Hi, everybody,
I’m so excited to introduce this simple and healthy soup to you!
Korean meals are usually served with rice, soup, and other side dishes. Just in case you don’t know what doenjang is, I’m telling you that doenjang is Korean fermented soy bean paste.
You could make so many different kinds of doenjang guk using different vegetables such as spinach, potato, radish leaves, fresh mugwort (ssuk)… Of all the vegetables, baechu (napa cabbage) doenjang guk is the most basic soup and every Korean loves it. (Let me know if you find any Korean who doesn’t like this soup) : )
I will give you a short quiz now. : ) What would you call doenjang guk made with spinach? … pause … yes, it’s called shigeumchi doenjang guk. Shigeumchi is spinach in Korean. Heh, it’s easy, right?
When my grandmother made this soup, she always used milky rice water instead of water. Every day she made a huge amount of rice to feed her family. When she washed, rubbed, and rinsed her rice grains, she got the milky water. When she made doenjang guk, she used that milky rice water in her pot.
When I was in middle school, the lady next door ran a restaurant. She sold baechu doenjang guk. She and my mother were friends, so we were like family. Most of her soup customers were male workers who needed a cheap and simple breakfast before starting work early in the morning. What time in the morning? Before dawn! To be ready to serve this soup, she probably should make it at 2-3 am? Her soup was very popular so that her restaurant was always crowded especially in the morning.
I saw her serving her soup to her customers. When her customer was sitting at the table, she ladled the soup into a large bowl from her huge pot and added a little barley rice (about 2 tbs?), and put it on his table. Only one side dish was there, kkaktugi (radish kimchi). That’s all! The worker’s stomach will get warm with the hot soup and a little bit of rice!
I used to wake up with the irresistible aroma from the soup she made. Sometimes the smell made me go crazy! : )
Her doenjangguk was not spicy and a little brown and milky. It was super tasty!
I saw she used flour instead of rice water. She made this doenjang guk exactly this way I’m showing in this video recipe. Only thing I skipped is MSG. : ) Instead of MSG, I use more dried anchovies.
I miss her now. We lost connection long time ago when my family moved to another place.
Ingredients:
700 grams of Napa cabbage (half of a medium size napa cabbage), 1/3 cup soy bean paste, 10 dried anchovies, 6 cups of water, 1 green chili pepper, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 2 tbs flour.
Directions:
- Put about 700 grams of Napa cabbage directly into boiling water and stir it with a large spoon for 20 seconds. Boil it for a minute with the lid open.
- Rinse it in cold water a couple of times to clean any remaining dirt from the cabbage leaves. Gently squeeze the leaves to get rid of any remaining water.
- Chop the cabbage into small pieces and put them into a large pot.
- Add 1/3 cup soy bean paste, 5-6 cloves minced garlic, 1 chopped green chili pepper, 10 large dried anchovies (after removing heads and guts), and 2 tbs flour to the pot.
- Mix it by hand or a wooden spoon.
- Add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil for 20 minutes over medium high heat.
- Lower the heat and simmer another 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with rice and other side dishes.
*tip: Do you like spicy soup? Then add some hot pepper paste right before simmering (step 7).
Hey…me again..I found a link to some photos someone took and it happens to be that restaurant…..they said it was sundubu guksu. This is the link so you can see what it looks like…I guess they gave me a smaller portion to go with my noodles.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tataAbed/090910SunDuBuGukSu?feat=embedwebsite#
Darlene
Hi, Darlene,
I have never tasted and made it, but I think it will be very easy to make! : ) Make some noodle soup and add some soondubu! I will post my noodle soup recipe someday. Check my sujebi recipe. You may have an idea of making this soondubu noodle soup then.
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sujebi
Thanks for the response. I looked at the sujebi recipe and I think I can make the soondubu guksu pretty easily. Off to the E-Mart for supplies this weekend. When I try it I will let you know! Thanks for pointing towards a recipe to start with.
Darlene
Hi Maangchi,
I was in a noodle shop yesterday and had bibim guksu. i wanted to ask you about the soup they served with it and how you think I could make it. It was a clear fish based broth with gim and korean chili peppers in it with chunks of tofu. I loved it! Any ideas on how I could come up with it or what the name of that soup would be? It was a Myeongdong Noodle Story pace. It has a picture of a korean halmoni on the logo. The soup was spicy and delicious. My korean is very limited so I had no way to ask the ladies that work there.
Thanks for any help.
