Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Soy Bean Paste Stew)

Last night, I just made the most delicious stew for dinner! Doenjang Jjigae is a traditional Korean stew made with soy bean paste (doenjang) and contains ingredients such as tofu, meat, seafood, mushrooms and vegetables. Both G and I agreed that it tasted really authentic. And since this will probably feature regularly on our dinner menu, I will purchase one of those Korean soup pots called ttukbaegi, which is a black glazed earthenware pot used to cook Korean stews in.

The recipe for this comes from Eating and Living, a fantastic source for Korean recipes. As you can tell from my photos, I have packed in quite a few ingredients in my stew. I used tofu, zucchini, sliced pork belly, enokitake mushrooms and some sweet potato noodles (dangmyeon). I had some ikan bilis (anchovy) stock powder which I used to flavour the stew with, since it was more convenient than putting in whole dried anchovies instead. I like my stew spicy, so I added more gochugaru (Korean chilli pepper powder that comes in huge packets and look like they will last a lifetime) as it wasn't as spicy as I thought it would be. It also enhances the flavour of the dish, making it more appetizing.

Here is the recipe for Doenjang Jjigae. I increased the portion so that it could take in more ingredients (and yes, I was greedy too!). It's so easy to make and super tasty!

Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Soy Bean Paste Stew)

Adapted from Eating and Living

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, chopped

200g pork belly, rind removed, meat thinly sliced

3 tbsp Korean soy bean paste (doenjang)

2-3 tsp Korean chilli pepper powder (gochugaru)

3 cups anchovy broth or water (save the water used to rinse rice, ssal ddeum mul, and use for stew)

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 red chilli pepper, sliced

1 small zucchini, diced into 1 inch cubes

1 small packet tofu (I used classic tofu), diced into 1 inch cubes

A small handful of enokitake mushrooms (optional)

1 scallion, cut into 2 inch lengths

A small handful of sweet potato noodles, soaked in hot water until softened (optional)

Method

Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a pot. Fry the garlic, pork, soy bean paste and chilli pepper powder for 3-4 minutes until pork is browned. Add the broth/water and stir to dissolve the bean paste. Cover and boil on medium to high heat for 5 minutes. Add onion, chilli and zucchini, and boil for 8-10 minutes. Add mushrooms, tofu, scallions and noodles in the last 2 minutes. Serve immediately with steamed rice. Enjoy!