백숙 (baeksuk)

When summer reaches its peak, shops with huge cauldrons puffing out white steam open up in a row at the mouths of Korea’s mountain valleys and along market alleys. If there’s a long line of people out front, nine times out of ten it’s 복날 (boknal), one of the dog days of summer. 백숙 (baeksuk) means boiling meat or fish thoroughly in water without any special seasoning — or the dish made that way. No red pepper powder, no soy sauce, cooked with nothing but water and time. For learners whose first mental image of Korean food is something red and spicy, 백숙 (baeksuk) may look like an unfamiliar face.

And yet that very “nothing added” is what gives 백숙 (baeksuk) its place. It belongs less to a banquet table than to a sickbed visit; less to eating alone than to a table where several people sit down together. It’s the food that appears when you have no energy, when the heat has worn you out, when you visit your parents’ home after a long time away. So when a Korean says “백숙 한번 하자 (baeksuk hanbeon haja)”, it isn’t simply “let’s eat chicken” — it’s much closer to “let’s make time and sit down together.”

One more thing worth remembering. 백숙 (baeksuk) is not the name of an ingredient — it’s the name of a cooking method. That’s why it’s far more often used with an ingredient attached in front than on its own: 닭 백숙 (dak baeksuk), 돼지고기 백숙 (dwaejigogi baeksuk), 오리 백숙 (ori baeksuk). Think of it like English “boiled chicken,” where what was boiled comes first, and it clicks quickly.

Checking with the National Institute of Korean Language Dictionary

First, let’s look at exactly how the Basic Korean Dictionary, published by the government’s National Institute of Korean Language, defines this word.

백숙 (baeksuk) 「명사 (noun)」 고기나 생선을 특별한 양념 없이 물에 넣고 푹 삶아 익힘. 또는 그렇게 만든 음식. (The act of putting meat or fish in water and boiling it thoroughly without any special seasoning; or a dish made that way.) — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

The dictionary also renders the word in several other languages.

[en] baeksuk — fish or meat boiled in water: The act of boiling meat or fish thoroughly with water without any special seasonings, or a dish made in such a way. [ja] ペクスク。みずたき【水炊き】 — 肉や魚を特別な薬味をつけず水で煮込むこと。また、そうして煮込んだ料理。 [es] baeksuk — Carne o pescado cocido en agua y sin aderezo especial, o caldo elaborado de esta manera. [zh] 清炖，白斩 — 将肉类或鱼类放入水中煮熟，不添加任何作料；或指用那种方法做的食物。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

A Portuguese translation isn’t included in the dictionary. For reference, here’s our own rendering — baeksuk: carne ou peixe cozido em água sem temperos especiais, ou o prato preparado dessa forma. (Note that this one line is our own translation, not the dictionary’s text.)

The expressions to notice are two pieces inside the definition. One is 특별한 양념 없이 (teukbyeolhan yangnyeom eopsi), “without any special seasoning.” The other is 푹 삶아 (puk salma), “boiled thoroughly.” The first tells you what you don’t do; the second tells you how long you do it. The word 백숙 (baeksuk) only holds when both conditions are met at once. Blanch it briefly and it isn’t 백숙 (baeksuk); simmer it a long time with seasoning and that isn’t 백숙 (baeksuk) either.

Now let’s look at the actual usage examples listed in the dictionary. Every sentence below is the dictionary’s own text.

어머니는 백숙을 끓이기 위해 가마에 재료들을 넣고 닭을 푹 끓이셨다.

돼지고기 백숙.

닭 백숙.

그럼 물에 삶아서 기름기가 빠진 백숙으로 먹는 건 어때?

지수는 돼지고기 백숙을 만들 때 고기 냄새를 없애기 위해 된장과 마늘을 함께 넣고 삶았다. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

Let’s put a situation to each one.