Darlene
Hi Maangchi,
I have a lot of lettuce leftover from a previous meal, and was wondering if I could substitute that for the cabbage.
Would the dish taste weird?
Thanks!!
yeah, it sounds strange to me because I’m not accustomed to doenjangguk made with lettuce instead of baechu (napa cabbage).
But you can try it out. Why not?
I’m enjoying your recipes and will try making this tonight — it’s like watching my mother-in-law cook! I wanted to ask, why do you blanch the baechu first before adding all the other ingredients instead of using it raw?
to make the cabbage softer so that the soup will be more delicious.
I tried to buy soybean paste, but I think I bought the wrong one ><
The one that I bought looks like this
http://cfs4.tistory.com/upload_control/download.blog?fhandle=YmxvZzg4ODAwQGZzNC50aXN0b3J5LmNvbTovYXR0YWNoLzAvMjAwMDAwMDAwMDAwLkpQRw%3D%3D
Can I use this one, or will it turn out weird?
Thank you~~
oh, you bought ssamjang(dipping sauce)
The recipe is posted here:
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/samgyeopsal-gui
You could use ssamjang for this soup. It won’t be weird taste!
But someday when you get soybean paste, try it out. You can compare the taste difference.
Happy cooking!
Thank you~~~
I am going to try and make this tomorrow then :D
I made this again today, this time I added one potato cut up and some tofu cubes. Very yummy for a cold day.
The flour is the secret to a rich broth.
aww you are a smart cook! : ) Happy New Year!
Hi,
I love your recipe :D It’s really tasty! Do you think it would be possible to substitue Anchovies for small dried shrimp instead?
Thankyou Maangchi!
I think so, why not?
Thank you for the excellent recipes and the broadening my knowledge of your culture. In making this soup is there something I can substitute for the anchovy. I have a seafood allergy. Thanks for your reply
William
hmm, why don’t you skip dried anchovies and use shiitake mushrooms (2 or 3) and onion (about 1 cup amount sliced onion) in this recipe?
I think it will be good. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Maangchi!
Sorry to trouble you, but is it possible to list down the ingredients in the fermented soy bean paste? Those that are available in Singapore are all in Korean and I do not understand the words. As I have some food allergies, hence I would need to know what are used in the paste. Thank you!
anything that says 된장 should be okay. most likely the store will carry this product – http://www.smart.co.kr/shopimages/plusrich/0760020000172.jpg and all soy bean paste is in a brown plastic container so if its brown plastic, then u should be buying the right stuff!
Why don’t you ask the shop owner? They should be able to give you accurate allergy information.
What are your allergies? I heard that sometimes ground anchovies and wheat flour is added as additive (check wikipedia for more information).
Hi Maangchi,
Accidentally I put in two tablespoons of polenta (corn flour) instead of all purpose flour.. Whoaa, big shock :S.
I scraped some out and put in the tablespoons of flour. Turned out great after all.. Love the recipe!
Thanks :)
oh, yeah? corn flour worked well? Nice!
Hi Maangchi,
I just made a pot of this soup this afternoon… as you know, it’s pretty cold in the NYC area today, and this soup is excellent for a cold day.
This is an excellent recipe… I substituted a teaspoon of the Korean fish sauce that is used in kimchi for the anchovies, and it tasted pretty good.
Thanks for this and all of your other recipes! Great website.
I’m glad you like this recipe!
If I don’t have anchovies or the container you used for them, is it possible to use Japanese dashi powder as a substitute? I haven’t been to H-Mart in a long time, but I do have a box of dashi in a cabinet.
Sure, try it out with the dashi powder.
When I hear this music, it makes me think of Jewel of the Palace and makes me want to eat! This looks so good!
hey, manggchi… when making this 국, can i add 두부?
I usually don’t add tofu to this soup, but why not? : )
Hello,
I made this tonight and it was sooo tasty. I let my little Lily taste the broth and she loved it! So it’s a big thumbs up for this soup from us!
wow, I’m so happy to hear that Lily loves the soup! : )
hi maangchi!!!!! i made this for dinner tonight with miso instead since i didn’t have korean bean paste – it is SO GOOD!!!!!!!! thank you so much for this yummy recipe :)
cool! yeah, it’s very easy and delicious, right?
Hi Maangchi,
I been following your website for over a year now. I love Korean food ever since watching 大長今. There was so much food involve in the series. Makes me so hungry when I watch it ^_^
You make Korean food look so simple. I showed my mom baechu doenjang guk video, b/c we have never heard/seen Korean cabbage soup sold in resturants (Toronto). And wow its so delicious!!!!
