I’m very happy to introduce this kongbiji-jjigae recipe to you today. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of this ground soybean stew is the sight and sound of it sizzling and bubbling in an earthenware pot in the cold winter, just like I used to have it growing up. Warm, creamy, nutty, and healthy, it’s the perfect stew for colder weather.
Kongbiji is soy pulp, which is leftover from the process of making tofu. In that process the soaked soybeans are pureed and then filtered through a sack. What’s filtered is used for tofu and the the soy pulp left in the sack is kongbiji. In this recipe, we won’t make soy pulp that way, we’ll puree soybeans in a blender.
If anyone ever asked me which of my grandmother’s dishes was her most delicious, I will definitely say, “kongbiji-jjigae!”. I was fascinated with her kongbiji-jjigae ever since I first saw and tasted it. I used to follow her when she went shopping and she would buy a lump of kongbiji at a local tofu factory. When she brought it home and made this stew for breakfast on a freezing cold day in the winter, it was always in the center of the table, sizzling and bubbling and making us all feel warm even before we tasted it!
Whenever she was ready to serve a meal, she said, “Open the table!” She had several different sizes of tables, stored between the rice chest and the wall. My uncles took out a large circular wooden table. The table legs were folded, so several tables could be placed in the gap.
One of my uncles unfolded the legs of the table, another cleaned the table with a wet cloth. My uncles set spoons, chopsticks, and side dishes on the table. Then my grandmother scooped rice from her huge cast iron pot into small individual bowls and my uncles and I helped her put the bowls on the table. Then the last dish to the table was this kind of sizzling stew! She always brought it at the last minute, so all family members could enjoy it hot, as long as possible.
When I tasted her kongbiji-jjigae for the first time, I could not believe such a delicious dish existed in the world! : )
The important tip in this recipe is not to vigorously mix the ground beans in to the stew. Do it gently, like I do it in the video, because if the beans get too mixed in, they will sink to the bottom of the pot. Slip your spoon into the bottom of the pot and then bring it up gradually, and shake the beans softly from underneath. That will keep them creamy.
I hope you enjoy this recipe with your friends and family. Serve it bubbling and make everyone warm!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried soybeans (90 grams), washed and soaked in cold water for 12 hours
- 8 ounces pork shoulder (pork loin), cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 cup fermented kimchi, chopped
- 1 tablespoon saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp) (or fish sauce, or 1-2 teaspoons salt to taste)
- 1 green chili pepper (chopped)
- 1 red chili pepper (chopped)
- 1 medium dae-pa (large green onion) or 2 green onions, chopped
For stock (make about 2½ cups)
- 7 large dried anchovies, guts and heads removed
- 4 x 5 inch piece of dried kelp
- 4 cups water
Directions
Make anchovy kelp stock
(You can substitute with 1½ cup vegetable stock or chicken broth)
- Put the anchovies and dried kelp in a sauce pan.
- Add the water and boil for 20 minutes over medium high heat.
- Strain and set aside.
Make kongbiji-jjigae:
- Rinse the beans and drain. They will expand to a little more than 1 cup. Blend the beans with 1 cup water until creamy. You will get about 2 cups ground beans.
- Heat a heavy, 2 quart pot (or Korean earthenware or stone pot) over medium high heat. Add the sesame oil, garlic and onion and stir for 30 seconds with a wooden spoon.
- Add the pork, soy sauce, and ground black pepper and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the pork is no longer pink. Add the kimchi and stir for 5 minutes until the kimchi turns a little soft.
- Add 1½ cup anchovy kelp stock (or chicken or vegetable stock). Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour the ground beans over the stew. Gently stir and turn the stew over with a wooden spoon. Cook for another 5 to 6 minutes with the lid open until the beans are fully cooked and bubbling. Taste it to test if the beans are fully cooked. It should taste nutty.
- Add the salted fermented shrimp (or fish sauce or 1-2 teaspoons salt to your taste) and stir. You can add the leftover stock if the stew is too thick and you want to thin it out a bit.
