Doenjang Jjigae..I have not yet blogged about this fantastic Korean stew and this is why. It was not on my list of recipes when I first started my Kimchimari Korean food blog because I thought the dish was just too smelly to cook in my daughter’s dorm. Cooking in dorms…that reminds me of my grad school dorm days – 6 students (somehow all Asians) with their own rooms shared a common bathroom and the kitchen. But because kitchen was across the hallway, many times the students made food in their own room with some type of cooking element. I am quite sensitive to smells (people made fun of me when I was little that I had a dog nose) and one of the memories that stand out to me was the all the different food smells I had to endure while I was in the dorm. That’s the first time I realized how offensive one person’s food smell could be to others who are not familiar with it.
It would be so lovely if everyone could love the smell of Doenjang Jjigae much like the smell of pizza or apple pie, but sadly it has a very unique odor that is pretty strong. Doenjang Jjigae is such a comfort food for Koreans that I think most Koreans love the smell. And it brings all sorts of pleasant memories to us, a smell that tells you that you are almost home …with each Doenjang Jjigae smell having a different signature as unique as the people cooking them. Some Koreans make a simple Doenjang Jjigae without any meat but just vegetables and tofu, some make it with a fatty beef cut like chadolbaegi (second cut of brisket) and some make it with lots of seafood like clams and shrimp.
Now doenjang comes in a whole spectrum of different colors, going from the lighter brown color to the very dark, almost black color. The older the doenjang, the darker the color will be. Anyway, more on how to make and how to buy doenjang in my next “Know your Doenjang” post.
So my Doenjang Jjigae recipe has evolved over the years. When I first started making it as a newlywed, I made it with onions and white mushrooms and thought it was pretty good. Because, for some reason, this was not a dish that we made often at home when I was growing up or maybe I just don’t have a good recollection of it. So I learned it from the local Korean restaurants in Florida. Restaurants always add onions and mushrooms and tofu. The jjigae was kind of sweet and mushroomy which I thought was OK…
But then when I had my mother-in-law’s Doenjang Jjigae, the depth of flavor was just incomparable. I could taste the doenjang much more and not so much of the other ingredients. And that’s when I learned that you should NOT add onions to Doenjang Jjigae if you want to keep the aroma and flavor of doenjang. Strong flavored mushrooms also do the same thing. They often overpower the doenjang. Mild mushrooms like oyster or king mushrooms are fine. But if you like a sweeter and smoother tasting jjigae, you might like to add onions. And finally, I use rice water (water obtained from rinsing rice) for the base of the broth. The rice water makes the broth more smooth tasting and also keeps the doenjang from separating from the broth.
Anyway, let’s get started, shall we??
Servings: 2-3 Prep: 10 min Cooking: 25 min Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 2 T + 1 tsp doenjang (adjust to taste)
- 3 cups rice water or water (쌀뜨물 Ssal Tteu Mul)
- 1 handful dried large anchovies (국멸치 Guk Myeolchi) for stock (see my K Ingredients page)
- 1 piece (2 in square) dried kelp (다시마 Dashima) for broth
- 1 small grey squash or zucchini
- 1/2 pack of 14 oz extra firm tofu (firm or even soft is OK)
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 tsp red chili pepper powder (gochukaru)
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 1 green chili pepper (optional)
Optionally you may want to have –
- Korean ttukbaegi (뚝배기) – Clay hot pot made with special Korean pottery technique that keeps it water tight but at the same time lets the pot breath. Something about this kind of pot makes your jjigae SO TASTY! I’m not sure exactly why but it does. Also, one thing to note about these ttukbaegi/ddukbaegi is that you should NOT use any detergent when washing them because the micro air pockets will absorb the detergent when you wash them. Just soak in warm water if you need to.
Korean Clay Hot Pot (뚝배기 ttukbaegi)
So let’s get cooking!
- Start by saving 3 cups rice water when rinsing rice. Discard water from at least the 1st rinse. You may want to rinse about 2-3 times before saving the rice water.
Doenjang Jjigae ingredients - Prepare other ingredients: cut tofu and squash into 1/2 in thick x 1 in pieces, slice green onion and chop garlic. Also some red chili pepper powder, doenjang, dried anchovies and dried kelp.
- Add dried soup anchovies and kelp to rice water. I don’t take out the gut of my anchovies for making stock, you are welcome to do it but it doesn’t make much difference here because we are making a very small batch and will be taking out the anchovies quickly. Simmer on medium heat for 10 min.
- Discard anchovies and kelp. To make it easier, you can use those dashi tea bags but I just use one of those Chinese spider strainers. It may not get out every little bits but that’s OK.
- Turn off heat and mix in doenjang. Easy way to mix doenjang is to smoosh it against the wall of your pot.
Mixing Deonjang in rice water - Turn heat to medium high and bring to doenjang broth to boil.
Doenjang Jjigae broth boiling - Add squash or zucchini. Boil for 5 min.
- Add tofu and boil for another 5 min.
Tofu and Squash added to Soybean Paste Stew - Add green onions and chopped garlic. Boil for 3 more minutes.
Doenjang Jjigae finished with green onions and garlic added - Sprinkle with red chili pepper. And SERVE!
