Sujebi

수제비

Hand-torn dough soup

♨️ Served hot🙂 Not spicy🥬 Vegetarian versions exist: ask

Soft, chewy pieces of wheat dough torn by hand into a light broth with potato and vegetables. It's Korea's classic comfort soup.

What it is

The dough is pulled off in rough flakes and dropped into boiling broth, often made with anchovies and kelp.
Kalguksu uses cut noodles, while sujebi uses torn pieces, and some shops combine the two.

How to eat it

1Eat it with kimchi. Add seasoned soy sauce or chili from the table if you want more taste.

History

Wheat dishes date from Goryeo, and the name is recorded from the mid Joseon period, but sources differ. It became a mainstay during and after the Korean War, when wheat flour from overseas aid was plentiful and rice was short.

Allergies and diet

Usually contains

wheatfish

The broth is often made with anchovies.
Some versions add clams.

Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.

🗣️ Allergy card for the staff

Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.

📍 Where to try it

🍜
Samcheongdong Sujebi 삼청동수제비
Noodles · Seochon & Bukchon, Seoul · Since 1982
The busiest door on Samcheong-dong's main street since 1982: hand-torn dough soup (sujebi) in a light anchovy broth, served in a little pot, with crispy potato pancakes on the side. A Michelin Bib Gourmand pick near Bukchon and the palaces.
Try: Sujebi (hand-torn dough soup)
30-60 min wait
🍜
Sinchon Sujebi 신촌수제비
Noodles · Sinchon & Ewha, Seoul · Since 1988
A cheap, cheerful sujebi shop from 1988 by Sinchon Station. Hand-torn dough soup comes with radish kimchi, and a simple gimbap is the classic side. It's one of the last true student-priced meals in the area.
Try: Sujebi (hand-torn dough soup)
Locals' pickShort wait
🍲
Won Daegutang 원대구탕
Soups & stews · Itaewon, Seoul · Since 1977
The oldest house on Samgakji's cod-stew alley, open since 1977. Daegu-tang is a big pot of fresh cod, radish and a mound of minari (water dropwort) in either a spicy red broth or a clear one, simmered at your table. Locals add fried cod on the side and finish with fried rice in the pot.
Try: Daegu-tang (cod stew), spicy or clear
Locals' pickShort wait
🍜
Chebu-dong Janchijip 체부동잔치집
Noodles · Seochon & Bukchon, Seoul
A cheap, cheerful noodle house at the start of the Sejong Village food street near Gyeongbokgung. Bowls of janchi-guksu (banquet noodles), perilla sujebi and kalguksu are remarkably affordable, and a pancake with makgeolli turns it into a long afternoon.
Try: Janchi-guksu (noodles in anchovy broth)
Short wait
🍜
Ildeung Sujebi 일등수제비
Noodles · Dongdaemun, Seoul
A small market noodle shop by Seoul Jungang Market in Hwanghak-dong, run for over forty years. Hand-torn sujebi (dough flakes) and knife-cut noodles come in an anchovy broth with fresh kimchi on the side; the kalje-bi, half and half, is what regulars order.
Try: Kalje-bi (half noodles, half sujebi)
Locals' pick
🍲
Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang 소문난성수감자탕
Soups & stews · Seongsu, Seoul
The 24-hour gamjatang house in the middle of trendy Seongsu, now as full of foreign visitors as of locals. A big pot of pork backbones, potatoes and dried cabbage leaves simmers at your table in a spicy, nutty broth topped with perilla seeds; add hand-torn noodles, then fry rice in what's left. Solo diners can get a single bowl.
Try: Gamjatang (pork-bone stew, small to large)
30-60 min wait
🍜
Sungnye Bunsik 숭례분식
Noodles · Namdaemun & Seoul Station, Seoul
A three-table noodle stall inside Namdaemun Market, run single-handedly by an elderly grandmother. Her kal-sujebi, knife-cut noodles mixed with hand-torn dough, comes in an anchovy broth, a quiet alternative to the market's famous queues.
Try: Kal-sujebi (noodles and dough flakes)
Locals' pick
🥔
Yennal Gamjajeon 옛날감자전
Pubs · Namdaemun & Seoul Station, Seoul
A tiny folk-pub in Namyeong-dong where crisp potato pancakes, some topped with melted cheese, are fried to order and eaten with spicy sujebi and makgeolli. It became hugely popular after appearing on a celebrity food show, so expect a list.
Try: Gamjajeon (potato pancake)
Locals' pick1 hr+ wait
🥣
Yennal Sujebi 옛날수제비
Noodles · Jungang Market, Abai Village & Beach, Sokcho
A neighborhood noodle shop in Gyo-dong for jang-kalje: hand-torn sujebi dough and knife-cut noodles together in spicy soybean-chili broth.
Try: Jang-kalje
Locals' pickShort wait
🥣
Yeongwon Sikdang 영원식당
Noodles · Yeouido & Mapo, Seoul
A forty-year-old sujebi (hand-torn dough soup) house upstairs in an old Yeouido shopping arcade. Everyone orders a bowl each and shares a crisp potato pancake; at night it turns into a drinking spot with spicy squid.
Try: Sujebi (hand-torn dough soup)
Locals' pick
🍜
Yetjip Guksu 옛집국수
Noodles · Itaewon, Seoul
A thirty-five-year-old noodle shop tucked behind Samgakji Station, run by a grandmother. Warm anchovy-broth noodle bowls and rolls of gimbap draw office workers and solo diners from early morning.
Try: Warm noodle soup (janchi-guksu)
Locals' pick