- Add most of the green onion, green and red chili pepper, leaving some back for a garnish. Stir a few times and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the rest of the green onion, green and red chili pepper as a garnish.
- Remove from the heat and serve right away with rice and more side dishes.
My 7th grade daughter and her friends have been interested in Korean culture this year and volunteered to run the Korean booth at her school’s International Fair since the family who normally ran the Korea booth couldn’t do it this year. Every booth representing a country features food. None of the girls are ethnic Korean but I cook as a hobby so I wanted to find a recipe that was approachable to 7th graders cooking (with supervision) but could be cooked the day before and brought to the school. I had never cooked a Korean dish before, but a Korean-American friend recommended this website and I saw this stew. Upon watching the video and listening about how your grandmother served this to you, I knew I had a possibility since I wanted a comfort food recipe that you would find in someone’s home.
I went shopping for ingredients at the local international market store and had the girls cook a meal two weeks before the event so that they could get the hang of cooking before serving it to others. Once they tasted it, they went back for seconds and thirds! So we had the girls cook it again the night before the fair, expanding the recipe by a factor of 10 (about 14 quarts of stew). And sure enough, it was a big hit at the International Fair, even with the ethnic Koreans who tasted it. We paired it with a kimchi rice that we modified for a rice cooker instead of a cooktop and that went well too. And it was all gone at the end of the fair.
Thank you for a wonderful dish! The girls learned so much! We will make this again for ourselves.
Delicious. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
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Maangchi, what size is your yellow Le Creuset pot?
I just had to try this recipe when I saw it. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite winter comfort foods! Thank for sharing your recipe.
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Hi Maangchi :)
I saw this video and it looked amazing and I really wanted to make it! Unfortunately I had no kimchi, or soy beans, or meat in the fridge! But I was also too lazy to go out and buy it as it is quite far to go to get kimchifrom where I live. I remembered you had emergency kimchi recipe and luckily I had cabbages left in the fridge so I made your delicious emergency kimchi for the soup! Hahaha. Then I replaced. The soy beans with a tin of cannellini beans..I figured they are both white so why not..and just as luck would have it, I remembered I had pork sausages in the freezer from the week before! So I was able to make your delicious soup! It’s a bit different but it was super yummy and my husband ate so much rice with the soup slurping it all up to the very last drop. Thank you for another great cosy recipe!
Hello Maangchi, this is one of my husband’s favorite soups to eat on cold days. Thank you for all of the authentic Korean food recipes. Many of them have become a staple in our home and have been enjoyed by friends and family including family from Korea. :):):)
I haven’t made kongbiji jjigae for a long time but after reading your comment, I really feel like it. I’m glad your family and friends have been enjoying Korean dishes that you made. Good luck!
Hi, Maangchi!
It’s been 6 months since i last made this dish. I forgot how much kong biji to put in. Is it basically 1/2 cup soybean or how much?
I haven’t got around to make more soy milk since my daughter left for college in March. So I was thinking of making my own tofu. I usually use 1 cup of dry soybeans soaked to double and use the milk to make tofu.
Please advice how much biji to put in and how much stock to put in. I always have that stock handy.
Thanks,
Ima
Rain finally come to my part of Indonesia. I made this with frozen pulp from soy milk that i make every other day. I can’t use up the pulp quickly enough. However with this recipe all i need to do is pull out frozen biji+frozen stock for soon dubu jigae, homemade kimchi w/ your recipe and 1 cooking portion of pork. Breakfast is served in the time it takes to cook rice in my rice cooker.
This is an awesome dish to eat in a nippy weather. You’re absolutely right. Thanks for the great recipes
Hi maangchi,
I love your recipes!! I wanted to know since I can’t find any soy beans–can I use Soy Milk instead?
i just made this with regular white onion and my porridge came out watery. I took out some extra liquid after finished and water kept on forming on top. Is it supposed to have water form on top?
Thanks!
Hi Maangchi!
I’d love kongbisi jjige.
I used to use salted shrimp and salt.
