovation that looks like a clinic waiting room.

The kimchi and the cubed radish kimchi come together on one plate. One piece of either on top of a spoon of soup is the reason the place has lasted this long. I do not say that about many side dishes.

There is boiled beef, suyuk, at 17,000 won for a small plate. I did not order it. The man at the next table told me the soup is not finished without it. I will find out next time.

Details

• Gangnam Ttaro Gukbap (formerly Sinsa Ttaro Gukbap), 118 Sinbanpo-ro 47-gil, 2F, Seocho-gu
• Sinsa Station exit 4, two minutes on foot
• Daily 07:00–21:00, weekday break 15:30–17:00
• Ttaro gukbap 12,000 won; suyuk 17,000 / 30,000 won
• Parking available

The rice comes separately. I lasted about forty seconds.