Sundubu-jjigae (sometimes spelled soondubu-jjigae) is a spicy, seasoned stew made with a type of silky soft tofu called sundubu. Served hot at the table in its traditional earthenware bowl, it’s impossible to resist. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like sundubu-jjigae after they tried it. All it takes is one time!
If you go to a Korean sundubu-jjigae restaurant you’ll be surprised at how many varieties they make. This version is my favorite. When I go to the restaurant I always choose the seafood version, and it’s the one I most like to make at home, too. I’ve created a sundubu-jjigae section on my website that includes all the sundubu-jjigae recipes I’ve made so far. If you follow any of those recipes exactly, you will have some really delicious stew!
Usually we Koreans have sundubu-jjigae in a Korean earthenware bowl, but so many of you have told me over the years that you can’t get that bowl, or want to feed more people than you have bowls, so I’m including a serving alternative at the end of this recipe that explains how to serve it in regular bowls.
I have a funny story about Korean earthenware bowls (ttukbaegi). When I was making my first cookbook, my editor Rux and my literary agent came over to my house in New York for lunch. I made them bibimbap in Korean earthenware bowls. Rux was surprised to see me doing this, she said “Oh, where can I buy those bowls?”
I said “At a Korean grocery store! Do you want me to help you buy one?”
She said “Sure!” So we took a taxi down to Koreatown on 32nd street. She bought a lot of them, maybe 7 or 8 bowls! They were so heavy. Rux doesn’t even live in New York, she lives in Vermont. I helped her take all those heavy bowls to her hotel and then she later took them all the way home to Vermont in her car. Ever since we made that cookbook she’s been cooking Korean food all the time and has become better and better at it. Her whole family are big fans of Korean food now, all the way to her granddaughter, and she says she’s the Maangchi of Vermont now.
I chose large shrimp in my recipe but you don’t have to use shrimp that big. Just use smaller shrimp or even cocktail shrimp and the broth will still be delicious.
I wanted to show you a typical sundubu-jjigae table setting in the video. What you need to do is completely set the table with the side dishes and everything so that when the sundubu-jjigae is bubbling on the stove you can bring it right out to serve, directly on to the table. If you keep it boiling on the stove while you set up the table, the seafood will get tough and the sundubu-jjigae will actually boil down, which you really don’t want.
Enjoy the recipe! I hope you become the Maangchi of your area! : )
Ingredients (for 2 servings)
- ¼ cup gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup (about 1 ounce) chopped onion
- 1 large king oyster mushroom (or ½ cup of any mushrooms), chopped
- 1 large green onion (dae-pa) or 2 green onions, the white part and green part separated and chopped
- 2½ cups anchovy kelp stock (or vegetable stock, or beef or chicken broth)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or salt to your taste)
- 2 tubes soft tofu (or 22 ounces silken tofu)
- 2 to 3 large deveined shrimp in the shell, rinsed
- 6 fresh shucked or shucked frozen oysters, rinsed
- 4 to 6 fresh mussels, cleaned and rinsed
- 2 eggs
Directions
- Combine the hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix well with a spoon until the hot pepper flakes absorb all the oil. Set aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, the chopped white part of the green onion, and mushroom. Stir with a wooden spoon until the onion and garlic are slightly brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until it’s boiling vigorously.
- Add shrimp, oysters, and mussels. Cut the tubes of tofu in half and squeeze them into the boiling stew, and then break up the tofu a bit with a wooden spoon. If using silken tofu, scoop or squeeze from the box into the stew.
- Add the fish sauce (or salt to your taste), half of the hot pepper mixture, and stir a few times.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the seafood is fully cooked and the broth is infused with its savory flavor.
2 ways to serve:
Serve in Korean earthenware bowls:
- Ladle the stew into 2 earthenware bowls (2½ cup bowls work best) and place them on the stove top. Heat them up over high heat. Add the leftover seasoning mixture on top of the stew in each bowl.
- When the stews starts bubbling, crack the eggs into each bowl. Cook for another minute until vigorously boiling. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the green part of the chopped green onion over top.
- Serve right away while it’s bubbling, with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes on the side.
Serve in regular soup bowls:
- Add the second half of the seasoning mixture to the boiling stew in the pot and mix it in a bit. Carefully crack the eggs into the bubbling stew, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes until the eggs are slightly (or half) cooked. Remove from the heat.
- Gently ladle the stew into two soup bowls without disturbing the eggs. Scoop up each egg and place one in each bowl.
- Sprinkle the green part of the chopped green onion over top and serve right away with rice, kimchi, and more side dishes.
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Maly,
yes, kelp is seaweed. Check out my ingredient blog where you will see what it looks like. Oh, well when I make good stock, I always boil it with other ingredients. If you can’t find it, what else could you do? Skip it, but I hope you use the other ingredients to make good stock.
Is the kelp a very inportant part of the dish..I couldnt find any. Is kelp like seaweed?
anonymous,
I think you use 1 or 1.5 cup of chicken broth or beef broth and 1 or 2 cups of water depending on your pot size for this recipe.
how much chicken broth or beef broth do you recommend if substituing this for dried anchovies?
dona,
oh, if you can’t get kelp, just skip it, then.
annyeong maangchi!
i want to make this recipe but i can’t get the kelp.
is there any way i can make substitute for kelp?
or can i still do this without the kelp?
i really want to make this dish…thanks maangchi!
