Seolleongtang is a Korean soup made from the bones of the four legs of an ox, with the front legs giving better taste. Generally, only salt and welsh onions are used as seasoning. Usually, ground black pepper is served with the dish. It is typically cooked over a period of several hours to an entire day, to allow the flavor to be gradually extracted from the bones. It has a milky off-white, cloudy appearance and is normally eaten together with rice and several side dishes; the rice may be added directly to the soup. EtymologyIn the Joseon dynasty, Koreans regularly made nationwide sacrifices to their ancestors, such as Dangun (the legendary founder of the kingdom of Gojoseon). The nationwide sacrifice was called Seonnongje (hangul: 선농제; hanja: 先農祭, Seonnong meaning "venerated farmer"), and the altar for the sacrifice was called Seonnongdan (hangul: 선농단; hanja: 先農壇), which dates back to the Silla Dynasty.[1] King Sejong of Joseon had visited the sacrifice himself, and had eaten a meal with the people of Joseon. In order to increase the food supply in Joseon, King Seongjong ordered them to invent dishes that could feed the maximum number of people using the least amount of ingredients, and seonnongtang (tang meaning "soup") was one of these. The sole ingredient used in the preparation of seolleongtang is the leg bones of an ox. At that time, this food was called seonnongtang, and it is now called seolleongtang for easier pronunciation. The phonetic values have changed as follows:
The first change is a consonant liquidization making the two "N" sounds into softer "L" sounds for easy pronunciation. The second change is a vowel harmonization of the "O" sound affected by the "Ŏ" sound. It has also been proposed that the word seolleong derives from the Mongolian word sju-ru or sjullu, which means "broth."1 Among common mis-beliefs related to the dish, the name may come from its snowy white color and hearty taste, so seolleongtang was named "雪濃湯" in hanja (literally "snowy thick soup"). Therefore, several Korean dictionaries say that the hanja spelling such as 雪濃湯 is an incorrect usage for the dish.234 5 Nevertheless, the misspelling6 is used to refer to the soup in the Chinese language.78910111213 See also
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