korean tofu stew

This rich and savory Budae Jjigae is loaded with spam, sausages, tofu, kimchi, and ramyeon noodles, all simmered in an umami-packed chili broth to pair with a bowl of warm rice. This comforting stew is delightfully simple to put together and makes for the perfect meal to share with your loved ones. 

Easy Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)

oz (1/2 can) spam

oz (2 medium) sausage (hot dogs, bacon, pork belly,

kimchi (sliced, preferrably 2+ weeks old)

onion (sliced)

tofu (soft

rice cakes (thawed if frozen)

mushrooms

green onion (chopped, for garnish)

pack instant ramyeon noodles

cheese

chicken broth (anchovy stock, dashi, or water)

tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) (or to taste)

garlic (minced)

tbsp Gochujang (Korean chili paste)

soy sauce

mirin (or 1/2 tbsp sugar)

black pepper

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Assemble the spam, tofu, mushrooms, sausages, rice cakes, onion, and kimchi in a shallow pot. Add the sauce and chicken broth, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

When the stew starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the noodles and cheese, and boil for another 3-4 minutes until the noodles are cooked through.

Garnish with green onion and serve with a bowl of steamed rice. Enjoy!

Sundubu-jjigae is a spicy, seasoned stew made with silky soft tofu called sundubu. Served bubbling hot at the table in its traditional earthenware bowl, it&rsquo;s impossible to resist! This seafood version is my all-time favorite sundubu.

Haemul sundubu-jjigae (Spicy soft tofu stew with seafood)

tubes soft tofu (or 22 ounces silken tofu)

shrimp

eggs

(about 1 ounce) chopped onion

oyster mushroom (or ½ cup of any mushrooms), chopped

onion

anchovy kelp stock (or vegetable stock, or beef or chicken broth)

fish sauce (or salt

Hi maangchi It was cold and rainy day at san francisco here, so I decided to make soondubu jjigae today&hellip;

Comment by kristine on December 22, 2008

Hi maangchi It was cold and rainy day at san francisco here, so I decided to make soondubu jjigae today for dinner. It turned out yummy and I ate so much that I could not even get up. It was good for my body and soul on a rainy evening like this. Happy holidays and thank you for the video which makes it so much easier to cook korean food. btw, I am 1.5 korean generation living in SF.

Comment by Maangchi on December 19, 2008

this is the best soon du bu recipe ever. My husband made this for the first time few months ago,&hellip;

Comment by Jaime on December 19, 2008

this is the best soon du bu recipe ever. My husband made this for the first time few months ago, it was awesome!!!! I came back for making soon du bu tonight!!! thank you.

[...] the flavors were there, and even Mr. K thought it was good! Get my adapted recipe here, or go&hellip;

Comment by Foodhoe&rsquo;s Foraging &raquo; Soondubu, spicy soft tofu soup on...

[...] the flavors were there, and even Mr. K thought it was good! Get my adapted recipe here, or go to Maangchi&rsquo;s site and watch the [...]

sueet, oh, your soondubu jjigae looks awesome to me! Congratulation!

Comment by Maangchi on December 17, 2008

hey maangchi... i made the soup just now... doesn&#039;t look as good as yours... but was delicious!! http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=1zr2ced&amp;s=4

Comment by sueet on December 16, 2008

Chi, I&#039;m glad to hear about your success! dried shrimp sounds good to me! poohbear, If you skip seafood, you&hellip;

Comment by Maangchi on December 14, 2008

Chi, I&#039;m glad to hear about your success! dried shrimp sounds good to me! poohbear, If you skip seafood, you gotta put something which makes the stew tasty such as beef, pork, or chicken, and use chicken broth. adelebidet, yeah, skip the hot pepper flakes then.

is there anything special you do for hayakeh (not spicy)? it&#039;s always been my obsession at soondubu places how good&hellip;

Comment by adelebidet on December 13, 2008

is there anything special you do for hayakeh (not spicy)? it&#039;s always been my obsession at soondubu places how good it is when it isn&#039;t even spicy (and i LOVE spicy stuff)

sorry what i meant was frozen cooked shrimp

Comment by poohbear on December 12, 2008

oh btw, if my husband doesnt eat seafood &amp; i omit that, will it still flavor the soup well? or&hellip;

oh btw, if my husband doesnt eat seafood &amp; i omit that, will it still flavor the soup well? or do u recommend atleast putting in the shrimp (b/c he eats that) &amp; also is cooked shrimp ok too? thank you =)

Hi Maangchi~! i just found your website &amp; youtube videos &amp; im SOOOOO happy i did! i got married 2&hellip;

Hi Maangchi~! i just found your website &amp; youtube videos &amp; im SOOOOO happy i did! i got married 2 yrs ago &amp; live far away from my family so i am always looking for korean food recipes like my mom&#039;s~ im so thankful to have found urs! everything looks great!

