Korea · 45 min · Fish · Main course · For beginners
Doenjang Jjigae
For 4 servings · US units
Korean soybean paste stew with tofu, vegetables and anchovy broth
Doenjang jjigae is the stew that lands on Korean tables alongside rice and kimchi — savoury, deeply seasoned and on the table in 45 minutes. It starts with a quick broth of dried anchovies and kelp, into which the soybean paste dissolves, followed by potato, radish, zucchini, mushrooms and tofu. It tastes best straight from a clay pot, carried to the table while it's still bubbling.
Ingredients
- 4 tbspdissolve in a little warm broth or press through a sieve; saltiness varies by brandKorean fermented soybean paste, dark, coarse and strongly salty with a deep, earthy flavour.Substitute: Dark, robust miso comes closest, but it is milder, sweeter and smoother; use a little more and add it towards the end of cooking. It does not quite reach the pungent, deep fermented note of doenjang.Read more
- 4¼ cupsWaterfor the broth or as cooking liquid
- 12for the base broth; remove head and innardsSmall whole anchovies, boiled and dried; salty and intensely briny, the base of many Korean stocks and crisp side dishes.Substitute: For stock, bonito flakes or Japanese dashi powder will do, though the result is smokier and more delicate, less robust; a splash of fish sauce in water is a stopgap that gives salt but little depth. For dishes in which the small anchovies are eaten whole there is no workable substitute, because the point is their bite and crunch; jarred anchovy fillets are too soft and too salty.Read more
- 1about 10x10 cm, for the base broth, remove after simmeringCaution: Dried kelp is very high in iodine, so it should be used only in small amounts and not eaten in large quantities.Dried sheets of brown seaweed (Korean dashima, Japanese kombu), used above all to give broth a deep, savoury base.Substitute: There is no equivalent substitute; a pinch of glutamate seasoning or a little soy sauce adds savouriness but not the rounded, faintly oceanic taste, and the broth will be flatter.Read more
- 14⅛ ozTofufirm to medium-firm, cubed or thickly sliced, added at the end
- 1Zucchinicut into half-moons or bite-size pieces
- 1Oniondiced or sliced
- 1Potatocut small, goes into the pot first
- 5¼ ozdaikon works as a substitute, thinly cut, needs longer cookingKorean radish, shorter and stouter than Japanese daikon, with a greenish shoulder — firm, juicy, mildly peppery and slightly sweet.Substitute: Daikon or ordinary white radish work well; they are more watery and softer, cook faster and release more liquid in kimchi, so shorten cooking times and drain more thoroughly after salting.Read more
- 3 clovesGarlicfinely minced
- 2Scallionssliced, added at the very end so it keeps bite
- 2fresh chilisliced, for heat and colour
- 5¼ ozMushroomsbutton, oyster, shimeji or enoki mushrooms
- 1 tspfor colour and mild heat (optional)Korean chili flakes made from sun-dried red chilies, ground coarse or fine. Bright red, fruity, mild to medium hot and slightly smoky.Substitute: The closest match is Aleppo pepper (pul biber) from a Turkish grocery, which is similarly fruity and mild but oilier, often salted and slightly tangier. In a pinch, mix sweet paprika with a little cayenne; this roughly matches colour and heat but not the fruitiness or texture. Ordinary crushed red pepper flakes are too hot to use in the usual quantities.Read more
- 7 ozporkpreferably fatty, thinly sliced, simmered along or sautéed first (optional)
- 7 ozSeafoodclams, squid, shrimp; soak clams beforehand (optional)
- 1 tbspstirred in alongside the soybean paste (optional)Korean chili paste made from glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, chili powder and salt, thick, hot, salty and faintly sweet.Substitute: There is no real substitute, because the fermented depth and the sticky sweetness together carry the dish. As a stopgap, light miso paste stirred with Korean chili powder or other mild chili flakes and a little honey or sugar roughly matches the salt, heat and sweetness, but tastes flatter and less rounded. Chili sauces such as sriracha are too thin and too sour and change the dish noticeably.Read more
- 1 tspVinegarstirred in shortly before serving (optional)
- 8¾ ozriceserved alongside; the rinsing water can be used as cloudy cooking liquid (optional)
Method
- Make the anchovy brothPull the heads and innards off the dried anchovies, then bring them to a boil in the water together with the piece of dried kelp. Let the broth steep for 15 to 20 minutes, then lift out the anchovies and kelp and discard them.
- Cut the vegetablesMeanwhile, cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces: potato and Korean radish small and thin, zucchini into half-moons, onion into dice or slices, mushrooms into manageable pieces.
- Prep tofu and aromaticsCube the tofu or cut it into thick slices, mince the garlic finely, and slice the scallions and chilies into rings.
- Dissolve the doenjangDissolve the doenjang — along with gochujang and gochugaru if you like — in a little of the warm broth, or press it through a sieve into the pot so no lumps remain.
- Simmer the firm vegetablesAdd the potato and radish, plus the thin slices of pork or beef if you're using them, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the firm vegetables soften.
- Add the softer vegetablesAdd the onion, zucchini and mushrooms and let everything simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes.
- Warm the tofu through gentlyIn the last 2 to 3 minutes, slip in the tofu, garlic and chili and just let them warm through so the tofu stays intact.
- Adjust seasoning with doenjangTaste and, if it needs more, stir in a little extra doenjang dissolved in broth rather than salt — saltiness varies from brand to brand.
- Garnish and serve hotScatter over the scallions so they keep their bite, and serve the stew bubbling hot with rice.
Tips and variations
For a vegetarian version, swap the anchovy broth for an infusion of dried shiitake and kelp; if you want more punch, stir in a spoonful of gochujang as well. Instead of meat, seafood works beautifully — clams, squid or shrimp go in at the end and cook only until the clams open — and some cooks sauté the fatty beef or pork with the paste first. Cloudy rice-rinsing water can stand in for the broth as the cooking liquid, and a teaspoon of vinegar just before serving brings a last lift of freshness. Serve it in a ttukbaegi, the Korean clay pot, with rice and an assortment of kimchi or pickled vegetables; the rice can be spooned into the stew or eaten alongside.
Allergens
Contains: Fish, Soybeans
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
