Ingredients
Casing
- 2m pig’s small intestine, cleaned
- coarse salt
- flour
- 1 tbspsoju or rice wine
Filling
- 300 gdangmyeon, sweet potato glass noodles, soaked and chopped
- 300 mlpig’s blood, fresh
- 200 gminced pork, optional
- 1onion, finely chopped
- 4spring onions
- 150 gcabbage or perilla leaves, finely chopped
- 100 gbean sprouts, blanched and chopped
- 3 clovesgarlic
- 1 tbspdoenjang
- 1 tbspsesame oil
- 1 tspginger
- salt and pepper
To serve
- salt mixed with black pepper
- ssamjang
- steamed pig’s liver and lung
- tteokbokki sauce, in the market style
Equipment
- cotton thread
- a funnel or sausage horn
Directions
- Strain it before use to catch any clots, which would become hard dark lumps in the sausage. Buy it already cleaned if you can, which most Korean butchers sell.
- Turn the intestine inside out and rinse it under running water repeatedly. Rub it hard with coarse salt and flour, inside and out, then rinse. Salt and flour together act as an abrasive and lift the film that water alone leaves. Repeat three or four times.
- Finish with a rinse in water with soju or rice wine, which removes the last of the smell. Keep going until it smells clean and neutral, because badly cleaned intestine cannot be rescued later. Turn it back the right way out and keep it in cold water. Now the filling, which is mixed cold. Soak the glass noodles until pliable and chop them into short lengths.
- Chop them short, since long noodles are impossible to stuff and impossible to slice neatly. Squeeze all the chopped vegetables dry. Squeeze them hard, because a wet filling will not set and the sausage falls apart when sliced.
- Mix the noodles, vegetables, minced pork if using, garlic, ginger, doenjang and sesame oil. Season it well and taste a small fried spoonful to check. Fry a test spoonful before stuffing, since it is the only chance to adjust the seasoning. The mixture should be loose but not liquid.
- Fill it only about two-thirds full. Do not overfill. Bring a large pot of water to a bare simmer, around 80°C, never a boil. Never boil blood sausage. Prick it again a few times during the first ten minutes as it swells. It is done when a skewer pushed in comes out clean rather than bloody.
- Lift it out carefully and let it cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Cooling lets it firm up, and slicing it hot gives a crumbling mess. Cut it into rounds about 1 cm thick. Serve it warm, with a small dish of salt and black pepper for dipping. That plain salt and pepper is the traditional accompaniment and it is all it needs.
Technique
- Abai sundae from the northeast uses the large intestine and is much thicker.
- Many commercial sundae now contain little or no blood and rely on noodles.
- It is sold at every Korean market and in dedicated sundae restaurants.
Substitutions
- Ready-cleaned intestine from a Korean butcher.
- A version with no blood, which is common and is a different thing.
Variations
- Abai sundae, thick and noodle-heavy.
- Sundae-guk, served in soup.
- With squid used as the casing, ojingeo sundae.
History
Blood sausage stuffed into pig intestine, a thrift food across Korea; northern versions lean on glass noodles rather than blood.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sundae?
Sundae is a street food from North Korea: steamed pig-intestine sausage filled with glass noodles and blood. Blood sausage stuffed into pig intestine, a thrift food across Korea; northern versions lean on glass noodles rather than blood.
How long does Sundae take to make?
Sundae takes 1 hr 30 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes about 8 sausages. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Sundae?
Yes, within limits. Ready-cleaned intestine from a Korean butcher. A version with no blood, which is common and is a different thing.
What is the most important thing to get right in Sundae?
Mix the noodles, vegetables, minced pork if using, garlic, ginger, doenjang and sesame oil. Season it well and taste a small fried spoonful to check. Fry a test spoonful before stuffing, since it is the only chance to adjust the seasoning. The mixture should be loose but not liquid.