Made it again last weekend per husband&#039;s request. This time I used dried shrimp and the flavor was flawless.

Comment by Chi on December 9, 2008

Portugalbear, Sooner or later, you will make the most delicious soondubu jjigae. :)

Comment by Maangchi on November 27, 2008

Hi Maangchi, I finally tried this dish and it was really good. But i think i mixed it too much&hellip;

Comment by Portugalbear on November 27, 2008

Hi Maangchi, I finally tried this dish and it was really good. But i think i mixed it too much because the tofu got mashed in the process. I agree with Chi, better to throw in the seafood at the end of the cooking since it cooks really fast anyways. The broth is really tasty when you use the anchovies. i will next try the other tofu dish.

Chi, hoho, I&#039;m so glad to hear that!

Comment by Maangchi on November 18, 2008

Combine the hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix well with a spoon until the hot pepper flakes absorb all the oil. Set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, the chopped white part of the green onion, and mushroom. Stir with a wooden spoon until the onion and garlic are slightly brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until it's boiling vigorously.

Add shrimp, oysters, and mussels. Cut the tubes of tofu in half and squeeze them into the boiling stew, and then break up the tofu a bit with a wooden spoon. If using silken tofu, scoop or squeeze from the box into the stew.

Add the fish sauce (or salt to your taste), half of the hot pepper mixture, and stir a few times.

Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the seafood is fully cooked and the broth is infused with its savory flavor.

Sundubu-jjigae (sometimes spelled soondubu-jjigae) is a spicy, seasoned stew made with a type of silky soft tofu called sundubu. Served hot at the table in its traditional earthenware bowl, it&rsquo;s impossible to resist. I&#039;ve never met anyone who didn&#039;t like sundubu-jjigae after they tried it. All it takes is one time! If you go to a Korean sundubu-jjigae restaurant you&#039;ll be surprised at how many varieties they make. This version is my favorite. When I go to the restaurant I always choose the seafood version, and it&#039;s the one I most like to make at home, too. I&#039;ve created a sundubu-jjigae section on my website that includes all the sundubu-jjigae recipes I&#039;ve made so far. If you follow any of those recipes exactly, you will have some really delicious stew! Usually we Koreans have sundubu-jjigae in a Korean earthenware bowl, but so many of you have told me over the years that you can&#039;t get that bowl, or want to feed more people than you have bowls, so I&#039;m including a serving alternative at the end of this recipe that explains how to serve it in regular bowls. I have a funny story about Korean earthenware bowls (ttukbaegi). When I was making my first cookbook, my editor Rux and my literary agent came over to my house in New York for lunch. I made them bibimbap in Korean earthenware bowls. Rux was surprised to see me doing this, she said &quot;Oh, where can I buy those bowls?&quot; I said &quot;At a Korean grocery store! Do you want me to help you buy one?&quot; She said &quot;Sure!&quot; So we took a taxi down to Koreatown on 32nd street. She bought a lot of them, maybe 7 or 8 bowls! They were so heavy. Rux doesn&#039;t even live in New York, she lives in Vermont. I helped her take all those heavy bowls to her hotel and then she later took them all the way home to Vermont in her car. Ever since we made that cookbook she&#039;s been cooking Korean food all the time and has become better and better at it. Her whole family are big fans of Korean food now, all the way to her granddaughter, and she says she&#039;s the Maangchi of Vermont now. I chose large shrimp in my recipe but you don&#039;t have to use shrimp that big. Just use smaller shrimp or even cocktail shrimp and the broth will still be delicious. I wanted to show you a typical sundubu-jjigae table setting in the video. What you need to do is completely set the table with the side dishes and everything so that when the sundubu-jjigae is bubbling on the stove you can bring it right out to serve, directly on to the table. If you keep it boiling on the stove while you set up the table, the seafood will get tough and the sundubu-jjigae will actually boil down, which you really don&#039;t want. Enjoy the recipe! I hope you become the Maangchi of your area! : ) Ingredients (for 2 servings) &frac14; cup gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes) 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil &frac14; teaspoon ground black pepper. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. 2 garlic cloves, minced. &frac14; cup (about 1 ounce) chopped onion. 1 large king oyster mushroom (or &frac12; cup of any mushrooms), chopped. 1 large green onion (dae-pa) or 2 green onions, the white part and green part separated and chopped. 2&frac12; cups anchovy kelp stock (or vegetable stock, or beef or chicken broth) 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or salt to your taste) 2 tubes soft tofu (or 22 ounces silken tofu) 2 to 3 large deveined shrimp in the shell, rinsed. 6 fresh shucked or shucked frozen oysters, rinsed. 4 to 6 fresh mussels, cleaned and rinsed. 2 eggs Directions. Combine the hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix well with a spoon until the hot pepper flakes absorb all the oil. Set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, the chopped white part of the green onion, and mushroom. Stir with a wooden spoon until the onion and garlic are slightly brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until it&#039;s boiling vigorously. Add shrimp, oysters, and mussels. Cut the tubes of tofu in half and squeeze them into the boiling stew, and then break up the tofu a bit with a wooden spoon. If using silken tofu, scoop or squeeze from the box into the stew. Add the fish sauce (or salt to your taste), half of the hot pepper mixture, and stir a few times. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the seafood is fully cooked and the broth is infused with its savory flavor. 2 ways to serve: Serve in Korean earthenware bowls: Ladle the stew into 2 earthenware bowls (2&frac12; cup bowls work best) and place them on the stove top. Heat them up over high heat. Add the leftover seasoning mixture on top of the stew in each bowl. When the stews starts bubbling, crack the eggs into each bowl. Cook for another minute until vigorously boiling. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the green part of the chopped green onion over top. Serve right away while it&#039;s bubbling, with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes on the side. Serve in regular soup bowls: Add the second half of the seasoning mixture to the boiling stew in the pot and mix it in a bit. Carefully crack the eggs into the bubbling stew, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes until the eggs are slightly (or half) cooked. Remove from the heat. Gently ladle the stew into two soup bowls without disturbing the eggs. Scoop up each egg and place one in each bowl. Sprinkle the green part of the chopped green onion over top and serve right away with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes.