I’m curious some fish sauce has msg
Can I use Japanese dashi, made from bonito and konbu?
Hi Maangchi!
I notice that in the kongguksu recipe you cook the soybeans briefly and then remove the skins before grinding them up, but in this kongbiji jjigae recipe you don’t pre-cook or remove the soybean skins. Could you explain why you treat the soybeans differently for these two recipes? I haven’t done much cooking with soybeans before, and I would love to get a more nuanced understanding of the “hows” and “whys” behind these differences. Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!
Erica
Emily! Thank you for this recipe! This is my favorite winter stew. Grandmom and Mom both grew up in North Korea and this is a very traditional northern dish.
We add some sort of green – think it’s beet. And we eat it with salted shrimp. Mom has to stop me from eating so much of it due to the protein content, but MAN DO I LOVE biji.
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe. I haven’t made kongbijijjigae for months. Reading your post makes me feel like eating. yummy!
I made this today and it has so far been the best Korean stew I have ever tasted! I used homemade kimchi made with Maangchi’s recipe. I omitted the pork because I am an on-again-off-again pescetarian. :) Even my fiancé very much enjoyed it, and he has a somewhat bland palate (we are working on this).
Thank you, Maangchi, for posting this fantastic recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe a lot. It’s very healthy and delicious stew. Thank you very much for your update! Cheers!
I learned about your site earlier this year when you made the news here in Seoul. This was my first recipe to try from your site, and I was susprised how well it turned out. I used the pre-packaged 콩비지 from the mart here, instead of grinding my own beans. And I love the stone pot – I bought it yesterday at E-Mart just for this dish. When I eat this at a restaurant, it’s always a bit too slaty for my health, but I was able to make it better for my taste by adding just a little fish sauce. I will try more of your recipes soon.
Hi! Two questions! How come yours turned out white, because I had this at a restuarant and it was like a orangey color and it was so good! Instead of using dried anchovies can I use dried anchovie dashida?
“.. orangy color” the cook at the restaurant must have used hot pepper flakes. I prefer my version though.
Hello! I just joined your site. It looks great! I am excited to try this recipe. By the way, how many mushrooms do I use to make stock and how many pieces of kelp? Thank you.
3 dried shiitake mushrooms and 4×5 inch piece of dried kelp.
Thank you! I’m going to make it this morning. I hope I can stop myself from grabbing a handful of kelp for the broth! I have a tendency to automatically grab a handful of everything to put into broths!
Hi! Is this the same as ground soybean porridge? if not, does any one know how to make soybean porridge (it is cooked with potato and millet as well but no rice). thanks!
btw, maangchi, i love your website and subscribe to your podcasts. please keep them coming. i have made several of your dishes with amazing results. total YUM! this past weekend i made suejebi. i didn’t have kim chi but i just used gochujang. YUMMMMM! in fact, i have to make another batch of kim chi. i prefer my own rather than store bought (which is too salty and not fermented enough for my taste).
Hello I am a big fan of your website :)
Just made your kongbiji jjigae for dinner, it was so delicious and flavorful without using a lot of seasonings. I accidentally bought radish kimchi instead of cabbage kimchi and it tasted really really yummy. Great dish with rice, bindaetteok, and pickled cucumbers. Thanks for your amazing recipes!
OMG! You made this? Congratulations! Yeah, kongbiji jjigae is very delicious! It is usually eaten in the cold winter day, but why not in the summer?
Can i use chicken instead of beef or pork? Thanks! This recipe looks great for wintertime.
Yes, you can use chicken,too.
Hi Maangchi!
If I use pulp for this recipe, how much would I need?
^_________^
Maanchi Ahjumah you are my saving grace!
I married a Korean man in Korea and we moved back to the US. Your website has saved my husband from starvation.
This kongbiji stew has sent me and my husband over the moon! Its so fabulously healthy and savory.
I look forward to trying each and everyone of your dishes eventually:)
I saw your naengmyun receipe and wondered if you had a beef stock recommendation rather than the fish stock?
