Spicy soft tofu stew with kimchi and pork belly

Kimchi sundubu-jjigae 김치순두부찌개

It’s about time for some sizzling, comforting stew, isn’t it? How about sundubu-jjigae? It’s hot, spicy, filling, comforting, delicious, soft tofu stew and has many reasons to be one of the most popular items in Korean restaurants.

I made a video and recipe for sundubu-jjigae seven years ago (!) and it’s been watched over a million times on YouTube (!!). So it was about time for an HD remake and a variation on the recipe, too. That recipe was for seafood sundubu-jjigae, which is my favorite, but since then I’ve learned that kimchi-sundubu-jjigae is more popular. This recipe is is for that version, it’s sundubu-jjigae made with kimchi and pork belly, really hard to go wrong with this dish. Whichever one you choose, you won’t be disappointed. Both are delicious, spicy, and savory, much better than anything you can order at a restaurant.

This recipe serves 1 or two people, but you can double or triple the recipe for more people, and use a large stainless steel or cast iron pot for the cooking. If you want to serve everyone in a ttukbaegi then you’ll need to cook them on multiple burners, just like a restaurant!

Enjoy my recipe, and let me know if you make this! Take a photo and send it to me!

Ingredients (Serves 1 or 2)

Directions

Make anchovy kelp stock (myeolchi dasima yuksu):

  1. Put dried anchovies, radish, dried kelp, and 4 cups of water in a pot. Cover and boil over medium high heat for 10 minutes until it starts boiling.
  2. Reduce the heat to low and boil another 20 minutes
  3. Remove from the heat and strain. It will make about 2 cups of stock.
    sundubu jjigae -anchovy stocksundubu jjigae-stock

Make the spicy paste:

  1. Combine the hot pepper flakes and the sesame oil in a small bowl and mix well.

ingredients-tofu-stew

Put it all together:

  1. Heat up a 3 cup earthenware pot (ttukbaegi) on the stove over medium high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes. If you use a small heavy pan or pot, it will take less.
  2. Add the vegetable oil, onion, and garlic. Stir it with a wooden spoon for 1 minute.
    sundubu jjigae (순두부찌개)
  3. Add the pork. Stir for 3 minutes until the pork is no longer pink.
    sundubu-jjigae (spicy soft tofu stew: 순두부찌개)
  4. Add kimchi and keep stirring for a minute. Add ½ cup anchovy stock. Cover and cook for 7 minutes over medium heat.
  5. Add the salt and the sugar and mix well.
  6. Cut the tube of soft tofu into half and squeeze it out into the pot. Gently break up the tofu with a wooden spoon. If you want, add a few tablespoons of stock.
  7. Put the hot pepper mixture on top and spread it with the spoon.
    sundubu-jjigae (순두부찌개: Korean spicy soft tofu stew)sundubu jjigae (순두부찌개)
  8. Crack the egg and put it on top, in the center of the stew. Let it bubble and sizzle for 1 minute.

Serve:

  1. Sprinkle with the chopped green onion and serve with rice and a few more side dishes.

sundubu-jjigae (순두부찌개: Korean spicy soft tofu stew)

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121 Comments:

  1. ZNP Slovenia joined 5/16 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi! I made the stew – it was spicy, bubbly, one of the best things I have ever made. Kimchi tastes so different when cooked, turns out I love kimchi in any form and shape! And the egg at the end – I kept eating around it till most of the dish was finished, and then broke the yolk… Omg, loved it. Sorry, I have no pic – it was so good I ate it before I remembered to take a photo :) Thanks for this awesome recipe. Love your cooking!

  2. poppythien UK joined 4/16 & has 1 comment

    Hi!! i made this today following the youtube that you post. eventhough I dont have all the ingredient for the soup base, also the radish not intend to buy just for this recipe because its a huge one and I wont be using it for any other recipe soon. I put carrot in instead though for a little sweetness.
    The soup was really great!!! I can just have it purely on its own!!.
    Thanks Maangchi!!


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  3. toughcc1 Omaha joined 4/16 & has 2 comments

    Hi Maangchi,

    Question: Is there a reason that you use chicken stock in your book versus creating the stock using anchovies and kelp in your recipe online? Is taste the same? I deciding whether to use this recipe (which I have in the past) versus the chicken stock used in your book (which I love!!).

    Thank you!

    • toughcc1 Omaha joined 4/16 & has 2 comments

      And when I say love, I love the book. I haven’t tried soondubu with the chicken stock yet.

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments

      Thank you very much for leaving the question here.
      Yes, in my tofu stew recipe, I used a can of chicken broth instead of using homemade anchovy stock. Actually you can try both and choose which one you like.
      Korean sundubu-jjigae has many versions depending on the ingredients (seafood, pork, beef, kimchi, bulgogi, vegetables).

  4. Hi Maangchi!
    I made this for the first time tonight! I did not know what to expect from the flavor since I have never tried it before but you made it look so wonderful I had to make it. It was delicious!! My whole family loved it on this rare cold night in Florida. :). Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful and easy to follow recipe!


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  5. Been pretty making this all winter. Thanks!


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  6. Jeff Chicago joined 1/11 & has 3 comments

    Wow! Looks so delicious Maangchi! I love Korean food, thanks so much for your wonderful recipes. Only need dried sardines to make soondubu jiggae, they have them at H-Mart here in Chicago.

  7. Love your recipe <3
    It's delicious.


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  8. Made this last week and it came out so good. Thank you for sharing your recipes. Definitely want your cook book. I adjusted it to make it family sized since I do not yet have dolsots (the Asian grocery I frequent have not had any dolsots right now) to make it individually for each of us so had to make it in one pot.


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  9. Very delicious Maangchi!!! I will consider using anchovy stock for kimchi jjigae next time. I love it


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  10. fay349 joined 8/15 & has 1 comment

    Hi maangchi i’m fay from malaysia love your utube channel and you hihi may i ask… Can i replace hot pepper flakes with chilli flakes? Is it same taste? Or i can replace with gochujang? Which one is better? Or i must use hot pepper flakes? Any suggestion what should i replace the hot pepper flakes? I cant find any stores sell it aroud my place… Tq

  11. Hello Maangchi!

    I’ve been a long time watcher and recently picked up your Cookbook! I made soondubu jjigae the other night for me and my partner and it was absolutely phenominal. I didn’t have any korean radish so I substituted some shitake mushrooms and the stock was AMAZING! I added mussels and a few small rice cakes and it turned out really well. I also used some of the stock ingredients to make banchan!

    Thank you for the recipes and keep up the good work!

    Zack


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  12. nikki_n joined 6/15 & has 1 comment

    Hello Maangchi should I still add radish and dried kelp if I replace anchovies with chicken broth?

  13. Jay-R-Tee joined 6/15 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi! Thanks for your wonderful site :) I’m just wondering of its possible to freeze the left over anchiovy stock?

  14. iamtrinket joined 6/15 & has 4 comments

    I Made this today and added mushrooms and squash. So easy and so yummy.


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  15. Keramira Arizona joined 4/14 & has 3 comments

    THANK YOU!! I really enjoy making 통배추김치 (cabbage kimchi) but I only ate it with rice and didn’t really know what else to do with it. I am so happy to see this video and recipe. I made this dish for the past two days and shared it with my family. Only my 9 year old son didn’t want it because it was too spicy for him! It is so delicious that I feel I can eat it every day! I am so excited!

    Today I will be making kimchi soup with pork and tofu.
    Happy Cooking everyone!!
    Thank you Maangchi!
    Keramira
    attached is my soup picture


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