어머니는 백숙을 끓이기 위해 가마에 재료들을 넣고 닭을 푹 끓이셨다. (eomeonineun baeksugeul kkeurigi wihae gamae jaeryodeureul neoko dageul puk kkeurisyeotda.) “To make baeksuk, Mother put the ingredients in the cauldron and boiled the chicken long and slow.” — The word 가마 (gama), short for 가마솥 (gamasot, “iron cauldron”), shows you the setting of this sentence. Not a small pot but a big cauldron, and for a long time at that. It’s the sentence that explains why the adverb attached to 백숙 (baeksuk) is always 푹 (puk), “thoroughly, long and slow.”

돼지고기 백숙. / 닭 백숙. (dwaejigogi baeksuk. / dak baeksuk.) “Pork baeksuk. / Chicken baeksuk.” — Here’s exactly the structure mentioned earlier. An ingredient comes in front of 백숙 (baeksuk). This is where learners slip up most often, which is why the dictionary lists the two forms as separate entries.

그럼 물에 삶아서 기름기가 빠진 백숙으로 먹는 건 어때? (geureom mure salmaseo gireumgiga ppajin baeksugeuro meongneun geon eottae?) “Then how about eating it as baeksuk — boiled in water so the fat cooks out?” — This is a suggestion inside a conversation. It starts with 그럼 (geureom, “then”), so someone must have just said something like “greasy food is too heavy for me.” It’s the classic slot where 백숙 (baeksuk) is offered as the light, clean-tasting option.

지수는 돼지고기 백숙을 만들 때 고기 냄새를 없애기 위해 된장과 마늘을 함께 넣고 삶았다. (Jisuneun dwaejigogi baeksugeul mandeul ttae gogi naemsaereul eopsaegi wihae doenjanggwa maneureul hamkke neoko salmatda.) “When Jisu made pork baeksuk, she boiled it with soybean paste and garlic to get rid of the meaty smell.” — This sentence can confuse learners. She added 된장 (doenjang) and 마늘 (maneul), so why is it still 백숙 (baeksuk)? Because here the soybean paste and garlic aren’t seasonings that give flavor — they’re ingredients for killing off the gamey smell. Things like 대추 (daechu, jujubes), 마늘 (maneul, garlic), and 생강 (saenggang, ginger), which cut odor and add aroma, don’t break the “no seasoning” rule of 백숙 (baeksuk).

See It in Real Conversation

Scene: the evening of 말복 (malbok), the last dog day of summer, in front of the neighborhood baeksuk restaurant. The line spills out the door.

Jun-kyung: 야, 줄이 왜 이렇게 길어. 삼십 분은 기다려야겠는데. Hey, why is the line this long? Looks like we’ll wait a good thirty minutes.

Emily: 오늘 말복이잖아. 다들 백숙 먹으러 나온 거지 뭐. It’s the last day of the dog days. Everyone’s out for baeksuk, obviously.

Jun-kyung: 너 진짜 한국 사람 다 됐다. 말복까지 챙기고. You’ve really become Korean. You even keep track of malbok.

Emily: 15년인데 이 정도는 챙겨야지. 나 요즘 속도 안 좋아서 매운 거 못 먹거든. Fifteen years — of course I do. Besides, my stomach’s been off, so I can’t handle spicy food.

Jun-kyung: 그럼 잘 왔네. 백숙은 양념이 없어서 속이 편하잖아. 국물도 맑고. Then you came to the right place. Baeksuk has no seasoning, so it’s easy on the stomach. The broth is clear, too.

Emily: 그니까. 닭 다 먹고 나서 죽까지 시키자, 응? Right? And after the chicken, let’s order the porridge too, okay?

This Is How It Sounds Wrong

Since 백숙 (baeksuk) is a food name that doesn’t discriminate between speakers, the trouble is rarely speech habits — it’s far more often misunderstanding what the word means. Here are two mistakes learners actually make all the time.

✗ 고춧가루 팍팍 넣고 매콤하게 끓인 이 백숙, 진짜 맛있다. ✓ 고춧가루 팍팍 넣고 매콤하게 끓인 이 닭볶음탕, 진짜 맛있다. → “This 닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang), simmered up spicy with loads of red pepper powder, is really good.” The very definition of 백숙 (baeksuk) is “without any special seasoning.” The moment seasoning goes in, the dish is no longer called 백숙 (baeksuk). Spicy chicken dishes belong to 닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang) or 찜닭 (jjimdak) territory.

