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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I am going to make the Tofu Stew tonight—very excited~
However i will have to substitue the dried anchovies with bonito fish flakes (at the end of cooking so the soup does not turn bitter)…I know, I know they are very different but I just can not spend $6.99 on a HUGE package which I would only use 10-12 little fish.
It is the sad part of living in remote areas where you can not buy small quantities of food.
Will let you know how it turns out!
Gin,
check out my doenjangjjigae video. I’m showing how to remove it. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tofu-stew-doenjang-chigae
Also, maybe you could have a section or say how to store extra ingredients that you don’t use so we know how long you can keep something??
thank you for all you do! ^^
Hi Maangchi!
How do you pull out the intestine of the anchovies?? You just pull off the head? Thank you for your help!!
deborah,
Congratulation on your successful soondubu jjigae making!
Earthenware heats up slowly and cools slowly. I never preheat it , but if you want, why not?
hi maangchi! i just wanted to let you know that i tried my third attempt at soon dubu, and it was quite the success! probably not as good as buk dong chang… but my mom and friend really enjoyed it. i will keep trying to get it closer to your recipe so that it’s better–i can’t wait! it’s great since the weather is getting colder these days :(
i had one question, i can’t seem to get my earthen ware bowl hot enough fast enough. would it be wise to try to stick it in the oven before heating it on the stove? i use the coil stove and not gas. does this make a difference? what temp would i heat it at in the oven??
thanks so much!!!!
deborah
Judy,
yayeee! “It’s about time!” : )
Dear Maangchi,
I’m so glad I found your website. I cook korean food all the time but it never taste as good as my mother-in-law’s cooking. Now, I think I know how to cook better than her. It’s about time, someone like you started a good Korean cooking web-site. Thanks again for the great videos. It makes a world a difference watching how you do it, rather than just reading the instructions. Kudos to you!!!
Jessica,
Yes, you can skip the seafood, but put more meat then.
Lee,
Yes, dried shiitake mushrooms are used to make good stock. Hot pepper powder is ok, but don’t forget to stir fry it with vegetable oil with other ingredients for a minute over low heat. Delicious stock makes deliciou soondubu jjigae.
Hi Maangchi,
I love Tofu soup.I live Near Korea Town in Hollywood.
So I eat Tofu soup quite often
I tried to make the Soondubu jjigae twice in a row already and its not quite right for me.I bought fresh shitake mushroom.Do I need the dry kind? and I couldnt find the hot pepper flakes so I got the powder kind.And I’m using a regular metal pot.I wanted to say Thank You for your videos.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I recently got married in June and never really cooked korean food before (my husband and I are both korean). But your website has helped me create such delicious dishes! I wanted to ask you.. Is it okay if I omit the seafood and shrimp (because we don’t have any at home). Please let me know soon! Thanks a bunch <3
nina,
Thank you for your update.
I made this the other night and it turned out great, it was my first time making the dish. Hopefully next time it will taste better than this time, thank you so much for easy to follow directions maangchi!
Jini and rona,
Thank you for updating your successful Korean cooking!
Hi I tried this soondubu last week I often watch your video since i came here in korea and i tried almost everything I see^^ turns out all deliciuos this kinda helpful for me as a wife of a korean, thanks for someone like you who made this blog
i just finished making soondubu with your recipe, and addded kimchee and doenjang, and it was delicious! my sister and mother was impressed as well!
thank you so much!!! i hope to learn more and more from your recipes!!!
JINI
Some people use bean paste (doenjang) in soondubu, but I don’t use it. You can modify my recipe to adjust your taste. Important part for you to make delicious soondubu is to make delicious broth or stock instead of using water. Thank you for your interest in my recipes!
Your videos are amazing!!
I have a question. The last time i made soon dubu jigae, it wasn’t wat i expected it to be. Some recipes tell me to use tenjian (the corean bean miso) but is that necessary?
michelle,
Yes, I can make it without using dried anchovies, but it will not be tasty.
can you make this without the anchovies?
Joce,
Use beef stock (or beef broth)instead of seafood stock then. Add some chopped beef to this recipe and don’t use hot pepper flakes. I’m sure it will be delicious.
Hi – I just happened to find your site, and I’m so excited that i can now learn how to cook Korean! Thank you!! Question, though – My kids don’t like seafood but love the mild beef tofu stew from the tofu houses. Can you teach us how to make that one? I can’t find that recipe anywhere!
Nick,
Yes, I do. I don’t like budae jjigae, but many people have requested the stew. I will post it someday, thanks
I plan on making this dish tomorrow for dinner! All of your recipes look so delicious, Maangchi.
Do you happen to have a recipe for buddae jjigae?
WinLovesRain,
Yes, of course! I sometimes buy Tofu at a Chinese grocery store. Same!
Check out my kimchi stew video where I posted beansprout side dish at
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-chigae-kong-na-mool
Hi Maangchi,
I’m so glad to find your blog, always want to try the tofu dish! Is it ok if I use the Chinese tofu which comes in a square plastic box? As long as I use the soft kind?
ps. do you have that bean sprouse side dish listed?
Thank you!!!
JIN,
Thank you very much for your update.
“soondae” (Korean style blood sausage)! I can’t handle blood. ooh!~ : )
hello maangchi –
i was surprised to find a korean cooking site in ENGLISH that was even better than most of the ones in KOREAN that i’ve been to :) 정말 감사합니다 ㅋㅋ
the soondubu recipe came out wonderfully well – and i was glad because last time i made it – it had been a weird failure =_=;;; thank you so very much :)
and i’d was also wondering if you took requests? i’m currently trying to find an easy to follow instructional recipe for soondae 순대, and im wondering you had one :) thanks!
Jodi,
“I just about drooled all over my computer”
Haha, you are so funny!
Maangchi,
This is by far my most favorite meal, it looked so good in your video and then you went and cracked the egg into the boiling goodness and I just about drooled all over my computer! I can’t wait to try this recipe!! Thank you so much for bringing the goodness that is Korean food to all of us!
cloud,
Congratulation on your successful cooking!
haha, you finished eating all snacks you bought while driving!
hi, i made it for lunch. it’s wonderful dish for rainy days! i daren’t put too much pepper powder and i omitted the green chili; but it turned out as i expected. also i shopped at woo-ri market while i was visiting a friend in northvale, nj bordering rockland county. this market is awesome, very,very fresh seafood and the storemade snacks were wonderful. never had a chance to bring back home because we finished them all in the car. maangchi, thanks for sharing, enjoy your site.
cloud, ct
Emily,
Use soy sauce or salt then. Thank you for your nice comment.
BTW Maangchi, is fish sauce important to this dish, my boyfriend don’t like the smell, is that will decrease the taste? Could I just skip it? Or what can I substitute for fish sauce?
Thank you.
Hi Maangchi,
I just found your blog yesterday and I am so happy to see so many Korean dish recipes. You are amazing and so kind to share so much with us; you are such a good teacher and make these dishes easy to follow. I love your website, there are so many recipes that I am looking for all the time. I am gona to try each dish you posted. Thank you so much Maangchi!!!!^^ You are the best!!