Cow blood and skin mixed in a stew?! Chang-nyeong's famous "Sugure Stew"

Coming to Korea (or even before coming to Korea), you've probably heard of the famous reality TV show "2 Days and 1 Night" (1박2일). There are many reasons behind its immense popularity, but one of the main reasons is the regional food that the cast scrumptiously eat every episode. The foods that the cast eat is usually sought after fiercely after every episode with viewers constantly trying to find where that specific food can be found to make the trip north, west, east or even south of the peninsula just to satisfy their cravings. If the "2 Days and 1 Night" team visit a restaurant during their broadcast, that restaraunt will usually advertise in that way, usually being effective in drawing in curious customers.

 

While on a visit down south to the city of Chang-nyeong in the Gyeong-nam Province (near Busan), I was able to eat one of the "2 Days and 1 Night" labeled food restaurants. It wasn't really a restaurant -- rather, it was a simple outdoor kitchen with tables laid out for customers to sit and enjoy their meal in the middle of a traditional Korean market.

Here, I ate a stew called "Sugure Stew" -- "sugure" apparently being the inner part of a cow's skin (I know, sounds disgusting, but it's not as bad as it sounds). It's loved due to its texture and from experience, it is most definitely chewy yet soft when it is mixed with the broth it's cooked with.

 

Nevertheless, Chang-nyeong is famous for their bowls of "Sugure Stew" and according to the banners that hung all over the market, "2 Days and 1 Night" had visited and filmed this market a while ago. This market actually contains numerous little food spaces where this famous stew is served, but I went to the spot that the cast actually went to.

I actually had to stand in line to grab a bowl, but that wasn't the end of it because I needed a seat to eat and there weren't too many available ones. It was usually packed with customers usually waiting anxiously on the sidelines like vultures waiting to claim vacating seats.

 

 

At last, I got my bowl and luckily also found myself an empty seat to enjoy this meal. 

 

This stew is served alongside some rice which is usually mixed with the stew to create something called "Gukbap" (국밥), literally meaning "Stew Rice". It's obviously your freedom in the method you'd want to eat it, but most of the customers eat it that way simply because it tastes better and it's the traditional way to eat it. I'd recommend you do the same to really enjoy this meal!

You may be looking at this stew and if you have tasted diverse Korean stews you might be thinking that it looks terribly similar to something called "Seun-ji Stew" which contains congelated cattle blood on the stew (again, sounds horibble, but it really isn't that bad). As you can see in the picture, there are chunks of that but there are several differences, the main one being the fact that this stew contains bits of "sugure" which like I aforementioned are chewy pieces of meat found in the inner part of a cow's skin.

 

It may be strange at first while you're eating the combination of what seems to be disgusting cow body parts, but that's why it is popular. Overall, the taste is a bit spicy but not overwhelming and it really gets you to empty the bowl due to its addictive spiciness.

 

If you ever make a visit down to this Gyeong-nam area, make sure to try this regional delicacy as these famous markets are usually not too far from the major freeways that connect the capital from the southern cities of Korea. It'll definitely be a new experience, but one you most likely will not regret.

 

 Location : Kyoungnam Changnyounggoon Changnyoungeup Suljungri 42-2(경남 창녕군 창녕읍 술정리)