Korean Tofu stew, or “doenjang chigae,” is made with vegetables, tofu, and bean paste. It’s Koreans’ everyday house food. We eat it with other side dishes and rice, but sometimes, especially in the southern part of Korea, we eat this stew with barley rice, vegetable salad, and hot pepper paste all mixed together. This is the style I’m going to teach you to make today.
Deon Jang Chigae
(Bean paste and vegetable stew)
Ingredients:
- 1 medium size potato
- a zucchini or a squash
- 1 medium size onion
- garlic
- 1 green chili pepper
- 7 dried anchovies
- 1 green onion
- 100-150 grams of tofu
- soy bean paste (doen jang)
- 4 shrimp
Almost all Koreans love this food, and I think you will, too!
- Prepare a ceramic pot to put all the ingredients in.
- Peel the potato, cut it into 2 cups worth of cubes, and put them into the pot .
- Cut zucchini into 2 cups worth of cubes, and put them into the pot.
- Cut your onion into chunks, and put them into the pot.
- Slice your green chili pepper, and put it into the pot.
- Prepare 7 large dried anchovies by removing their heads and intestines, chop them up, and put them into the pot.
- Chop up 4 shrimp and put them into the pot.
- Mince 5 cloves of garlic and put it into the pot.
- Your pot will now be 2/3 full with your ingredients.
- Submerge everything in water and cook it over high heat.
*tip: Don’t put too much water, just enough to cover everything - When it starts boiling, add 4-6 tbs of bean paste, stir the stew, and keep cooking
- When the stew is sizzling and all ingredients are cooked, cut your tofu into cubes, chop up 1 green onion, and add them to the stew.
- Occasionally stir the boiling stew with a spoon.
- Serve it with a bowl of rice and other side dishes.
*tip: to check whether or not the ingredients are cooked, taste the potato.
Korean style mixed green salad
Ingredients: a big bowl of mixed greens (you can replace it with lettuce), cucumber, 1 green onion, 1 clove of garlic, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds
- Wash a big bowl of mixed greens (5-6 cups) and drain it. If you use lettuce, tear it up into bite sized pieces.
- Slice cucumber thinly (cut cucumber in half in length first, and slice it diagonally) and add it into the bowl.
- Make the sauce by mixing up 3 tbs of soy sauce, 1 tbs of hot pepper flakes, 1 ts of sugar, and ½ tbs of sesame seeds and 1tbs of sesame oil
- Mix the vegetables with the sauce
- Transfer the salad to a glass bowl or a big plate and serve it
Serving it all together:
In a big bowl, place rice first, then add a scoop of doen jang jjigae and the vegetable salad (“gutgeorie”). Mix in some hot pepper paste and sesame oil. Wow, it’ll be delicious! : )
My 8 yr old daughter LOVES soft tofu soup, not spicy. Is this the right recipe for her? When we order it in Korean restaurants we have one with mushroom and beef or pork or the seafood one without any spice, so it turns out white.
If this is not the right recipe, would you please tell me which is the correct Soft Tofu Soup, not spicy version?
I cooked this version for my wife today; she is in bed with a cold. It was very easy to make, and it tasted better than the over-priced 32nd St food. I made it without the suggested shrimp because we don’t eat much meat, but I did add the dried anchovies.
I used to eat doenjang jigae all the time in Korean prison, but I don’t think they added the anchovies. It was so bland!
I agree with u! Delicious stock makes delicious doenjangjjigae.
I like the recipe, I just think that the taste was a bit too strong for me. If I use less soy bean paste would that make a difference? I used like 4 tbs.
You can modify my recipes to your taste. Use less soy bean paste then. Happy cooking!
I made it, and oh, was it delicious! I replaced the zucchini with more potato and some pieces of radish, and left out the seafood. As side dishes I had Muwoonamul and Kkakkttuki.
I myself found the taste of Doenjang (never tasted before) very overwhelming, but also very delicious. however my father said that it was slightly too bland… 0_o that really surprised me. I guess taste is different for everybody!
