If there is one stew/soup that I have to say I could live on for the rest of my life – it would be this – soondubu jigae. In Korean, “dubu” = means tofu and ‘jigae” = means stews. There’s something so addicting about this spicy, creamy, umami-rich soup that just brings warmth and comfort to the soup. And mind you – I’ve had a lot of soup/stews before and this one hits different. It’s also probably because I’m an avid seafood and tofu lover and this stew is th best of both worlds together. This is also my sister and mom’s favorite and THEY were esctatic to try this delicious recipe.

My sweet husband, knowing how much I LOVE this, decided he would make this for me. The first time we made it together was back in college when we were dating. I remember him bringing a paper wrapped with seafood to my dorm that I shared with 2 other girls and feeling ever so surprised. At that time we both were living in student dorms, with limited kitchen capacity or even ingredients. We made do with what we had and I have to say it was a good shot! I honestly hadn’t had this for so long, just having a little taste that resembled the flavors I loved so much was really all I needed.

Recently we decided to revisit this recipe and revamp this. We did much more research this time and tested it few more times, tweaking things here and there and we finally nailed down a version we both absolutely loved. In fact, we ate this for weeks in a row and it’s now become a go to weekend night meal. We love to make large batches of this and put different ingredients – we’ve tried fishballs, noodles and fishcakes. With this broth, everything tastes so good.

Recommendations for this recipe:

• What makes this recipe so unique is that they use freshly curdled extra soft tofu which has not been strained and pressed. You can find Korean “soon” tofu at asian/typically korean grocery stores like H-Mart. They usually come in a tube vs. a block of tofu!
• If you can and are able to find this (and this is not a gluten free option if you have celiac or severe gluten allergies I would use a gluten free soy sauce), we would recommend to using Korean Soup Soy Sauce (or Guk-ganjang). This is much saltier, much lighter in color and has a different flavor profile than regular soy sauce. It has hints of other flavors that provides so much umami to the dish since it’s made from the byproduct of fermented doenjang or fermented soy bean paste. You will need to use more soy sauce/sauce/pinch of chicken broth powder if you have for extra saltiness and flavor. While its ok not to have this, we find that it is difficult to replicate the authentic taste of a rich seafood soondubu jigae broth without this!
• The Broth is key to this dish. Since I’m a huge fan of a strong seafood flavor, the best option would be to use Korean Anchovy Broth to make this even more authentic tasting. In a pinch, a good quality chicken or beef broth works too! Since each brand of broth has different levels of seasonings, please taste the broth and adjust saltiness to your own preference.

Neal's IMPROVED authentic soondubu jigae

 

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Author: Unconventional Cooks

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz white onion, chopped
• 6 clove of garlic
• 4 green onions, finely chopped - white and green parts separated. Combine the white parts with the white onion
• 1.5-2 tbsp korean hot pepper powder (or gochuargu - please do not use flakes)
• 4 tbsp soy sauce (or 3 tbsp Korean soup soy sauce)
• 10 oz Korean Grey squash OR Zucchini, chopped into small cubes
• 9-10 oz frozen seafood
• 12 large shrimps or you can sub in more frozen seafood
• + salt to taste
• 2 package of Korean soft tofu (soon tofu - it comes like a long tub, available in korean grocery store)
• 3 cups stock (Recommend using Korean anchovy stock packet OR in a pinch chicken stock works")

Instructions

1. If using anchovy stock packet:: Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add in anchovy pack. Put a lid on and once boiling, turn down to a simmer for 10 mins. After that discard the anchovy broth pack.
2. First prep all the ingredients, finely dice the onions, garlic, zucchini and set aside. Finely chop the green onions, separating the white and green parts. Preparing the ingredients make things easier later!
3. Prepare a large pot (if you have a korean soup pot you can use that too), turn the flame to medium high heat. Once hot, add the oil.
4. When the oil is hot, quickly add in diced onion, garlic, white parts of the green onion and stirfry. Fry for about 1-2 minutes until the onion becomes slightly translucent.
5. Add in the red pepper powder. Keep stirring to form a chili paste and to prevent sticking to the bottom. It should feel quite thick.
6. After it is mixed, immediately add in the soy sauce to loosen to the mixture.
7. Once you finish mixing, add in the broth and bring the soup to boil. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If you are not using chicken broth you need to add salt or more soy sauce here, if you used chicken broth just taste ot make sure! It should be saltier than you think it should be (because the flavor will dilute once you add the seafood and tofu)
8. Add in your zucchini and frozen seafood. Bring the soup back to boil and lower to simmer until all the vegetables and seafood is ready. Set aside until ready to serve.
9. When you are ready to serve. bring it back to boil. Add in the shrimp and tofu. You want to use a a spoon to gently separate the tofu into chunks. Bring it to a boil and then lower to a simmer until the soup is warm and everything is cooked.
10. Before serving, add in the remainder of the green onions and simmer

Notes

*We have also had success using Chinese dried scallops. Break up 4 large pieces of scallops in hot water. Let is soak overnight. Before using just tear them apart into smaller pieces. Add all the scallops and the water (top up with more water to get to 3 cups)

3.5.3251

LOVE,

Zoe, Mia & Raena