Nothing says comfort food like Dwen jang jjigae (Korean bean stew)
8 Sep
Dwen jang jjigae is a classic Korean dish. Jjigae means stew in Korean. The stew is made with fermented soy beans, veggies and tofu. My family loves eating this stew, especially on a very cold day. There’s almost a nutty flavor to the broth, not to mention delicous! Something to note: it’s much healthier to make this at home, since all the restaurants use MSG or artificial beef flavoring to make the broth.
Recipe: Dwen Jang jjigae
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
*1.5 cups of basic broth (4-5 anchovies + few pieces of kelp, boiled then discarded)
1.5 tablespoons of soy bean paste (dwen jang)
1 teaspoon of red bean paste (gochujang)
1 serving of medium firm tofu, cut into cubes
2 whole pieces of scallion, cut into small pieces
1 small zucchini, halved, then sliced 1/4″ thick
1 small onion, cut into cubes
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 jalapeno (optional)
Procedure:
*Traditionally, this dish has some sort of pork in it. Feel free to put a handful of pork(skip the anchovies + kelp) when you are making the broth.
1. In a bowl, mix zucchini, potatoes and onion with 1/2 a tablespoon of soy bean paste. This will flavor the vegetables and add extra flavor. Set aside.
2. Bring anchovies and kelp to a boil using 1.5 cups of water in a pan. (Or use little bits of pork and bring to a boil.)
3. Add the rest of dwenjang, gochujang and jalapeno into the broth.
4. Add potatoes, onions, zucchini and simmer for 6-7 minutes in medium heat.
5. Add tofu. Simmer for another 3 minutes in low heat.
6. Add scallions. Turn off heat. Serve with rice.
The soups are always served table side, and the stone pot keeps the soup from getting cold too fast.
I ate my meal with radish kimchee (kkakdoogee) and no other side dishes. Stay tuned for a couple of really simple ban chan (side dish) recipes in the next post.
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