“I replaced the zucchini with more potato and some pieces of radish,..” yes, I sometimes do the same thing! I like potatoes! Muwoonamul is delicious! thank you for your update!
what if you don’t have green chilli pepper and anchovies? can you use a different kind of pepper?
Yes, you can use any type of green chili pepper or skip it. If you can’t eat spicy food at all, Italian green chili pepper is a good substitute in doenjangjjigae.
Hi Maangchi,
I stayed for one year in Seoul but didn’t attempt to cook any Korean dishes but I just came back from Seoul again after a short holiday with my family. My wife and me enjoyed the Doenjang Jjigae in Seoul so much that I bought a ceramic pot and some Doenjang and Gochujang and today, i made a large pot of it. We really enjoyed it alot although I added a lot of clams, maybe too much but we loved it anyway. Looks like we will be supplementing our homecooked Chinese dishes with Doenjang jjigae.
Thanks a lot for your excellent recipes.
Jack( SIngapore)
It sounds like you are very ready for Korean cooking! ; )
Share your photos of dishes with my other readers! Email me the photos later if you want.
Happy New Year!
Hi Maangchi,
Does it change anything if I don’t use an ceramic pot? :o
Hi Maangchi!
I’m wondering, can you add ggochukaru or ggochujang to make spicy? Or will that make this dish taste weird? I’m trying to find a way to add some red pepper spiciness on top of the green pepper!
Thanks!
yes, you can add some hot pepper paste to your doenjangjjigae. I sometimes use hot pepper paste, too.
This was reaaly good that I almost ate all of it myself! Thanks Maangchi.
My son visited for the weekend and woke up this morning with a chill. He could not get warm! I made him some of this soup (like a good mom : ) and sent him off to work in the city. I am anxious to hear how his day goes, but at least I know I did the best I could for him for breakfast!
yeah, a mom’s love for children is endless. You are such a good mom.
maangchi, what is the best replacement for anchovy in doenjang jjigae? I cannot find them:
- any kind of fish stock
- dashi stock (this is made with dried skipjack fish and Kelp)
- chicken/beef stock
- stock made from kelp (I have kelp but it was very expensive and hard to find so it’s my little treasure and I only want to use it if I really need it for something delicious ;)
- canned anchovy instead of dried
- just skip it
or something else of course!
dashi stock, chicken or beef stock will work!
Wow, it looks so yummy and the cooking method of this Deon Jang Chigae recipe is great, I’ll try it later and I hope it tastes the way it looks. Just one question: how to add your blog into my RSS Reader, Thanks very much.
Put this into your RSS Reader: http://www.maangchi.com/feed
Thank you
Hi Maangchi,
I just wanted to say that your videos are wonderful! They are so simple and easy to follow. I cook your recipes for my 2 year old and she looves them all. I got my little brother hooked on your website and he is cooking up a storm in his bachelor pad with your videos on. Thank you :)
Your 2 year old likes doenjangjjigae? : ) Cute!!
Would you tell your brother to send me some photos of the food that he has made? I wanna see!
Yes, my 2 year old loooves doenjanjjigae. She likes kimchijjigae, too… must have gotten used to it when she was in my tummy ;) All I ate was Korean food when I was pregnant.
Will definitely tell my brother to try to post pics of the dishes he has cooked for his lady friends :P
You are changing yoohackseng’s bobsang!! kkk
I watch your video every day. I love them.
haha, you have to eat good food to study hard!
I stocked up on ingredients at the Korean market nearby and made this jjigae on Saturday, along with spicy pork bulgogi, and store-bought bindaedduk that my husband picjed up. But I forgot to take pictures – sorry Maangchi! Anyway, your method of throwing everything into the pot is the easiest one. The method I used before I got from a book and was too complicated. The taste came out the same anyway – delicious! My dog got the anchovy heads and guts – he thinks myolchi anchovies are the best dog treat on the planet!
Thank you!
I like simple and fast cooking. Everybody says I’m too fast in the kitchen. : )
What can I substitute seafood for? I’m not the biggest seafood eater but I generally like fish. Can I use chicken or beef.
Skip the seafood, it will still be delicious.
My Doenjang came with a packet of some sort? Whats the packet used for.
