There are several theories about the origin of the name seolleongtang (ox bone soup), the most plausible being that it stems from the food served immediately after a sacrificial rite held by the king at the Seonnongdan Altar to pray for a good year.
The Imun Seolleongtang restaurant has specialized in this dish since 1904. Regular customers speak highly of the special flavor of the dish served at this restaurant which, unlike other seolleongtang houses, prepares the soup with ox spleen, and also sells cooked ox spleen as a separate dish. Very few restaurants serve the latter dish as most people do not really like its unusual smell or the texture of the mushy meat. The wooden building and its iron cauldron have been replaced with a modern concrete building and an ultra-modern pressure cooker, but locals feel that the ox bone soup served at other houses cannot possibly compare with the dish served here.