✗ 삼계탕이랑 백숙이랑 완전히 다른 음식이지? ✓ 삼계탕도 넓게 보면 닭 백숙의 한 갈래지? → “Broadly speaking, 삼계탕 (samgyetang) is one branch of 닭 백숙 (dak baeksuk), right?” 백숙 (baeksuk) isn’t the name of a specific menu item but a broad word covering an entire cooking method. Add ginseng and sweet rice and boil one bird per serving, and it becomes 삼계탕 (samgyetang). Fix it in your head as 백숙 (baeksuk) being the umbrella category and 삼계탕 (samgyetang) one kind within it, and you won’t get confused.

Example Sentences by Situation

1) To a friend who looks worn out (casual speech)

너 요즘 통 기운 없어 보이던데, 이번 주말에 백숙 한 그릇 하자. neo yojeum tong giun eopseo boideon-de, ibeon jumare baeksuk han geureut haja. You’ve looked worn out lately — let’s go have a bowl of baeksuk this weekend.

In Korea, saying “백숙 한 그릇 하자 (baeksuk han geureut haja)” is a meal invitation and an expression of concern at the same time. It comes out naturally when someone’s complexion looks bad. Notice too that the verb used is 하다 (hada). As the dictionary examples show with 백숙을 하다 (baeksugeul hada), 백숙 (baeksuk) pairs well not only with 먹다 (meokda, “to eat”) but also with 하다 (hada, “to do/have”).

2) After a visit to Grandma’s house in the countryside (polite speech)

어제 할머니 댁에 갔는데, 할머니가 닭 한 마리 잡아서 백숙을 끓여 주셨어요. eoje halmeoni daege gatneunde, halmeoniga dak han mari jabaseo baeksuk-eul kkeuryeo jusyeosseoyo. I went to my grandmother’s yesterday, and she prepared a whole chicken and made baeksuk for me.

The warmth packed into 끓여 주셨어요 (kkeuryeo jusyeosseoyo) is the key. 백숙 (baeksuk) isn’t a dish that comes out in a few minutes — it means standing by the stove for close to two hours. So saying that someone made 백숙 (baeksuk) for you naturally carries the weight of their care.

3) Ordering at a restaurant (polite speech)

여기 토종닭 백숙 하나 주세요. 죽은 나중에 주시고요. yeogi tojongdak baeksuk hana juseyo. jugeun najunge jusigoyo. One free-range chicken baeksuk, please. And bring the porridge later.

This is practically the official order at a 백숙 (baeksuk) restaurant. The basic sequence at these places is to fish out and eat the chicken, then add rice to the leftover broth and cook it into porridge — so adding the single phrase 죽은 나중에 (jugeun najunge, “the porridge later”) is enough for the server to understand right away. Memorize this one sentence and it’ll serve you well on a trip to Korea.

Polite vs. Casual Speech, and Similar Expressions

백숙 (baeksuk) is a noun, so there’s no honorific level built into the word itself. The politeness level is decided by the predicate that follows it — casually, “이거 백숙이야 (igeo baeksugiya)” or “백숙 먹자 (baeksuk meokja)”; politely, “이건 백숙입니다 (igeon baeksugimnida)” or “백숙 드시겠어요? (baeksuk deusigesseoyo?)”. When offering it to an elder, the only thing to keep in mind is using 드시다 (deusida) instead of 먹다 (meokda).

What actually confuses learners isn’t the honorifics but the words next door. Korean has several dishes made by boiling things in water besides 백숙 (baeksuk), so here’s a table of how they differ.

