Soondubu Jjigae

Soondubu Jjigae

Soondubu jjigae is my favorite hangover food. There were many mornings in NYC that I would go party with my friends and sluggishly drag our hung-over bodies to BCD Tofu house.

The Soondubu jjigae will come to your table sizzling and overflowing with dried red chili pepper flakes on the side like molten lava. You crack an egg in, gently spoon a blanket of the hot broth over. You take a sip of the hot chili oil broth and it's an immediate shock to your lethargic body: the spice rejuvenates you-- the tingling sensation from the hot broth lingers on to help you power through your day. You're then rewarded with a poached egg and you smash it open with the back of your spoon and mix the broth and rice together. Avocado toast for sunday brunch has got nothing on this.

(Paste makes for 1-2 people but soup ingredients for 1)

Ingredients

Soup

• 1 pack/ 350g of soondubu (silken tofu) 
• ½ cup zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• ½ cup clams or protein of choice
• 1 egg 
• ½ -1 tbsp fish sauce (season to your liking)
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• 150mL water* (should only come up to 20% height of your pot)

Chili Oil Paste 

• ½ onion, finely diced 
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
• ⅓ cup neutral oil 
• 3 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
• 1 tsp fish sauce 
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

Chili Oil Paste 

1. Add your chopped onion, scallions, garlic, oil to a pot.

2. Bring the heat to a medium-low. 
3. Once the oil comes up to temperature, bring it to a medium-low and cook until caramelized. We’re infusing the oil with the aromatics so low and slow is best! This process should take around 20 minutes for the best caramelization . 

4. Once the paste has caramelized to a golden brown color, drizzle the soy sauce and let it slightly burn. This is to add to the aroma and the umami. Add the fish sauce in as well. [If you’re putting in meat for your soondubu, this is a good time to add it and cook out the meat to get it browned and crispy]
5. Add the gochugaru. Toast the gochugaru in the oil. The oil should turn bright red. 
6. Once the gochugaru has toasted, transfer the paste into a separate bowl. The reason why we have a separate paste is to be able to adjust the spiciness to your liking. 

(I add 2 tbsp, but for less spicy add 1 tbsp. If you’d like it to be extra spicy then add a thai chili pepper if you’re feeling bold)

7. In an earthenware pot, add your water in. The water should only come to 20% otherwise your soondubu will overflow. 
8. On high heat, boil the water. Add the zucchini and scallions and cook for 1 minute.
9. Drop the clams or seafood into the veggie broth. 
10. Once the clams have opened, add your paste in.
11. Season with fish sauce.
12. Turn the heat off and enjoy with a cracked egg. The residual heat will poach the egg. Enjoy!

Soondubu

4 from 228 votes

Recipe by Doobydobap Course: MainCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

1

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• Soup

• 1 pack / 350g of soondubu (silken tofu)

• ½ cup zucchini, thinly sliced

• 1 scallion, thinly sliced

• ½ cup clams or protein of choice

• 1 egg

• ½ -1 tbsp fish sauce (season to your liking)

• ¼ tsp sesame oil

• 150 mL water* (should only come up to 20% height of your pot)

• Chili Oil Paste

• ½ onion, finely diced

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced

• ⅓ cup neutral oil

• 3 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)

• 1 tsp fish sauce

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Directions

• Chili Oil Paste
• Add your onion, scallions, garlic, oil to a pot.
• Bring the heat to a medium-low.
• Once the oil comes up to temperature, bring it to a medium-low and cook until caramelized. We’re infusing the oil with the aromatics so low and slow is best! This process should take around 20 minutes for the best caramelization .
• Once the paste has caramelized to a golden brown color, add the gochugaru. [If you’re putting in meat for your soondubu, this is a good time to add it and cook out the meat to get it browned and crispy]
• Toast the gochugaru in the oil. The oil should turn bright red.
• Once the gochugaru has toasted, drizzle the soy sauce and let it slightly burn. This is to add to the aroma and the umami. Add the fish sauce in as well
• Transfer the paste into a separate bowl. The reason why we have a separate paste is to be able to adjust the spiciness to your liking.
• (I add 2 tbsp, but for less spicy add 1 tbsp. If you’d like it to be extra spicy then add a thai chili pepper if you’re feeling bold)
• Assembly
• In an earthenware pot, add your water in. The water should only come to 20% otherwise your soondubu will overflow.
• On high heat, boil the water. Add the zucchini and scallions and cook for 1 minute.
• Drop the clams or seafood into the veggie broth.
• Once the clams have opened, add your paste in.
• Season with fish sauce.
• Turn the heat off and enjoy with a cracked egg. The residual heat will poach the egg. Enjoy! Thanks to those who tuned into my live 🙂

Notes

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