I don’t know what did it say on the packet? Do not eat it.
I think it might have been a packet for this soup.
rv65 : if it was a small packet, it might have been a dessicant–non edible silica gel used to absorb some of the extra moisture that “sweats” off the paste. I think that helps it not to get moldy. I have seen these in some containers of jang.
This was so yummy. Two of us polished this off in one sitting. It was wonderful. I just have one question about the amount of bean paste….in the video it looks like you use around 1 heaping tablespoon but in the written recipe you have 4-6 tablespoons. What is the correct amount.
Thank you again for your great videos and recipes.
yeah, 1 heaping tablespoon of soybean paste is equal to 4-6 tbs.
Thanks Maangchi, Made this again tonight….wonderful!
Hi Maangchi,
I really like your videos. I think this is going to be my first Korean dish to try making. I have lived in Korea over five years and only can make kimchi fried rice and not much else but since I have found your website I think I am going to try new Korean dishes. Korean food has a lot of healthy recipes and I love this jigae. I usually get it when we go out for dinner but I would love to try homemade. I think I am off to the E-Mart after Chusok to buy the ingredients.
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS. thank you soo sooo sooooo much for keeping this website and making everything so easy! My dad is korean, and I grew up eating so many of these dishes, but when it comes to cooking, i completely fail, so this site has helped me in so many ways, and has brought me closer to my parents! I have been vegetarian for 9 months now so I would love to see your vegetarian version of some of your dishes (it’s so hard to make good 미역국 or 된장찌개 without fish or meat!) any tips? love love love love love!!! keep it up!!! <3 <3 <3
You can still make delicious doenjangguk or doenjangjjigae without dried anchovies.
To make good stock, use dried kelp (dashima: check the ingredient section),dried shiitake mushrooms,Korean radish, and onion.
Hi Maangchi!
I’m a Korean girl but never tried to cook Korean food -_-;
Your videos are awesome and really helpful!
I’ll definitely try 콩나물국 next weekend and 미역국 too! ^_^
BTW, what was the fish sauce that you were using in 미역국? What’s it called in Korean? I’m going to go to a korean grocery store and buy the exact kind that you were using. Thank you so much for your good videos! You make me so happy! ^_^;;
I’m glad to hear that you decide to cook some Korean food! : )
Good luck with making delicious soup
Check the ingredient section please:
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/fish-sauce
MAANGCHIIIII~~
i made this just now and it turns out very very nice! LOL
I didnt put potato ( not a big fan)
And i didnt have anchovies so I put some of my powdered anchovie stock instead
I also put fish head in there to make the soup yummy
and it turns out GREAT!
thank you sooooo much!
I’m happy for you, too!
^.^
That was so kewl! lol
I love your accent! ^.^
Anyway I’m off to try this now – Although I don’t have any anchovies… Maybe some thai fish oil would work? Or some other strong fish I have in the freezer?
Thanks for sharing this stuff – You rock :D
Is the fish oil salty? Then I would not recommend using it because soybean paste is salty, so your stew will turn out very salty. If you don’t have dried anchovies, you can replace them with clams. What do you mean strong fish?
Thanks for the reply :)
Um I ended up using some fish balls I found in the fridge to replace the anchovies.
Worked really well :)
Also added loads of mushrooms and a carrot (sliced into strips).
It was so awesome (I had more helpings than I can count – So full now lol)
Would fish like cod and smoked haddock have worked do you think?
Anyway I have subscribed to your podcast too
Again thankyou for this site and your recipes!
With best regards
Donnie
do you just use a regular soft tofu for this recipe? thanks
Yes, use regular tofu for stew.
Wow I really like this soup and I made it vegetarian. It was still good. I love soup! Thanks!
I don’t know what I’d do without you! Will be trying your other recipes tomorrow. :)
I’m glad to hear that your doenjangjjigae turned out good!
Hi Maangchi!
I made this soup last night and it was divine! I’ve found it a bit hard finding vegetarian Korean recipes.. so this was perfect (just took away the anchovies and shrimp). Thanks so much!!
Thank you for letting me know about your successful doenjangjjigae making!