Expression	Temperature / Intensity	Where it’s used
백숙 (baeksuk)	Clean, mild, even plain. A restorative feel	A general term for a cooking method. Used with an ingredient in front — chicken, duck, pork, etc.
삼계탕 (samgyetang)	Rich and piping hot. A formal restorative dish	A specific menu item boiled one bird per serving with ginseng and sweet rice. A name on a restaurant menu
수육 (suyuk)	Clean-tasting, but eaten without broth	Boiled meat lifted out and sliced. Served with kimchi and wraps. The broth is not the star
닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang)	Spicy and punchy	Seasoned with red pepper powder and soy sauce. Drinking gatherings, get-togethers with younger crowds

As the table shows, 백숙 (baeksuk) and 수육 (suyuk) share the “boiled without seasoning” part and split over whether the result is one pot with broth or a plate of sliced, lifted-out meat. 백숙 (baeksuk) and 삼계탕 (samgyetang) share the method but differ in scope, and 백숙 (baeksuk) and 닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang) share the ingredient while using opposite methods.

Cultural Background — The Cauldron of the Dog Days

백숙 (baeksuk) is written in Chinese characters as 白熟. 흰 백 (白, “white”) and 익을 숙 (熟, “to cook through”) — literally, “cooked white.” Since no seasoning colors it, both broth and meat stay a milky white, and that fact sits right there in the name. Korean has a number of words where the color of the finished dish became the name itself, and 백숙 (baeksuk) is the easiest one to spot.

The season of 백숙 (baeksuk) is unmistakably summer. Korea has three 복날 (boknal) — 초복 (chobok), 중복 (jungbok), and 말복 (malbok) — scattered roughly between mid-July and mid-August. Around then, lines form outside 삼계탕 (samgyetang) and 백숙 (baeksuk) restaurants starting at lunchtime, and companies sometimes head over as an entire department. It’s the most visible expression of 이열치열 (i-yeol-chi-yeol, 以熱治熱) — the idea of fighting heat with heat, eating something hot to protect the body’s energy when it’s hottest out.

The setting has its own flavor too. People eat it at city restaurants, but the original stage for 백숙 (baeksuk) is a mountain valley. On summer weekends, families claim a wooden platform beside a valley stream at the foot of a mountain, dangle their feet in the cold water, and share free-range chicken 백숙 (baeksuk) straight out of a big cauldron. Finishing with porridge — rice cooked into the milky broth left after the chicken is gone — is part of the same set. No story about 백숙 (baeksuk) ends without that closing bowl of porridge.

백숙 (baeksuk) shows up often in Korean dramas too, but it’s a food remembered through scenes rather than lines. A child who hasn’t been home in ages comes down to the country house, and the parents wordlessly go out to the yard to prepare a chicken; a steaming bowl is set beside the head of a character laid up sick. Understand 백숙 (baeksuk) as the food production teams reach for when they need to show not a lavish spread but silent devotion, and you’ll have the emotional temperature of this word.

So learning 백숙 (baeksuk) isn’t a matter of memorizing one dish name. It’s closer to learning a Korean way of speaking — expressing your heart by adding nothing at all.

Today’s Quiz

Which of the following uses 백숙 (baeksuk) naturally?

고춧가루를 듬뿍 넣고 매콤하게 끓인 백숙 한 그릇에 땀이 쭉 났다. (A bowl of baeksuk simmered up spicy with plenty of red pepper powder had me sweating.)
할머니는 닭을 물에 넣고 두 시간 넘게 푹 삶아 백숙을 하셨다. (Grandma put the chicken in water and boiled it slowly for over two hours to make baeksuk.)
백숙을 노릇하게 굽는 동안 소스를 발라 가며 색을 냈다. (While grilling the baeksuk golden brown, I brushed on sauce to bring out the color.)

Show the answer

Answer: 2

There are exactly two conditions for 백숙 (baeksuk): 특별한 양념 없이 (teukbyeolhan yangnyeom eopsi, “without any special seasoning”) and 물에 넣고 푹 삶아 (mure neoko puk salma, “put in water and boiled thoroughly”). Number 2 satisfies both. Number 1 includes red pepper powder — a seasoning — so it isn’t 백숙 (baeksuk) but something closer to 닭볶음탕 (dakbokkeumtang), and number 3 uses grilling, so it could never be 백숙 (baeksuk) in the first place. Note as well that, as in the dictionary example 백숙을 하다 (baeksugeul hada), 백숙 (baeksuk) pairs naturally with 하다 (hada) as well as 먹다 (meokda).

Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.