This Korean spicy soft tofu soup is made with silken soft tofu that swims in a bowl filled with sizzling hot and spicy Korean soup broth. This less than 30 minute Korean tofu soup is as deliciously addicting as it is comforting!

Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Soup (Soondubu Jjigae)

11 (30 g) medium to large dried anchovies

5-6 squares (10 g) Dashima (dried kelp) (cut into 2x3 inch squares)

water

Vegetable oil

garlic (about 3 cloves)

Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)

Anchovy stock (or chicken stock, or vegetable broth)

fish sauce

Korean soy sauce

sesame oil

sea salt (to taste)

sugar (to taste)

pack (12 ounces) Korean soondubu (silken tofu)

mushrooms (enoki

green onion stalks (minced)

Prepare the dried anchovies. Remove the large anchovy guts by opening the belly and scraping them out, but leave the heads on. The guts tend to make the broth bitter, especially with the larger anchovies.

Prepare the and dried kelp (dashima). Gently wipe the dried kelp with a lightly dampened cloth to remove any sand or grit. Make sure to keep the white powder (mannitol) on for added flavor.

Boil and simmer. In a small sauce pan, add the water, dried anchovies and dried kelp. Bring it to a gentle boil, uncovered. Reduce the heat to medium high, and boil for 10 minutes. Then remove the kelp and simmer the anchovies for an additional 10 minutes on low heat. Using a cheesecloth, strain the liquid to remove anchovies and any remaining particles. Set aside.

(Optional) Anchovy Stock

Heat a medium pot or earthenware pot (ttukbaegi) over medium high heat. Add the oil or vegetable oil, onions, and garlic. Stir fry until onions are transluscent and garlic is lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes). Stir to combine about 1 minute.

Add the protein and stir quickly to coat them with the chili flakes. Next, the fish sauce and soy sauce and mix until combined.

Add the anchovy stock or chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil about 3 minutes.

Then, add the soft tofu, mushrooms and egg and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and sugar, if required.

Lastly, top with sesame oil and garnish with green onions. Serve with rice and Korean side dishes. Enjoy!

Spicy Soft Tofu Soup

This warm &amp; comforting Soondubu Jjigae is loaded with velvety soft tofu, vegetables, and mushrooms blanketed in a rich and savory broth. This recipe calls for simple ingredients to make the best soft tofu stew in less than 15 minutes in the comfort of your home.

