Do Kyung-wan’s Jelly Noodle Soup: Cheongpomuk, Hot Broth and the Right Seasonings
Do Kyung-wan’s “bouncy janchi-guksu” replaces wheat noodles with thin strips of cheongpomuk, Korean mung-bean starch jelly. The hot broth, zucchini and seaweed still give the bowl the familiar structure of Korean noodle soup. KBS presents the Episode 343 recipe as a menu tailored to Jang Yoon-jeong; it is not a conventional somyeon recipe.
What to buy: jelly, not glass noodles
Look for 청포묵 (cheongpomuk), sold as a pale block of jelly. Do not confuse it with dried mung-bean vermicelli: the recipe calls for slicing a block, soaking the strips and pouring hot broth over them. A package of dry noodles would require different preparation.
KBS specifies one block but gives no weight or serving count. Check the size of the block available at your Korean grocery instead of assuming that every package is one identical portion. Although the broadcaster describes this as a lower-sugar menu, the published recipe supplies no nutrition calculation. Mung-bean starch jelly is not carbohydrate-free.
The official ingredient amounts
- 1 block cheongpomuk; one-third Korean zucchini (aehobak)
- Half a Cheongyang chili; 2 pinches salt
- One-third tablespoon salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot)
- 3 tablespoons red snow-crab fish sauce (hongge aekjeot)
- 600 ml water; 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- Seaweed flakes, gochugaru and sesame seeds for topping
- A little cooking oil for the pan—the method includes it without a measured amount
The fermented shrimp is used to season the zucchini; the crab-based sauce goes into the broth. They have different jobs, so do not combine their quantities or treat both as one generic seasoning. If you cannot find the named crab sauce, the official recipe does not provide a tested replacement ratio. This soup also contains seafood seasonings even though its main ingredient is a plant-based jelly.
Make the toppings, then pour the hot broth
- Cut the jelly into thin strips and put them in water. Slice the zucchini into thin strips, mix with the two pinches of salt and leave for three minutes. Drain the liquid released by the zucchini. Thinly slice the chili.
- Heat cooking oil in a pan. Stir-fry the drained zucchini with the one-third tablespoon of fermented shrimp.
- Bring 600 ml water and 3 tablespoons crab sauce to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat off, then stir in 1 tablespoon sesame oil.
- Place the jelly strips, zucchini, chili, seaweed flakes, gochugaru and sesame seeds in a bowl. Pour the hot broth over them. KBS says to add gochugaru according to taste.
The temperature at the final step matters. KBS specifically instructs readers to pour the broth while it is hot so that it heats the jelly through. This is not a cold jelly salad, and the source does not tell you to boil the sliced jelly separately like dried pasta. The three-minute salt rest belongs to the zucchini; it is not the total cooking time.
Check the Korean names before shopping
Use the original ingredient list when choosing cheongpomuk, saeujeot and hongge aekjeot. The chili and seafood seasonings are particularly relevant when cooking for someone who avoids heat or shellfish. This article explains the broadcaster’s method rather than reporting a personal taste test or promising a particular diet result.
Open KBS’s original recipe · Korean
For another Korean vegetable-based meal with rice, Yoon Yoo-sun’s eggplant bowl explains why its seasoning is added in two stages.
Read the eggplant rice-bowl guide · English
Source: KBS Fun-staurant, Episode 343. Recipe checked November 1, 2026.