Thursday, March 27, 2008

Soybean Paste Stew

된장찌게[Doen-Jang-Jji-Gye]

I can’t remember exactly when we had this particular Doenjang Jjigye (Soybean Paste Stew) for dinner because it comes from my backlog of recipes - in which I have about five recipes now waiting to be published - that I need to blog otherwise they will be sequestered into my hard drive without ever given a chance to shine. One other reason I can’t remember the exact date is probably because we have Doenjang Jjigye for dinner so often than any other dish or soup that its significance went unnoticed in my memory...

Last time I blogged about how to make Doenjang Jjigye, I used beef stock instead of using anchovy and kelp soup stock as this time. In fact, how to cook and what composes Doenjang Jjigye have no strict rules as long as Doenjang (soybean paste) goes in the soup. You could make it thick or light, with seafood or with meat, with added tofus or without, and etc. It all depends on what you feel like having on the day of cooking and, for me, more often what’s in my fridge that day. On this day, I must’ve had several packs of tofu in my fridge because I see I put lots of them in the soup.


For 2 servings

Soup base:

dried anchovies (10)
dreid kelp (2)
soybean paste (1 1/2 tbl)
red pepper paste (1/2 tsp, optional)
water (1 1/2 cup)


Main ingredients:
onion (1/2, small)
white zucchini (1/3, sliced)
shitake mushroom (1, sliced)
enoki mushroom (1/2 pack)
tofu (1/2 pack)
jalepeno and/or peppers (1/3, for garnish)


1.
Make soup base by bringing dried anchovies and dried kelps to boil in water.

2.
Meanwhile prepare vegetables.

3.
Fish out the anchovies and kelps shortly after the water starts boiling.

4.
Stir in the soybean paste.

5.
Add onions


6.
and the rest of vegetables.

7.
When the soup is boiling, add a little bit of red pepper paste. This is my secret ingredient (not anymore though (:).

8.
Slice jalapeno and/or red pepper to garnish the soup.

9.
Add tofu and garnishes and bring the soup to boil one more time before serving.



Related Posts:
Soybean Paste Soup
Soybean Paste

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Migi,
What an amazing week of cooking! Your photos, comments, and directions are FABULOUS - I really enjoyed reading! I happen to have some Trader Joe's Curry sauce at home (red instead of yellow) as well as tofu, broccoli, and carrot. I feel inspired to try making your Monday night meal. Yum...! I will let you know how it turns out.

Migi said...

Hey Phylis,
Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comment! Min and I also picked up a bottle of RED curry sauce from TJ few days ago and we've been anxious to try it and haven't had a chance yet. So, definitely let us know how it comes out! :D

amydien said...

omg Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I've been looking for something like this because I wanted to try making it. This will really help me a lot! ^__^

Migi said...

You are welcome. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Hi Migi,

Can you advise me on how to buy the light soybean paste? I bought a dark one and it is too strong for me. But I cannot tell from the labels which ones are dark and which ones are light. How can I tell?

Migi said...

The color of soybean paste doesn't necessarily correlate with the strength (depth?) of the taste. If you prefer lighter taste in your soup, try mixing with more water or using less soybean paste. Or, I would advise you to read the Nutrition Facts label on the back and choose the one with the least sodium contents. That will most likely to have lighter soybean taste.

Anonymous said...

Hi Migi, i just hade this stew. It taste pretty good and it is easy to make too. I am just wondering if I were to add meat to this, what meat is best?

Migi said...

Hi there - Soybean paste stew goes very well with beef stock.

chocolate-lover said...

Hi Migi,
Just to let you know that I have followed your delicious recipe and it turned out great as expected. Thanks for making it so much easier with your step-by-step pictures.