Call it Tofu 'Jjigae' or 'Soondubu,' but I Finally Found My Golden Ratio
Writing the recipe down for me, and you. Don't be scared.
A ridiculous amount of ingredients go into a typical Korean tofu stew (soondubu, but I call it tofu jjigae). So ridiculous, in fact, that I often forget one or two.
Today, I forgot the serrano peppers. No worries, I added three sliced lengthwise later. You can’t tell the difference.
I realized only after having to look up three separate recipes online that I should’ve written this one — conglomerated — down from last time. Oops. Recipe listed below, for me and you.
My mom uses a big spoonful of both gochujang (fermented chili paste) and doenjang (fermented soy bean paste), but I found the combo bitter and/or sweet, go figure. I prefer gochujang and gochugaru as the base, as well as chicken broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil, with two handfuls of ground pork for flavoring.
Jjigae must have some kind of meat or it doesn’t have enough flavor. Sorry, vegans.
The biggest tip I can give you is to taste the paste before continuing on with the stew. If that’s suitably flavorful and salty, excessively so, you’re good. Also, try not to be like me and add too much liquid. One to 1 1/2 cups will do.
Tofu gives off a lot more liquid, too. So consider that.
I use a smallish Asian pot to remind me that less is more, and to force me to play within the lines.
Don’t be scared. Chances are, a lot of you are in the boondocks, without an H-Mart or a decent Korean restaurant nearby. If you can’t get proper soondubu like they eat in k-dramas, make some at home. Ingredients notwithstanding, it’s a lot easier than you think. Remember, there’s always Amazon for salted baby shrimp.
Jjigae Recipe
Aromatics —
2 tablespoons oil (sesame & bacon grease, if you have)
1 slice bacon, chopped
½ onion, sliced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced or sliced
4 scallions, 2 chopped, and 2 cut into thirds and set aside for the final topping
Heat oil in a ttukbaegi (traditional Korean clay earthenware pot) or medium-sized pot over medium heat until gently sizzling before adding bacon, stir until cooked almost crisp. Add onion, garlic, and the chopped scallions and stir till onions are translucent.
Sauce —
1 T. sesame oil
1-2 T. Gochujang (chili paste)
½ T. Gochugaru *flakes
½ T. Gochugaru *pepper
Black pepper to taste
½-1 T. soy sauce
1 T. fish sauce
1-1 ½ cups water or broth, warmed in microwave for 30 sec.
1 packet of hondashi (*Bonito fish soup stock), mixed into warmed liquid
In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix together sesame oil, gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, and fish sauce, and some black pepper. In another measuring cup or small glass bowl, heat liquid (water or chicken broth) in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir in hondashi. (I usually do this step before I start cooking.) Add sauce and hondashi broth to the pot, stir well to incorporate.
*If you only have gochugaru pepper or flakes, use 1 T. of that. This will determine the spice, but doesn’t add a lot of flavor. It could possibly add a tinge of bitterness, so always taste the broth as you go.
Aromatics —
1 Zucchini, sliced
1 Mushroom (regular, or King Oyster, Enoki), sliced
2-3 serrano, sliced lengthwise in half
Garlic powder to taste
Onion powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Add aromatics — zucchini, onion, mushroom, serrano — stir, season with salt and pepper, and cook until vegetables soften.
Meat for flavor —
Options…
75 g. pork, cubed
75 g. ground pork
Handful shrimp from frozen
Seafood medley from frozen
1 can tuna fish
1 can clams
1 can SPAM
Stir in meat into pot of sauce and aromatics.
Toppings
1 block of soft tofu
2 scallions, cut into thirds that were set aside
Top with soft tofu, gently broken up with a spoon, and finally, the cut scallions. Let simmer for a few minutes before tasting broth for seasoning. Add more fish sauce, soy sauce, or salt. If you have Korean salted baby shrimp, add that a teaspoon at a time in place of straight salt. I wouldn’t go over the one cup liquid to aromatics/paste ratio; the more liquid, the more diluted. Judge by only adding enough liquid to barely cover aromatics.
Base recipes: Itaewon Soondubu and Chef Chris Cho’s Kim Chee Jjigae, IG, and Maangchi’s “Spicy soft tofu stew with seafood”
