Soybean paste soup with cabbage

I’m so excited to share this simple and nutritious soup with you today! Soybean paste soup with napa cabbage (baechu-doenjangguk), a favorite of all Koreans. It’s warm, hearty, savory, filling, healthy, made with doenjang (fermented soybean paste), and inexpensive and easy to make. It’s a staple of Korean life and diet. If you ever meet a Korean who doesn’t like baechu-doenjangguk, be sure to let me know because it’s pretty much impossible.

There are many types of soybean paste soup (doenjangguk) in Korean cuisine. A typical Korean meal consists of rice accompanied by soup and various side dishes, such as kimchi, and doenjangguk is a common soup to make. And this soup is the king of doenjangguk!

The traditional way to make baechu-doenjangguk is to make the soup broth with the water from washing rice (called tteumul: 뜨물 in Korean) instead of just plain water. This makes the broth a little milky. I used to watch my grandmother making it this way: every morning she made a huge amount of rice to feed her family. When she washed, rubbed, and rinsed her rice grains, she got tteumul. Then when she made doenjangguk, she used that milky rice water in her pot. We can do the same thing in this recipe, on a smaller scale. However if you don’t want to make rice for this you can just use plain water, and then mix in around 2 tablespoons of flour to make it thicker and milky.

As I mention in the video, I used to live next to an early morning one-woman restaurant where the only dish she served was baechu-doenjangguk and makgeolli (Korean rice liquor)! She made this soup exactly the same way I’m showing you here. The only thing she added that I skip is MSG. : ) Instead of MSG, I use more dried anchovies. Whenever I have this soup I think of her and miss her a little. We lost connection a long time ago when my family moved.

I hope you enjoy this soup. Make it for your friends and family, with some rice and side dishes, and enjoy it together!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 pounds of napa cabbage with the leaves split
• 10 large dried anchovies, heads and guts removed
• ¼ cup doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste)
• 1 or 2 green chili peppers, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 7 cups of tteumul (or water with 2 tbs flour)
• 1-2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste) (optional, if you want it more spicy)

Directions

Collect tteumul (water from washing rice)

1. Place some rice (at least 3 cups) in a washing bowl and cover it with cold water, stirring the rice carefully.
2. Tilt the bowl and slowly pour out the water, ensuring not to lose any rice (alternatively, drain the rice through a strainer and return it to the bowl). Repeat this process once more.
3. Swish the wet rice around in the bowl with one hand, then fill the bowl with about 7 cups of cold water. Pour the white rice water into a separate bowl to collect it. Measure 7 cups for your baechu-doenjangguk and set it aside.

How about the rinsed, damp rice?
Make fluffy white rice with it, of course! It’s already rinsed and ready, so you can use a rice cooker or make rice on the stove. It will go well with this soup.

Prepare the cabbage

1. Place the anchovies in a soup strainer or wrap them in cheesecloth. Set aside.
2. Blanch the cabbage in a large pot for 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Strain and rinse the cabbage in cold running water in a large bowl, changing the water a few times until very clean. Drain and gently squeeze out excess water.
4. Chop the cabbage into small pieces and transfer to a large pot.

Make soup!

1. Add doenjang, green chili pepper, and garlic to the cabbage, mixing well by hand. Add the strainer of anchovies.
2. Add the tteumul (rice wash water) and cover. Cook for 15 minutes over medium-high heat.
3. Stir the soup with a ladle, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for additional 15 minutes. If you want a spicy version of this soup, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), depending on your taste.
4. Remove the anchovy strainer and serve the soup with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes! Enjoy your hearty and healthy baechu-doenjangguk!

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