My mom normally makes Tofu soup, pork bone soup, ginseng Chicken Soup, and bulgogi pork by following your videos. And my experiences w/ your receipes are always delicious!
This past summer I went to Jeju, Busan and Seoul for 5 days. In Busan, I had this yummy fish soup at a local specialty Fish resturant that i can’t seem to find a receipe for. I see you have a receipe for Spicy fish soup (maeuntang), but the one I ate wasnt spicy. I have no idea what its called in Korean. I hope you can help me.
Thanks for all your yummi food.
jewels =)
I bet the fish soup you are talking about is Daegu tang. http://ojsfile.ohmynews.com/STD_IMG_FILE/2008/1223/IE000998043_STD.jpg I don’t have a recipe but this is what alot of Korean fish places serve as a non-spicy soup.
yeah, non-spicy fish soup is so delicious, too! To make it, you will have to find very fresh fish, Otherwise it will be too fishy. : ) (heh, fish should be fishy! lol)
Yes, someday I will post the recipe! Thanks a lot!
yes you are right! amazing enought the fish soup in Busan had no fishyness at all. My bf and I was soooo amazed. b/c we both dislike fish soups due to fishyness.
But at the time, we walked in a specialty fish resturant in Busan w/out knowing, thinking we can get pork belly grill =)
the waitress knew no English, so all they did was point to the other tables eatting, and well we ordered their special …w/ no regrets! amazing fish soup we ever had!
jewels =)
can’t wait to try this out… :) thanks for the recipe maangchi… i’m looking forward to making this!
I used a combination of potato starch and corn starch instead of flour and it turned out great! Even my 19 month old son liked it. :-)
Thanks for posting such a great recipe.
Maanghchi,
it is 12am and your blog is driving me crazy. I wish I can teleport your food from my computer. so hungry now. ahhh
aww, you are funny!
Another tasty recipe to try ^_^ thanks Maangchi. I think I’ll add an egg to this soup since I’m craving eggs too heh.
i love ur cooking and a big fan of ur recepies
very nice and entertaining too.
Thank you very much!
Is the soybean paste and Japanese miso the same?
yes, similar, but the flavors are a little different.
Is there a way to make this soup vegetarian? I’d really like to try it – it looks delicious! And all the food I’ve made from your recipes have turned out very good. =)
Use dried kelp instead of dried anchovies, then. Dried kelp:
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/kelp
Aloha, Maangchi!
So nice to have you back again. Loved your background music (from one of my most fav kdramas–Dae Jang Geum). Your soup looks delicious, especially with the bap.
heh, it sounds like you know how to eat that soup! : )
hahahah! maangchi!!!! the theme from 대장금 goes so well with your actions and plot! You made such a wonderful decision for the background music for this recipe~~ it’s like the show could have really used some shots from your video :D
Thanks a lot!
My husband can’t have wheat (like all purpose flour). Would rice flour, cornstarch, or potato starch work?
i would expect that any kind of starch will make the soup jelloy and thick.. i do not believe that is the purpose of putting flour in it. Instead it gives the creamy feel to the soup. I think rice flour would be better. let’s see what maangchi says.
According to Maangchi’s blog, her mother used rice water… which was loaded with rice starch, but not rice bits (rice flour is made of ground dry rice). This and your comment got me thinking. Usually we use cornstarch or potato starch for thickening other soups, which is common in gluten free cooking. My concern with rice flour is it might add too much graininess.
I think we’ll actually try cornstarch (or a mix of a few)which will add a thickness… and is something I’m more accustomed too with soups anyways. I just wasn’t sure how that would affect the flavor or if someone already tried a non-wheat version.
Thank you for posting this recipe maangchi! it’s funny that you post this now actually, because i was planning on going on a diet with most of my meals being korean food =D so when you mentioned in your video that this was a healthy soup, i was very glad XD and the other day, i was debating what i should do with the doenjang in my fridge before it goes bad XD! so yaaay!
: ) I should make more baechu doenjang guk tomorrow, too! haha, debating what to do with your doenjang in the fridge? now no problem!
Hello Maangchi ! This is one of my favorite soups. I really like eating it in the winter too ! Thanx.
cool, it sounds like you already knew the recipe.
I love this soup but I did not know flour is one of the ingredients. I don’t cook usually but this is easy enough I can try~ Thanks Maangchi!
You are very welcome! If you make it, let me know how it turns out,
Wow Maangchi. You make it look so, so simple. My son and I enjoyed watching your video. You made both of us laugh and hungry at the same time.