Korean food is actually mostly vegetarian. It’s a misconception that it’s unhealthy – it’s very healthy food!
Is the soybean paste a lot like miso paste?
yes, similar but a little different taste.
Hi, I just want to say I’m so happy I found your site. My son is in Korea right now going to Korea University with his Korean roommate and best friend from U of M. He loves Korean food and I want to cook it for him and his roommate when they return. I find your videos and recipes very well done. I can’t wait to try them.
Thank you
hi maangchi, this is the first time i’ve tried this recipe (with some alterations) and it turned out wonderfully! it’s a very simple soup to make and it’s still yummy. i made it soon after my family finished eating up the gamjatang. thank you again! :)
Congratulation! You make me curious about your recipe alterations.
I bought a large quantity of dried and ground anchovies in a Farmer’s Co-op in Andong. I’m down to the last small portion of that. It’s a great addition to soups and stew, but use it sparingly!
Thank you for the comeback with the eggplant recipe. I wrote it down and I’m going to try it soon.
wonderful! Let me know how your eggplant side dish turns out!
Whenever your recipes call for those little dried sardines that you use when making stews and soups, is it just as good to use the powered form when they sell at the Korean market? What’s the difference and when do you use it or not?
Thanks,
Marilyn
yes, using dried anchovies instead of dashi powder for stock will give the soup better taste.
Anonymous,
Thank you for your interest in my recipes and welcome to my website! I’m glad to hear that your husband was satisfied with your cooking! : )
Anyway, I recommend using fresh shrimp or clams.
Thank you!
hi ms maangchi! i forgot to ask you,can i replace fresh shrimps with shrimp paste? because there are times that i’m running out of fresh shrimps and just skip it. but still tastes good. thanks!
hello ms maangchi!
i really love your cooking videos! you know, you’re the perfect solution to my problem. i was very glad the time i found your site when i was desperately surfed the net several months ago. your recipes are actually simple and are easy to follow but absolutely perfect! by the way, i’m from philippines and my husband is a korean. the moment i found this site,i immediately made one of your recipes (육개장 as i remember).and the result was amazingly great!i was very happy to hear my husband’s praises and he looked very satisfied…for the first time!:)so,thanks a lot to you!although i didn’t hear him complaining about my cooking before but obviously, i never seen him satisfied. i would say that he’s never been satisfied until i found your site…:)so since then, i can’t cook without your recipes. i also informed all my foreign friends about this site. really helps a lot! you’re truly a blessing to me! thank you very much once again!
samita,
wonderful! I sometimes add hot pepper paste (gochujang) to it, too! Thank you for letting me know about your successful Korean cooking!
Maangchi,
I made this yesterday for dinner and loved it. I added some Gochujang and did not make the salad as I cannot digest raw salad. It was delicious. I am an Indian who lives in Chicago. Thanks for your great videos. I am enjoying korean cuisine at home, Thanks to you.
Samita
Vicky,
While reading your description about the barley bibimbap, my mouth waters! : )
oh, you are living in Korea now. That’s nice! You can learn Korean cooking very easily because all ingredients that I use are accessible there.
By the way, my gajinamul (eggplant side dish) recipe has been posted. http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/gaji-namul
I used this 된장찌개 recipe and it turned out fabulous. DoenJang JiiGae is such a nutritious and hearty meal when served with bori-bap (rice and barley cooked together). I did not have hot green chili peppers on hand, but made up for that with chopped green pepper (for color and texture) and additional red hot chili pepper flakes and powder. I’ve been told that it’s best with additional KoJu Jang (red pepper paste). I also added bite-sized pieces of turnip and eggplant. When ‘market day’ falls on a Sunday in Uiseong, Gyeongsan Buk-do, there’s a line-up to get the Bori-Bap at a shop run by the dearest Hal-Ma-Nee in the land. She served up a dish of fish and radish as hot and delicious as you can possibly imagine. Turnips are a little bitter compared to Mu (radish), but I cooked them separately for a short while, in just a pinch of sugar, and it seemed to help. Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I’ll be checking again for any eggplant recipes you post! Thank you!