Fermented soybean paste stew mixed with fresh salad

Fermented soybean paste (Doenjang-jjigae) is made with vegetables, tofu, and fermented soybean paste (doenjang). It’s Koreans’ everyday house food. We eat it with other side dishes and rice, but sometimes, especially in the southern part of Korea where I’m from, we eat this stew with barley rice, vegetable salad (Geotjeori), and hot pepper paste all mixed together as bibimbap. This is the style I’m going to teach you to make today.

Ingredients for Fermented soybean paste stew (Doenjang-jjigae)

• 1 medium size potato (about 1 cup’s worth), peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 cup worth of zucchini or squash, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 cup worth onion, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 green chili pepper, chopped
• 7 dried anchovies, with the heads and intestines removed, chopped
• 2½ cups water
• 1 stalk of green onion, chopped
• 150 grams of tofu, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 5 tbs of fermented soy bean paste (doenjang)
• 4 large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped
  

Ingredients for Korean style mixed green salad (Geotjeori)

• 5 to 6 cups of washed mixed greens (or just lettuce)
• 1 cucumber, sliced thinly
• 1 green onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs of hot pepper flakes
• 1 ts sugar
• ½ tbs sesame seeds
• 1 tbs of sesame oil

Directions

Make doenjang-jjigae

1. Prepare an earthenware pot. Add potato, onion, garlic, zucchini, green chili pepper, shrimp, and dried anchovies.
2. Add the water, just enough to cover everything.
3. When it starts boiling add the fermented bean paste, stir the stew, and keep cooking for another 15 to 20 minutes. In the meantime you can make your geotjeori. If you don’t want the mixed salad, then you can finish the doenjang-jjigae (see below) and serve with rice and side dishes.

Make geotjeori

1. Add the mixed greens and cucumber to a bowl.
2. Make the sauce by mixing the soy sauce, hot pepper flakes, sugar, sesame seeds and sesame oil.
3. Mix the vegetables with the sauce. Transfer the salad to a glass bowl or a big plate to serve.

Finish the doenjang-jjigae

1. Add tofu and cook another 5 minutes, occasionally stirring the boiling stew with a spoon.
2. Add green onion over top.
   *tip: to check whether or not the ingredients are cooked, taste the potato.

Put it all together

1. In a big bowl, place your rice first, then a scoop of doenjang-jjigae, and then some geotjeori. Mix in some hot pepper paste and sesame oil. Wow, it’ll be delicious! : )