Jennifer,
Sure, let me know how it turns out.
Thanks I’m going to try those, I will let you know how it turns out!
Jeniffer,
If you can’t find dried anchovies, why don’t you use beef broth or chicken broth?
Hi Maangchi
I want to make this dish, but I can’t have anchovies.. what do you suggest ? Will it change the flavor if I leave it out?
rose,
yes, just as you said, cucumber side dish is made with soy sauce, hot pepper flakes, garlic, onion, green onion, sugar,sesame oil and sesame seeds.
I have eaten Korean cucumber made with sesame oil and hot pepper flakes and maybe soy sauce and a little msg.I would like to find the complete recipe for this salad. I also think that you soak the cucumber in salt water.I also am looking for more side dish recipes that are Korean. Thank You
Geoff
I don’t know how much thank you for pointing out my omission.
Thanks a lot!
You are asking question about hot pepper flakes in “soon du bu jji gae”. Hot pepper powder is ground more finely than hot pepper flakes, so it is better for this stew. But I know a lot of people don’t want to buy both.
So in this recipe, before pouring the stock in the pot, I sautee the hot pepper flakes with beef and oil for a 15 or 20 seconds.
Don’t pour it in right away, sautee a bit so it gets softened and absorbed by the oil.
Hi Maangchi, There is a Korean restaurant very near my house that specializes in tofu stews. This recipe is just as good as their’s, plus now I can make it myself and put what I want into it!
Question: The pepper flakes seem to have a lot of texture in my stew. Does a rolling boil help with this or should I just boil for longer. (or is that how it’s supposed to be?)
Also, in the video, you add 2 T of fish sauce. You list it in the ingredients on your blog but forgot the step in the written instructions. Should be between steps 10 and 11.
Next I’ll make the tofu stew and mixed vegetables (I think my wife will like it). yum! thanks :P
Anna,
This is for 2 people. Good luck with your soon du bu jjigae making!
Hi Maangchi,
How many people will this feed? I am having a couple of people over for dinner and was thinking about making this for them – my first time cooking a Korean dish ever.
marcin,
Mine is an earthen ware that 5 cups of amount can be filled. Thanks,
Hi Maangchi,
I live in Poland and absolutely love your cooking videos. I’m a huge fan of korean food. I recently bought earthenware pots, but it seems they are smaller than the ones you are using. Could you tell me how big is yours? how many cups of water it needs to be filled?
Thank you, and greetings from Warsaw, Poland.
luci,
Good luck with your first time korean cooking!
Thanks for the video! I’ll try making this for my family to try. It’ll be my first Korean dish.
JMY
That’s a very good idea of not using hot pepper flakes for those who can’t tolerate spicy food. : )
Adding clams is another wonderful idea. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks
Hi Maangchi,
Your site and cooking videos are the best.
I do have a question- here in Honolulu, some korean restaurants have a “white” soon du bu jigae (i.e., there’s no pepper, so it isn’t hot) which usually has clams in it– which is better for people who can’t tolerate spicy food (not me, but you get the idea). Could I make this by following your recipe but omitting the pepper and adding the clams? Or is it a totally separate sort of dish (if it is, how would I approximate it)?
Thanks in advance… JMY
Hi, Anonymous,
Dried kelp (dashima: 다시마) is different from dried seaweed(kim: 김). You can’t use seaweed to make stock. Check out my ingredient blog please. Thanks, feel free to ask me questions anytime. I understand how you feel.
hi, maangchi,
i really like your recipes. i was wondering if there is any difference between dried kelp and dried seaweed? can i use dried seaweed for the stock or not? thanks. keep up the good work.
Hi, Anonymous,
The reason I put the dried anchovies is to make delicious stock. If you use just water, I’m sure the soon du bu jji gae will not be tasty. You can replace dried anchovies with clams and shrimp etc..for the same reason though.
Thanks for your question
can we make this without the anchovies?
Cub,
I agree with your idea of using leftover from the stock. I sometimes eat the leftover kelp and even soaked anchovies which is a source of calcium intake. : )
However, when I don’t feel like eating it, I just simply discard them. Of course I never get rid of leftover stock.
Thanks Maangchi,
Soon Du Bu Jjigae is my favorite dish! What do you do with the leftover stock–with the kelp, garlic, onion, and anchovies in it? It seems like a waste to discard it. I added some chopped kelp from the stock to the Jjigae just before serving. And it turned out nicely. Any suggestions appreciated.
Anonymous,
Thanks, galbi jjim (beef ribs dish)
is already included in the list of my upcoming cooking videos.
Your recipes are soooo delicious!! The kimchi and soon dubu recipes were easy to follow, looked beautiful, and tasted great. Thank you so much!
PS. Do you have a recipe for kalbi jjim? Thanks again!
Hi,cub,
wow ! You have made so many korean dishes! : ) Thanks!
Thank you so much Maangchi! I tried the Soon Du Bu Jjigae, Oi Sobagi, Miyuk Guk, and Deon Jang Chigae recipes and they are all so delicious that I can’t believe I made them! Now I am addicted to Korean cooking:) You are the best and keep up the good work.
Thank you!
ruth
happy ruth,
yeah, I know while you are making the stock it smells fishy, but it’s normal. No problem! You are doing a great job! : )