I tried to make it, but I made a few mistakes! :( I added too much stock and kimchi so it was too liquid and orange instead of beige. It tastes awesome though!
Can I use the pulp from making tofu for this stew? I need to find other uses for it since I make tofu often. haha.
I can’t wait to try this out. Looks so yummy!
hi, of course you can use soy bean pulp which is more traditional way of making this stew. When you use the pulp, you will have to use more stock than indicated in the recipe. Otherwise the stew will be too thick.
You make your own tofu? Some of my readers will be interested in learning how to make tofu. I would appreciate it if you leave the recipe here: https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/reader-recipes
I just made my first pot of kongbiji jjigae. It’s snowing here in NY.
Delicious!!
I love it.
As usual being able to see you prepare the recipe in the video helps me make it exactly the same. I even had soybean volcanos!
I wish I could enjoy the snow with you! I am watching the snow through my window now.
How do I know if my soybeans are spoiled or dead?
You can see them easily because damaged,spoiled, and dead beans look brownish and sometimes broken. Normal beans are perfect circle shape and yellow color.
This looks great, i will give it a try soon.
If there is no dried kelp available, is there a good substitute?
Yes, you still can make good stock without dried kelp. Cheers! Let me know how your kongbijijjigae turns out. : )
Hi Maangchi,
I just made this for the first time tonight and it was fantastic! For those people who like Kimchi Jiggae and Sundubu, you will love this recipe. I love those two stews so I decided to give it a try. Big success! I will definitely add this to my regular repertoire of Korean recipes. Thank you! :)
wow, good news! I’m glad to hear that you are going to add this stew to your regular repertoire of Korean recipes. : )
Hi Maangchi! :) Do you have to use pork? I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat pork, so I was just curious if there’s another type of meat you can use. Alrighty, thank you!
oh, use beef then. thank you!
Hi Maangchi,
This was my all time favorite stew while I was growing up. Whenever my family went grocery shopping and passed the prepared food section, I’d always beg my mom to buy a container of biji jjigae. Normally, she would say yes….just looking at your video takes me back!
For the kimchi, do you recommend a less fermented or very sour kimchi?
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your story related this stew with me and my other readers! : ) I like to use less fermented kimchi, but it depends on your taste.
Ooh, another idea for soup: anchovy, dashima, and shiitake mushroom. You know, I like to consume stocks made from your recipes just on their own, nothing else added. They really are delicious. That being said, kongbiji tastes good and is quite filling. I’m sure your recipe is another hit.
You are right. You can use the stock for so many different types of soup or stew. Make noodle soup, too. It’s very delicious! Thanks a lot!
What a lovely soup. I’d love to taste it…
yeah, and it’s also very healthy food. Let me know if you make this stew later. thanks!
Hi 언니!
I remember eating this as a child and loving it! Thanks so much for the recipe. My fiance (who loves Korean food) thanks you too. BTW, when will you be in the L.A. area again? I would love to share a meal with you and your fans.
Hope you are having a wonderful new year. 새해 복 많이 받으세요!
yes, I will visit California hopefully someday soon. Thank you very much for your offer. I am already excited about tasting your food!
: ) When I plan another meetup in LA, I will let you know through my blog in advance. Stay tuned! ; )
Hey Maangchi,
This looks like something I would tried too, seems very healthy. I was wondering, what kind of rice were you eating with the stew at the end of the video? Looks pretty good too. Would you please tell me where to get that kind of rice? Looks different from what I usually eat. Thank you
yes, it’s multi-grain rice that I usually eat.
This is the recipe:
How to make rice using a pot:
1. Combine 1 cup of short grain rice, 1/2 cup of sweet brown rice, 1/2 cup of barley rice, and 2 tbs of black sweet rice
2. Wash and drain a couple of times and put it in a pot with a thick bottom
3. Pour 2.5 cups of water into the pot and soak it at least for 30 minutes.
4. Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat for 10 minutes.
5. Open the lid and turn the rice over with a rice scoop or spoon.
6. Simmer it over low heat for another 10 minutes!
The purple color comes from black sweet rice.