DoenjangJjigae bubbling and boiling like crazy! Korean Soy Bean Paste Stew boiling in Ttukbaegi 
Doenjang Jjigae in Ttukbaegi, much calmer after boiling like crazy! 🙂 Doenjang Jjigae (Korean soybean paste stew)
The most uniquely delicious Korean stew made with fermented soybean paste (Doenjang). Fabulous with Korean BBQ and Jeon!Prep: 10 minutesCook: 25 minutesTotal Time: 35 minutesserves: 2Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp Doenjang (adjust to taste)
- 3 cups rice water or water (쌀뜨물 Ssal Tteu Mul)
- 1 handful dried anchovies (국멸치 Guk Myeolchi) for stock (see my K Ingredients page)
- 1 piece (2 in square) dried kelp (다시마 Dashima) for broth
- 1 small grey squash or zucchini
- 1/2 pack of 14 oz extra firm tofu (firm or even soft is OK)
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 tsp red chili pepper (gochukaru)
- 1 green onions , sliced
- 1 green chili pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Start by saving 3 cups rice water when rinsing rice.
- Cut tofu and squash into squares, slice green onions and chop garlic. Also slice green onions.
- Add dried soup anchovies and kelp to rice water. Simmer on medium heat for 10 min.
- Discard anchovies and kelp.
- Turn off heat and mix in doenjang. Easy way to mix doenjang is to smoosh it against the wall of your pot.
- Turn heat to medium high and bring to boil.
- Add squash or zucchini squares. Boil for 5 min.
- Add tofu squares and boil for another 5 min.
- Add green onions and chopped garlic. Boil for 3 more minutes.
- Sprinkle with red chili pepper. And SERVE!
Tips & Notes:
Do NOT add garlic too early, that will make the doenjang jjigae taste bitter.
The uses for this rice water is many in Korean culture including washing dishes and washing your face.
Serve with rice and kimchi. Goes perfectly well with Korean BBQs, Pajeon or any kind of Jeon like Zucchini fritters.Nutrition Information:
Calories: 111kcal (6%)| Carbohydrates: 13g (4%)| Protein: 10g (20%)| Fat: 2g (3%)| Sodium: 533mg (23%)| Potassium: 408mg (12%)| Fiber: 2g (8%)| Sugar: 7g (8%)| Vitamin A: 255IU (5%)| Vitamin C: 24mg (29%)| Calcium: 46mg (5%)| Iron: 1.8mg (10%)
Extras
- Add beef stew meat for more richer Doenjang Jjigae
- Add all sorts of seafood (clams, shrimp, squid, abalone..) to make Haemul Doenjang Jjigae (해물된장찌게)
- Ssal Tteu Mul (쌀뜨물) – Since Koreans eat a lot of rice, the water obtained while rinsing the rice has its own name! The uses for this rice water are many in Korean culture, including washing dishes and washing your face. 🙂
- Do NOT add garlic too early, it can make the doenjang jjigae taste bitter.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with rice and kimchi. Goes perfectly well with Korean BBQs, Pajeon or any kind of Jeon like Zucchini fritters.
Enjoy the aroma!!!
JinJoo
I have a few questions for if I want to add meat.
Is pork or beef better?
Do I fry the meat first and then add it? Or is it ok to just put it in the water?
What if I don’t have anchovies? Can I just put extra doenjang?
For Doenjang Jjigae beef is better but you can also add bit of gochujang in which case prok will be good too. You can do it both ways – saute the meat first which makes the stew taste more meaty and rich. If you put it in water, do it similarly to this recipe – https://kimchimari.com/beef-doenjang-jjigae-soybean-paste-stew-with-kalbi/ – I use leftover Kalbi there but you can easily sub with beef stew meat. Radish is not needed but adds sweet flavor. If you dont’ have anchovies, I would recommend that you use at least a mushroom stock or add beef or pork. Thanks for all the great questions!
Would dried shrimp be a good substitute for the dried anchovies?
Looking forward to this recipe for dinner tonight!
Oh hmm.. yes, if that’s all you have. You may want to make a broth from dried shrimp, dried shitake then – that may provide a better broth. Good luck
I cheated and used hondashi instead of the anchovies because I’m lazy lol. I also like to add a lot of odeng. Thank you so much!
Of course, hondashi works too! And odeng is good in anything so great idea. Thank you for sharing!
Hi – my mom used to make this but it was spicy. Do I just add extra gochukaru or is that another recipe? Thanks so much.
Oh you just add extra gochukaru and some chili peppers. You can also mix in a little gochujang if you want. Enjoy!
I’ve tried making soybean paste soup multiple times and I never get it right. I now realize I didn’t have anchovies 🤦🏽♀️I will try this receipe. So excited to try at home so I can make it instead of going to the local Korean restaurants.
Great! But are you trying to make soup or stew? Both needs anchovy stock but the concentration of soybean paste is different and every soybean paste has different sodium level so that’s different too. The important thing is to taste and adjust to your liking. If it tastes too bland, try adding more garlic and soybean paste. Should do the trick. Let me know if you have any more questions! Thank you!