Thank you for enjoying my video recipe!
hi maangchi, i was wondering why you said shiraegi (garbage?) in the video once and not another time. looks good! and you’re right i haven’t met a korean who didn’t like this either
shiraegi(시래기) in Korean is different from sseuraegi (쓰레기:garbage) in Korean.
: )
When you make kimchi, you need baechu (napa cabbage). We usually take off the outer leaves because the leaves have some holes or some part of the leaf is rotten. If you make 10 heads of cabbage, the amount of the outer leaves will increase. We blanch these leaves to make soup, and sometimes dry them for winter. It’s called shiraegi. This is a way of saving money and cabbage.
The soup restaurant that I mentioned on my blog makes doenjang guk using shiraegi instead of inner part of cabbage. These days, cabbage is cheap and not many people use shiraegi to make doenjang guk. So I was supposed to say in the video “baechu doenjang guk” instead of “baechu shiraegi guk”.
Thanks for the cool lesson!
Hello Maangchi!! I’m so glad there is a doengjang soup I can make now..it’s getting pretty cold and I definitely have been craving to eat some warm soup every night. I will make this soon when I get one more cabbage! Thank you so much!! And the tofu side-dishes are making my mouth water, better make that soon as well too =) I saw you’re Guatemala pictures too! I would love to see the rest, it’s so interesting the places you visit, makes me very interested to go see them one day as well =]
I’m glad you like my recipes!
When you make this soup and tofu side dish, please update me.
Yes, I will post the photos that I took during my trip soon.
Thank you!
Yay!!! Thank you for posting the recipe for the soup. I can’t wait to make it :-D
yay! cheers! : )
I made this for lunch, I even measured the ingredients ;-)
It is delicious. This will be my new favorite for a few weeks.
It is easy and inexpensive to make.
Thank You Maangchi,
Oh and is there a beef version?
I think I would like to try beef and no anchovies.
yes, you can replace dried anchovies with beef if you are not a big fan of dried anchovies. Chop beef (about 200 grams for this recipe) into very small pieces.
I love anchovies. This is one of my tricks to get my western children loving Korean food. I will make this a couple of times with beef. Then I will make it with beef and a couple of anchovies, then I will leave out some beef.
I do a similar trick with kim-chi. I make “cabbage salad” with all the kim-chi ingredients. I leave out the fish sauce and I serve it fresh.
I am getting them to like it this way first.
Half of my kids love seafood so I sometimes make jjompong with seafood and sometimes with pork.
They all love bulgogi and the chicken wings.
My goal is to get as many westerners as possible to eat and LOVE Korean food.
Thank you for posting yet another fantastic recipe! I’m in love with Korean foods now and will continue to try out more dishes. Korean foods are full of various soups and stews which I welcome them for this coming winter.
yes, make your stomach warm just as I mentioned on my blog. : )
It’s great to see a new video! I hope you had a nice time on your vacation! This soup looks very delicious, and like you said it is very healthy! A perfect soup to eat in January for a “New Years Diet”! :)
yeah, I am already on a diet now. My weight control diet is very simple. I reduce the amount of food that goes into my mouth. lol
This soup is very healthful as you see the ingredients.
OMG this soup looks delicious !!!! i cant wait to try it
cool!
Welcome back, Maangchi ssi! ^^ Thanks for the new recipe, can’t wait to try it out…also going to try making it Halmoni’s way with the rice water. ^^
Kamsahamida!
haha, rice water, why not?
Yay, a new recipy! Great! Fast to make and easy to get ingredients.
yes, you will love it.
You where right, it was delicious!
I used your tip and added hot pepper paste before simmering.
Delicious!
yeah, you are back!!! hope you had a nice vacation! and thx for this simple yummp recipe :b
Thank you!
I’m so happy you posted this recipe. My Korean friend gave me some of this soup that she had made and I loved it. Today I bought cabbage and was wishing I had this recipe. I was going to make a salad with the cabbage if I couldn’t find a recipe for this soup.
Thank you,
Sylvia
What a coincidence!
I LOVE this soup! Sometimes this soup is served to us while we are waiting for our meals at the Korean restaurant we usually go to. I love drinking this soup. Thanks so much for posting this soup recipe. I can make my own now.
glad to hear that. Don’t forget to let me know how your soup turns out.
What kind of flour do u use?all purpose flour?it seems simple 2make. I’ll try soon!thank u!
all purpose flour! : )