Easy Soondubu Jjigae (Korean Soft Tofu Stew)

vegetable oil

tsp sesame oil

green onion (chopped, divided)

onion (diced)

tbsp Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

tbsp each soy sauce, hoisin sauce (or oyster sauce)

tsp sugar

water (anchovy stock, dashi, or unsalted chicken stock

zucchini (diced)

g mushrooms

(320 g) Korean soft tofu (or regular soft tofu)

chili pepper (chopped, optional)

Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a pot over medium heat. Add white parts of green onion and onion and cook until fragrant. Add garlic, gochugaru, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar and mix to combine.

Add water or stock. Once it comes to a boil, add zucchini, mushrooms, and soft tofu. Using a spoon, slice the tofu into large pieces.

Bring to a boil and simmer until the flavors have melded, for about 3-4 minutes. Season with salt to taste, crack an egg, and garnish with green onion and chili pepper if using. Serve with a side of rice and enjoy!

Excellent. I’m allergic to mushrooms so I skip those, and add more gochujaru for spice. One of our faves!

SO GOOD!!! I made this with tonkotsu broth, shittaki mushrooms, zucchini, kimchi, chili pepper, soft tofu, and bean sprouts!! absolutely delicious

I’ve tried more than a few sundubu jigae recipes but this one was the best! So simple and so good. Thank you!

I made this recipe tonight. I wasn't sure what to make for dinner. I added peas, carrots and more yellow onions because I ran out of green onions Onions. It was delicious, very happy with it

Wow, I tried this dish at a restaurant for the first time a couple weeks ago and have been craving it since. Tonight, I followed this recipe exactly and it was amazing!! So easy to follow too, I had to immediately come and write a review. It was as good as the restaurant’s. I used soy sauce, dashi, and enoki mushrooms in my version.

Delicious, and so fast to put together. We had bean sprouts, so we put some in it, along with some kimchi.

This was such a good stew. One of my favorite meals ever. I added more garlic than it calls for because, GARLIC! I also added imitation crab and dried whole shiitake mushroom that I had in the pantry to make it a bit more hearty and it was sublime! 
Did a side of super fermented kimchi with steamed rice to complete the meal. Wow wow wow!

Delicious! Never had this before but saw a post on FB where someone made it and it looked so good I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I found your recipe and tried it. I didn't have Korean chili flakes so used regular chili flakes and forgot to add them until after the water. I didn't have zucchini but added kale added while sauteeing the onions. I didnt have green onion so used exra yellow onion and garlic. I also felt like it should have ginger and a little vinegar so added those as well. Oh, I also added shrimp with the onion, and a little msg on the kale when cooking it down. I didn't have sugar so used my raw honey but waited until the end to try to salvage its benefits. When the stew was done, at first I was so sad that it wasn't red like the picture in your recipe. I suppose because of the regular chili flakes. So I added a little sofrito Still not very red. I was afraid it wouldn't be flavorful. But OH my goodness! It was so delicious!!!! I am so happy and so full! I should have enough for another serving tomorrow! Thank you!!!!

I’ve tried this a couple of times, and it’s so delicious and easy to make! Just wanted to clarify on the recipe card - it says “1 tbsp each soy sauce, hoisin sauce or oyster sauce” in the ingredients list, but the instructions say to add “soy sauce, oyster sauce..” - does this mean I should add 1 tbsp soy sauce AND 1 tbsp oyster sauce? Thanks so much!

Omg, why had I never heard of this before?! Made this and am devouring it as we speak. Especially good with kimchi on top. Thank you for the recipe!

My mom passed when I was younger, so I didn't get to adopt her recipe, but I am so glad I found this. It's so simple and flavorful and makes me feel at home.

Absolutely delicious and easy to make. Perfect! I added kimchi at the end. Next time will try adding beef or shrimp.

So good, happy to be able to make my favorite from Busan at home

My girlfriend loved this so much, she started ovulating immediately. Very good for the hormones.

So easy! Wonderful and tasty for lunch. Helped with my period cramps

This recipe turns out perfectly every time, it’s so delicious! I always add about 1/4 cup per serving of kimchi like the notes suggest.

Good recipe, too bad at cooking to execute

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Top 5 korean tofu stew recipes from across the web

The most viewed korean tofu stew recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Easy Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew...

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The most viewed korean tofu stew recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine