Mugwort soup with clams in anchovy stock (ssukguk)

Make the stock: six cups of water, half a medium onion chopped in chunks and ten large dried anchovies with the guts removed; boil over high heat.

Wash about three cups of mugwort very clean.

Soak the small clams in cold water with a little salt so they spit out sand; wash and set aside.

Return the clear anchovy stock to the pot and reheat.

Mix the mugwort by hand with a quarter cup of soybean paste, about a tablespoon of plain flour and two tablespoons of perilla seed powder, and put it into the stock.

Add the minced garlic and skim off the bubbles on the surface.

Add the clams, close the lid and cook until the clams open; add a little chopped green or red chili pepper and turn off the heat.